This train clipped the rear passenger side of a delivery van with the driver inside in Pendleton on Saturday, July 22, 2023.

PENDLETON — A train on Saturday, July 22, collided with the rear end of a delivery van that was parked too close to the tracks on Frazer Avenue in Pendleton.

Chris Fischer, assistant manager at Aaron’s Rent to Own in Pendleton, said the collision occurred at 8:10 a.m. He knows because he was in the van.

He said he was delivering furniture to a customer, parked the van curbside and was updating the customer’s information when the accident occurred.

“I parked about 3 inches too far back and it clipped the rear end,” he said. “It kicked the rear end over about a foot. The train blew the whistle one time. I looked up and couldn’t figure out why the train was blowing the whistle. Then I looked in the rearview mirror and did the math in my head and realized I was probably a little too far back. I tried to throw it into gear and move it up, but it was too late.”

Austin Carlson said he didn’t see the actual collision but heard the train horn blaring just before the impact.

“Looked like the van was just barely on the tracks when the train clipped it,” Carlson said. “I was surprised, the train came to a grinding halt in a very short distance.”

Fischer said the train’s plow “barely clipped” the rear of the van, but that was enough to push the van about a foot.

“I didn’t realize I was that far back,” he said.

The conductor was on the phone with the police just after the bang-up, Fischer said.

He said he got out the vehicle and started collecting information for his accident report, taking photos of the vehicle while he waited for the police.

He said emergency responders “came in force,” saying the responders heard a vehicle was hit by a train on the scanner and were expecting the worst.

Fischer said there was no damage to the train, only to his work vehicle. The train ripped out the lights in the rear quarter panel of the van and dented the frame, preventing the back door from opening.

The train sat on the tracks for a long period after the collision, he said, because it was waiting on a supervisor to show up.

“Of course, I was at fault,” Fischer said. “It’s not like the train could go around me. No citations were issued and no injuries to speak of.”

Fischer said he was fine after the accident, though as the adrenaline wore off he was starting to feel stiff.