Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, October 11, 1994                   TAG: 9410110149
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TRAIN HITS TAXI AT CROSSING

Yellow Cab driver Claude Barton was still being treated at Roanoke Memorial Hospital's emergency room late Monday.

Fellow Yellow Cab driver Billy Foster, the first to arrive at the crossing, found a dazed Barton. The right front section of Barton's taxi was dented.

"It's amazing he wasn't killed," Foster said.

Barton had radioed to the cab office to let them know about the accident.

"I asked him if he was all right, and he said, `I don't know, I feel strange,''' Foster said. No passengers were in the cab at the time of the accident.

Railroad investigators said the signal lights were flashing red, the train crossing bells were ringing, and the east-bound Norfolk Southern train had its headlight on. There is no crossing gate on either side of that intersection.

Foster said he wasn't sure how the accident could have happened. He said Barton, who has worked for Yellow Cab for several years, was often requested by customers around town.

Police were still investigating the accident late Monday.

Less than a year ago, a Kentucky truck driver was charged with disregarding a railroad signal when he was struck by a train at the same intersection.