Kennewick truck driver dies after being hit by train in Oregon

A Kennewick man, who described himself as a hard-working cowboy, died after his semi truck was hit by a train in Oregon.

Lester Myles Sickles, 42, was driving a truck with two trailers in the area of Mud Springs Canyon Road and Cunningham Road south of the Umatilla River between Echo and Pendleton about 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to a report from My Columbia Basin.

Sickles was following another semi truck, according to the report. The other driver crossed the railroad tracks but Sickles stopped with his truck cab on the tracks for an unknown reason, said Umatilla County Undersheriff Jim Littlefield.

A westbound Union Pacific train hit the truck, killing Sickles.

His Facebook page shows he grew up in East Wenatchee, studied horticulture at Washington State University in Pullman and first moved to the Tri-Cities in 1998. He was a former horse trainer.

“I’m a hard-working cowboy, I got a big heart and I do what I can to help out,” he wrote.