BETHEL – A Raymond man was killed Friday when his car, parked on railroad tracks near the Barker Road crossing, was struck from behind by a train shortly before 3 a.m.

Police were investigating the death of Scott Libby, 25, a landscaper who was believed to have been killed on impact.

Chief Mike Jodrey of the Bethel Fire Department said the car appeared to have been driven onto the tracks from the Barker Road rail crossing. The Chevrolet Cobalt was hit by a westbound St. Lawrence and Atlantic freight train.

Ed Foley, general manager of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad, said the car was parked on the tracks about 200 feet from the Barker Road crossing. The train crew saw the vehicle and began emergency braking procedures but were unable to avoid striking it. The 3,000-foot-long train pushed the car 850 feet along the tracks.

“I’m sure the car will be totaled, but you wouldn’t suspect it had been hit by a train,” Chief Jodrey said. “It looks like someone had rear-ended it at a stop sign.”

The train stayed on the tracks and was not damaged in the collision.

Foley said the car appeared to be pointing in the same direction of travel as the train but was not running and did not have its taillights or headlights on.

“For all intents and purposes, the car was essentially parked on our track,” Foley said.

He said two trains a day pass through the area and both include loaded and unloaded freight cars. The Barker Road crossing has signal lights and bells but no gates.

“This is the phone call at 2 o’clock in the morning you never want to get but we got last night,” Foley said. “Our thoughts and our prayers are with the person who was killed.”

He said the railroad was investigating the incident.

By late Friday afternoon, friends and relatives of Libby were sharing their grief on his MySpace page. Libby graduated from Windham High School in 2001 and Bentley College in Waltham, Mass., in 2005, according to his MySpace profile.

In his so-called “blurb” on the social networking site, Libby wrote, “live in maine, play in boston… im hardworking, fit, caring, handsome and lots of other good & bad things…oh yeah, i also own a greenhouse and landscaping company ( WWW.LIBBYSLANDSCAPING.COM ) and bartend on the weekends at a club in boston… lifes pretty sweet……….”

A family member posted a message stating that a memorial service was planned.