RALEIGH — On the way to doing her civic duty, one Raleigh woman ended up on the wrong side of the tracks.

Her troubles started when she tried to drop off some old phone books at a recycling bin at Hillsborough Street and Blue Ridge Road.

When tow truck driver Mike McColoum arrived, he found a Maxima high-centered on the railroad tracks; there were two wheels on one side of the rail and two on the other side going nowhere.

As a precaution, the railroad stopped two incoming freight trains in their tracks.

"It was called to me as an emergency tow, and I got here as quick as I could," McColoum says. "Initially, I was going to get it from the front, but I determined that I would have caused more damage to the vehicle, and she seemed quite scared so I determined to go around to the back and get it off that way."

Considering the predicament, the rescue was slow and painful, but in the end, it was successful. The car and driver escaped with only a flat tire and a damaged ego.

Police say the track the Maxima was stuck on is only used during the State Fair.