Charges were filed on a Knox man after a collision between a semi truck and freight train nearly two miles west of York Monday afternoon.

Joseph Hendrix, 35, was charged with driving under suspension and for failure to stop for a railroad crossing after his 1990 GMC Conventional Cab semi – which was towing a grain trailer – collided with a BNSF train. Hendrix had been transported by ambulance to the Heart of America Medical Center in Rugby after the crash, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

According to a release from the North Dakota Highway Patrol, Hendrix was southbound on 47th Avenue NE from a Benson County farm residence to a grain elevator in York. The train, which carried 72 freight cars, was traveling to Dilworth, Minn.

The train struck the grain trailer on Hendrix’s semi, shearing it in two. The semi and one half of the trailer came to rest on the south side of the railroad tracks, while the other half came to rest on the north side. The crash occurred on a gravel roadway surface with ice and compacted snow.

Due to the crash scene investigation and cleanup, 47th Avenue NE was blocked for more than four hours, according to the release.

Hendrix was transported by ambulance to the Heart of America Medical Center in Rugby, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The train’s crew was uninjured in the crash and was able to continue to their destination after the scene was cleared.

Leeds Fire and Ambulance services were responding agencies to the crash, along with the N.D. Highway Patrol.

The crash remains under investigation by the N.D. Highway Patrol.

– Tribune Staff Report