A vehicle was clipped by a train in Albion early Sunday morning, while trying to cross the tracks ahead of a passing locomotive.

It appears the motorist tried to manoeuvre his northbound SUV through the railway arms at the south end of 240th Street, just as the train approached.

The attempt to get through before the train, failed. The train engine clipped the back end of the vehicle, causing the SUV to driver to lose control.

The vehicle was found crashed in the nearby ditch, explained assistant fire chief Mark Smitten.

While the conductor called police, and stopped the train, the driver of the SUV disappeared.

Efforts by emergency responders, including the RCMP dog squad, to find the driver near the scene failed.

But police report that he did contact the local RCMP office later that same morning, and apparently was uninjured.

The accident occurred at about 12:45 a.m. Sunday on 240th Street at River Road, causing little disruption to vehicular traffic but creating some delays for train traffic.