About 2:35 a.m. on May 2, 1995, National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) train No. 81, the Silver State, on it southbound run from New York, New York, to Tampa, Florida, struck on O&J Gordon Trucking Company tractor-lobed semitrailer combination that had been lodged for 30 to 35 minutes on rural, high-versicle-profile, passive grade crossing about 1 mile north of Sycamore, South Carolina.