Watch: Man nearly hit by train while trying to save ladder

A man trying to save his ladder from on oncoming train came close to being run over himself.

The man apparently slipped on the rainy pavement and fell while trying to retrieve his ladder which had fallen off a truck onto the railroad tracks at Beach Street near I-30.

Dan Clark of Aledo captured the dramatic scene on his cellphone. He was stopped at the crossing and said he saw the ladder fly off the pickup.

“I thought to myself, ‘Don’t get out of the truck. It’s only a ladder,’” he said. “I was kind of rooting for him at first, then I thought he was kind of crazy. Then he slipped, and that was kind of worrisome.

“I was trying to figure out a way to help him but I knew there was no way to cover that distance before the train got there. The train was dang close, and wailing on the horn.”

In the video, the man flips the ladder while on his hands and knees near the tracks and tries to pull it out of the way. The driver of the pickup hustles over to give him a hand and the two of them hoist the ladder off the tracks just before the Trinity Railway Express train passes.

It happened between 3:30 and 4 p.m. Friday, Clark said.

He posted the video on YouTube with the title: “FORT WORTH MAN NEARLY HIT BY TRAIN!!” His wife, Karen, shared it with the Star-Telegram on Tuesday.

“Fortunately, it turned out well,” Clark said. “He made it, but I’ll bet he thinks twice before he tries to do that again.”

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Watch: Man nearly hit by train while trying to save ladder."