Sept. 25--SOMERSET -- A train and tractor-trailer hauling mail collided Monday morning, scattering envelopes and packages on Route 28 and closing part of the road for hours.
State police in Somerset said Gaines Allen Sims, 63, of Glen Burnie, Md., faces numerous traffic offenses for failing to stop his Peterbilt truck at a Stoystown Road railroad crossing, where he was struck by the 14-car freight train.
The CSX train ripped through the truck, separating its trailer into two pieces and scattering debris, Trooper Shawn Fabian wrote in a media release.
No injuries were reported, he said.
The tractor trailer was carrying packages and other mail when the crash occurred about 9:45 a.m.
The driver's unnamed employer contracted with a mailing house to area haul mail to the Postal Service office, USPS spokesman Tad Kelley said.
"The mail was not ours yet," said Kelley, noting it had not been processed by the Postal Service. "But we've been alerted of the issue. And we are assisting in any way we can ... to get (the mail) to the position where we can accept it."
Copyright 2012 - The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
