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

DATE: MONDAY, October 24, 1994                   TAG: 9410240096
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TRAIN HITS TRUCK; DRIVER CHARGED

A truck driver from North Carolina escaped injury - but not charges - Saturday night when a train struck his tractor-trailer truck at a railroad crossing on Garman Road near Salem.

George Lee Holmes, the truck driver, was charged with reckless driving by Roanoke County police. Holmes was heading for the Kroger Co.'s Salem warehouse about 3:35 a.m. with a load of sweet potatoes when the crash happened.

The train, traveling east at about 40 mph, struck the back of the truck.

The collision caused about $2,500 in damage to the train's locomotive and $1,500 to nearby crossing signals, said Bob Auman, a Norfolk Southern spokesman. Damage to the truck was estimated at $15,000. No one was hurt.

by CNB