This morning, the Amtrak Piedmont train hit a flatbed truck that was stuck on the tracks in Mebane. No one was killed but a dozen people were taken to the hospital with cuts and bruises. The locomotive, number 1792, was heavily damaged and caught fire immediately after the collision.

This particular Amtrak train, the Piedmont, is run in part by the State of North Carolina, and the train carries the state’s red, white, and blue livery. The locomotives are quite distinctive. I saw the photographs of the damaged train and recalled that I’d taken some shots around the NCDOT’s Raleigh yard a few years ago.

Above is my photograph of the 1792 in better days. It was being overhauled at the time to rejoin the other locomotives in Carolinian and Piedmont service. I don’t know if the engine can be repaired but it couldn’t come at a worse time for the state’s passenger rail service: the state is adding mid-day service in June.

Here’s also a picture of the Gray Squirrel passenger coach. The Gray Squirrel wound up on top of the errant tractor-trailer, so it will likely be out of service for a while, too.

Be sure to read the chatter about the crash on the Train Orders site.

[Update: 1:48 PM Friday ] More railfan speculation on Trains.com.