Hot shots video shows issue at deadly crossing

Days after a deadly collision between a pick-up truck and a Via Rail passenger train at a rail crossing on Winterburn Road and 111th avenue, new questions are emerging about the functionality of the crossing arms at the intersection.

John Baxter and his daughters Julianne and Coral were killed last Tuesday morning when their pick-up truck was hit by a train as they were driving to Winterburn School during a fierce snowstorm. In the days after the crash, the complaints about the intersection started.

Global News has obtained hot shots video of the train crossing taken on Saturday, May 8th that shows the crossing arms down and the lights flashing despite the fact that there are no trains coming down the line.

The viewer who shot the video says cars sat at the intersection for nearly five minutes before several of the drivers got impatient and drove through the crossing, even though the arms were still down.

For Baxter's brother, a malfunction with the gate is the only "logical explanation" for what happened last Tuesday.

"There's a possibility that on his side of the tracks - the north side - the gate didn't come down, because it wasn't damaged." James Baxter told Global News last week. "Had he driven through it, it would have snapped off."

A spokesperson for CN, who owns the line says if there was an incident over the weekend it was isolated, and the gates were functioning properly on Tuesday when the crash happened.