An Essex man was killed Wednesday afternoon when the all-terrain vehicle he was driving was hit by an Amtrak passenger train. It happened just southwest of Gardner.

28-year-old Brad Emanuelson was pronounced dead at the scene at 1 p.m. by Grundy County Coroner John Callahan.

The victim was one of three ATV drivers who were operating on railroad right-of-way but 12:30 p.m. They were near Old Route 66, when the train struck his ATV.

Callahan said the crash remains under investigation by his office, the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department and the railroad police.