Questions remain on why truck in train crash didn’t stop

“The driver obviously applied his brakes,’’ McCausland said. “The question is now why didn’t he stop quick enough. That’s an answer we don’t have at the moment.’’

Police are looking at cellphone and logbook records and GPS and other electronic equipment on the truck to try to determine why it did not stop in time. McCausland said police do not yet know how fast Barnum was driving, but the posted speed limit on the street is 35 miles per hour.

A spokesman for the trucking company that employed Barnum, Triumvirate Environmental Inc., said yesterday that the trash came from a transfer station in Kittery, Maine, and was being taken to the Maine Energy incinerator in Biddeford.

Barnum was hired in April. He had a clean driving record for the past two years and had been a licensed commercial driver for the past decade, the company said. The truck had also been properly inspected, the company added.

Barnum had two speeding tickets on his Maine driving record. A spokesman for the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles did not return calls seeking comment yesterday on Barnum’s driving record there.

The crash separated the locomotive from the rest of the train and created a fireball and several small fires around the area.

It also left piles of garbage scattered along the tracks and roadway.

Dwayne Morin, the North Berwick town manager, said yesterday that Amtrak hired crews to clean up the mess. Amtrak resumed normal operations late Monday, and yesterday’s trains were running on time.

Passengers praised the train crew for keeping people calm after the crash. Mark Monti, 51, of Cambridge, said the crew “did a fantastic job’’ explaining what had happened.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Globe Correspondent Martine Powers also contributed to the report. John M. Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globe_guilfoil.