JENKINS TOWNSHIP -- It happened just after 11 a.m. on River Road in Luzerne County.
Police said a train heading south, hit a car driving north when the vehicle crossed the tracks in Jenkins Township.
Witnesses said they heard the train give off a loud warning before it smashed into the car.
"I heard the whistle blowing, and then I heard crunch," said Harry O'Neill who works nearby.
Police said the impact was so massive, it nearly totaled the car.
The vehicle then spun off down the road.
O'Neill said he jumped into action as soon as he heard the loud crash.
"I ran out and I shut the car off, and I asked her if she was alright, and she said, 'Help me,'" said O'Neill.
Police said a 78-year-old woman was driving the car. The train operator said he was going about 10 miles an hour, blowing the whistle, but the woman did not stop.
"We understand the train whistles were blowing very loudly, we have no reason why she did not hear them," said Chief Frank Mudlock of Jenkins Township Police.
Police said the intersection does not have warning lights or gates that come down to stop moving traffic.
Neighbors said that has become a constant issue when the trains come through twice a day, every day.
"It's a very big problem because a lot of times I see cars barely making it through," said O'Neill.
Police said the driver of the car was sent to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Hospital with head injuries. There is no word on her condition.
The crash is under investigation.