LAKE CHARLES – An interstate rail carrier alleges a locomotive was damaged after it collided with a tractor-trailer that had stopped at a railroad crossing in Oakdale.
Union Pacific Railroad Co. filed a complaint on Jan. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lake Charles Division against Robert P. Taylor and Douglas A. Nichols, doing business as Doug Nichols Trucking, alleging negligence.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on Jan. 9, 2016, its lead locomotive was traveling towards Van Ply Road approaching the area of Lake Charles Crossing with the warning lights and gate activated, when Taylor, an employee of Doug Nichols Trucking, stopped his truck on the crossing, causing a collision with plaintiff's train. The collision allegedly caused plaintiff to sustain damages to its locomotive and signaling equipment. The plaintiff holds Taylor and Nichols, doing business as Doug Nichols Trucking, responsible because Taylor allegedly failed to yield to the right of way and failed to maintain reasonable and proper control over the truck.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against defendants for special damages totaling $154,676.81, plus interest and costs incurred for the action and such other reasonable relief. He is represented by David A. Fraser and Pamela Courtney of Fraser, Wheeler & Bergstedt LLP in Lake Charles.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lake Charles Division Case number 2:17-cv-00003