CHARLES CITY — A Northern Iowa truck driver escaped injury Thursday afternoon after the construction truck he was driving collided with a moving Canadian Pacific train at a railroad crossing in Charles City.
The potentially dangerous collision happened at approximately 12:46 p.m. on Thursday, August 6, 2026, at the railroad crossing in the 1100 block of 13th Avenue.
Charles City police said a Canadian Pacific train was traveling southwest along the tracks as a white 2004 Kenworth construction truck driven by Vern Berk, 65, of Marble Rock, approached the crossing while traveling westbound on 13th Avenue.
According to investigators, Berk improperly stopped at the railroad crossing and proceeded across the tracks, where the Kenworth collided with the train.
Despite the size and weight of the vehicles involved, Berk escaped without injury and no injuries were reported aboard the train.
The truck sustained non-disabling damage to its right-rear area, while the train suffered non-disabling damage to a headlight.
Police estimated the total damage at approximately $5,000.
Berk was cited under Iowa Code 321.342 for failure to properly stop at a railroad crossing.
The incident comes amid several serious train-versus-vehicle crashes investigated across Iowa this year. NIT reported in June that an Iowa driver jumped from his car as a locomotive struck the vehicle after a crash left it stranded on railroad tracks.
Another collision proved deadly earlier that month when a 14-year-old boy was killed and a truck driver injured when a semi and train collided at an Iowa railroad crossing.
Thursday’s Charles City crash had a far better outcome, with the 65-year-old truck driver walking away without reported injuries.
The citation against Berk is an allegation and has not been proven in court.