A Maryborough man's stop for a call of nature on Saturday night turned to disaster when his car was hit by a fully laden freight train.



The impact of the crash lifted the Commodore station wagon 4m into the air and shunted it 40m down the road, leaving it a twisted ball of metal.



Luckily the south-bound freight train stayed on the rails and the driver stopped it about a kilometre down the track to assess the damage.



Emergency services were called to the Hermans Rd railway crossing at Gunalda about 7.45pm.

A second paramedic team attended to the male train driver about 1km further down the tracks.

He was not hurt and there were no other passengers onboard.

Queensland Rail's Gympie line was temporarily closed while the drivers were assessed by paramedics, and police and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland started investigating the crash.

The line has since reopened and investigations are continuing.