A BNSF freight train slammed into an unoccupied vehicle at a railroad crossing in Denver’s Baker neighborhood Saturday evening, spinning the empty car on the tracks before the train slowed to a stop. No injuries were reported, and the driver stayed at the scene after the crash.
The collision happened around 7:30 p.m. at a crossing near South Kalamath Street and West Bayaud Avenue, just east of Interstate 25, according to The Denver Post. The crossing is equipped with gates, lights and bells, as Denver7 reports. Denver police confirmed that no injuries were reported in the crash, per the Post’s reporting.
BNSF Railway spokesperson Kendall Sloan told the Post the train struck an unoccupied vehicle near the Kalamath and Bayaud crossing and said there were no reported injuries to the crew. BNSF operates one of the largest freight railroad networks in North America, the outlet notes.
Video Shows Car Spinning as Train Blares Horn
Denver7 video of the incident appears to show the car partially on the tracks with its hood lodged underneath the crossing arm as the train approached. The footage shows the train crashing into the car while blaring its horn, and the collision appeared to spin the empty car on the tracks as the train slowed to a stop, according to the same video reviewed by the Post.
No additional information was available about the incident as of the Post’s report, including what led to the vehicle being positioned at the crossing or how it came to rest partially on the tracks. The driver remained at the scene following the accident, Denver7 reported, but further details on the circumstances have not been released.
A Crossing With a History
This stretch of track has seen trouble before. In November 2021, Denver police responded to a report of a pedestrian struck by a train in the same area near South Kalamath Street and West Bayaud Avenue, according to the Denver Gazette. That incident is separate from Saturday’s crash and involved different circumstances.
Separately, KDVR has reported that two people were killed in a prior collision between a car and a freight train at Kalamath and Bayaud, while another crash nearby at South Santa Fe Drive and West Bayaud Avenue sent a driver to the hospital for evaluation, with police saying the injuries did not appear serious, according to a separate KDVR report. RTD crews also reconstructed the light-rail crossing at Kalamath Street and reopened two lanes of traffic during a 2025 project update, per RTD.
Statewide, railroad safety has drawn renewed attention: three people were killed in highway-rail grade crossing incidents in Colorado through May 2026, following four deaths and 13 injuries in 2025, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. Nationally, 286 people were killed and 766 injured in railroad crossing incidents the prior year, the agency said.
