Truck, Train Collide In Potsdam

POTSDAM - A delivery truck driver was not seriously hurt after his vehicle collided with a train shortly before 1 p.m. Friday.

State police said the driver, Fa Guan Lin, 54, of Rochester, failed to see the train coming or stop after dropping off a water heater at the Route 11 freight yard across from Clarkson University.

Unable to stop, the train struck Mr. Lin's truck and spun it around, striking a metal gate. Troopers said Mr. Lin, originally of China, suffered minor bruises. The impact tore a hole in the side of his truck. There was no damage to the train.

"He crossed the tracks where he shouldn't have been. The driver doesn't speak English, so he couldn't read the signs that said, 'Danger, don't cross,'" said John A. Keleher, assistant Potsdam Fire Department chief.

Mr. Lin was ticketed for failure to stop, returnable to Potsdam Court, troopers said.