Steve Williams, left, and Paul Harsh of Graham’s Wrecker Service walk through an estimated 70,000 pounds of oats that were spilled after a semi hauling the grain was clipped by a freight train on Feb. 28, 2000, in Bargersville.
Daily Journal Archives
News from around Johnson County as reported on Feb. 29 in the pages of the Daily Journal and the Franklin Evening Star from the last 112 years.
On this leap day in 2000, the main story on the front page of the Daily Journal was about “rolled oats” stopping traffic in the heart of Bargersville.
A semi tractor-trailer that almost made it across the railroad tracks was clipped by a passing train on Feb. 28, 2000 — spilling its load of oats in downtown Bargersville.
No one was hurt in the truck-vs.-train collision, but traffic was backed up for about three hours.
The wreck happened just after 11 a.m .on the Indiana Railroad Co. tracks intersecting State Road 144 in Bargersville, between Baldwin and Main streets.
A North Vernon man was driving the semi heading toward the Umbarger grain elevator. He was northbound on Main Street, attempting to turn east on State Road 144, and to do so, he had to sweep the trailer outward in a wide turn over the railroad tracks.
He wasn’t trying to outrun the 146-car train, which was approaching southbound. He just didn’t see the train, said Bob Gyorkos, Bargersvlle town marshal.
The semi tried to speed up and pull out of the train’s path in time. Another three or four inches, and the trailer would have cleared the crossing.
Instead, the train struck the rear of the trailer and graded it down the tracks for 70 to 80 feet before it stopped. The semi rolled over, splitting the oat-hauling trailer open.
No one was injured, including the semi driver. A contractor was later called to the scene to clean up the estimated 70,000 pounds of oats spilled along the roadway.
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Other memorable Johnson County stories from this day
2020
Students across Johnson County were taking part in National FFA week.
2012
Police were investigating the death of a 3-year-old boy who they said was drowned by his mother in Trafalgar.
1996
A Franklin first-grader was celebrating her second birthday and her father was celebrating his 10th birthday. They were both leap year babies.
