• Mona teen killed in truck / train accident

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A Mona teen was killed when his vehicle was struck by an on-coming train near McIntyre Crossing just 5 miles south of Tintic Junction in West Juab County.

Jacob Boyd, 16, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Boyd, Mona, was killed in the train/truck accident on Saturday.

"The accident occurred at approximately 1 p.m. when he followed another truck along a dirt road to a railroad crossing," said David Carter, Juab County Sheriff. "The other truck pulled across the railroad tracks and stopped while one of the guys inside got out to unlock a gate across the dirt road.

Both vehicles were westbound on the road.

He said that Boyd pulled up and stopped on the tracks. The other truck was a few feet in front of the tracks and so Boyd sat on the tracks and waited for the gate to be unfastened.

"His dad, Jeff, said Jacob was doing what he really loved&emdash; hunting," said Carter. "He liked hunting coyote and bobcats and that was what he was probably doing--hunting coyotes."

The men in the other truck said Boyd had followed them for some distance on the road. Both trucks were traveling along the road but were not connected in way. (Though Boyd and the two other men in the first truck were hunting they were not hunting together.)

"The man who was unlocking the gate noticed the train coming and waved to Boyd to back-up," said Carter. "It didn't work, the man said Boyd just looked at him in a questioning way."

The Chev truck, belonging to Jacob Boyd's dad, Jeff, had the windows to the cab rolled up and, apparently, he did not hear the train horn blowing.

"By the time Boyd looked up, the train was just 70 to 80-feet away which did not give him time to get off the tracks. The train was traveling at approximately 55 mph."

In this case, said Carter, Boyd had centered his attention on the truck ahead and didn't seem to notice the train.

The southbound train carried the vehicle one-half mile from the point of impact before coming to a stop. Boyd traveled only part of the distance and fell from the cab of the truck to the railroad bed to the left of the tracks after approximately 200-feet.

Carter said there is a slight curve in the railroad tracks prior to the spot where the train struck the truck. It did cut vision but the railroad engineer did blow his horn.

"This was a tragic accident," said Carter. "Jacob Boyd was and excellent kid--an athlete, a runner, and a hunter. He was just an all around good kid."

The investigating officer was Juab County Deputy Craig Ryan. In addition, Deputy Justin Kimball and Sheriff Carter assisted at the scene.

West Juab Ambulance responded to the scene and transported Boyd to Central Valley Medical Center, Nephi, where he was officially pronounced dead.

Jeff Boyd, his wife, a other sons were at the wrestling tournament at Moab where they were notified of the accident and death.