DEPUTY GETS SUMMONS FOLLOWING TRAIN WRECK

JACKSON -- An off-duty Cape Girardeau County deputy has been issued a summons for failure to yield at a railroad crossing after his vehicle was struck an excursion train Wednesday afternoon.

Ronald Wayne Eakins, 25, of Cape Girardeau was issued the summons after the truck he was driving was struck by the engine of the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railway train in Jackson.

According to police reports, Eakins was traveling westbound on Highway 61 when he entered the right lane and turned onto Highway 61 North and into the path of the train. The train was leaving the station, traveling south toward Gordonville.

The accident occurred when Eakins allegedly failed to yield for the railroad crossing signal, causing the train to strike his truck. Eakins told police that he was looking in his left side mirror at the vehicle behind him and didn't see the train or the railroad signal.

One witness at the scene, who was driving the vehicle immediately behind Eakins' truck, told investigators that the red lights of the signal were flashing as the train approached, but that Eakins did not stop.

The engineer of the train, Duane Reynolds, said Wednesday that the fireman working with him on the locomotive alerted him that Eakins' truck was not stopping at the crossing. Reynolds tried to stop the train, but it struck the car, then traveled 50 to 60 feet before stopping.

Police estimated that the train was traveling 6 miles per hour.