Two horses, 1 dog killed when train collides with horse trailer in Paulden

PAULDEN, AZ - Two horses and a dog were killed when a freight train collided with a horse trailer Sunday.

Yavapai County Sheriff's spokesman Scott Mascher said the accident happened around 7:20 a.m. on Verde Ranch Road at the railroad crossing in Paulden, Arizona.

When deputies arrived to the scene, a 71-year-old Paulden man told deputies he did not see the train, nor did he hear a train horn when he crossed the tracks towing a horse trailer.

Mascher said this crossing does not have gate controls and uses signage to warn drivers and pedestrians.

The man's truck made it across the tracks, but the horse trailer did not and was struck by the train’s leading locomotive.

Mascher said the impact of the train dislodged the trailer from the truck hitch pushing it along the tracks. The man was not injured and the truck received only minor damage.

Deputies said that two horses and a dog were killed in the collision. YCSO Animal Control officers took another injured dog to a local animal hospital.

The driver was cited for failure to stop at a railroad crossing.