A driver escaped injury overnight Oct. 21 despite driving onto the railroad tracks that pass through Tosa Village and heading west toward Hoyt Park, where a train later collided with the vehicle.
The driver, a 45-year-old woman, was taken into custody on a charge of second-offense drunken driving, the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department told Tosa Forward News.
The incident was partly captured on video by a railcam operated by Steel Highways and located on the Wauwatosa Historical Society's Little Red Store.
Footage from the railcam shows the white SUV driving down Harwood Avenue just before midnight and slowing to turn left into the railroad right-of-way without stopping. The vehicle's front right wheel jumps the rail, and the vehicle briefly appears to loose traction and slide. It quickly regains traction, and the driver navigates the right wheels of the vehicle fully onto the tracks and continues west.
No trains pass through the village until about an hour later, at 1:04 a.m. on the video's timestamp, when a westbound train crosses Harwood Avenue. About a minute later, a loud crash can be heard, and the train grinds to a halt as a voice on the train's radio yells "emergency, emergency, emergency!"
A train crew member then advises dispatchers that the train "hit a car" on the tracks by milepost 91. The SUV's driver "was not in the vehicle, she was next to it."
Wauwatosa Fire Department responded to the scene at 1:15 a.m. and confirmed no injuries. Wauwatosa police also responded, though the incident is being investigated by the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department.
A sheriff's department spokesman confirmed to Tosa Forward News by email that the drive was not injured but was taken into custody.
The train was traveling at about 40 mph when it hit the vehicle, according to the sheriff's department. The railcam footage shows the train was stopped for about 2 1/2 hours, then began moving again around 3:30 a.m.
Hours later, during daylight, debris from the crash was still visible on the tracks, as seen from the mountain bike trails alongside Hoyt Park and toward the back side of TOSA Pool. The vehicle itself had been removed.
