Leucadia

An Escondido woman escaped injury Monday when the van she was driving stalled on the Santa Fe Railroad tracks in Leucadia and was struck by a northbound Amtrak train. Michelle Mathews, 20, was crossing the railroad tracks at Leucadia Boulevard when the van stalled on the tracks. Attempts to start the van and to push it off the tracks failed, she told California Highway Patrol officers. The approaching train triggered the crossing gates, blocking the van on the tracks, and Mathews ran to safety. The van was destroyed but the passenger train was able, after a delay, to continue its run to Los Angeles.