GUILDERLAND — On Oct. 2 at 8 p.m., Guilderland Police responded to a report that a train had struck someone, and determined that the victim had committed suicide.

CSX railroad called the police department, and said that a train, traveling eastbound from Buffalo, was crossing Countyline Road when “a party was hit,” said Captain Curtis Cox.

The Guilderland Police Department and the Fort Hunter Fire Company arrived at the scene, where, said Cox, the “remains were located.”

Albany County Coroner Timothy J. Cavanaugh was also called to the scene, and the person was identified as Christopher Weston, 39, of Guilderland.

His family described him as a “gentle soul” and thanked the Fort Hunter firemen and Guilderland Police, who, over the years came to “understand Chris’s battle and showed compassion and care for him.”

Cox said that, when there is an investigation into a train fatality, officers look into the circumstances, where the body is found, the recent history of the individual, and review footage from cameras installed on the front of the trains.

The CSX Corporation also conducted an investigation, said Cox. A representative from CSX could not be reached for comment.

The freight had 102 cars, and train traffic was halted during the investigation.

According to a study conducted by the Federal Railroad Safety Administration, which began collecting data on the number of suicide train deaths in 2012, there have been 626 suicides by train in the United States, and 49 in New York State in the past two-and-a-half years.

CSX has been involved in 73 of the suicides across the country, and seven of the suicides in New York State.

In 2012, Robert Kulat, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, told The Enterprise that it decided to start recording the information because “there is evidence that suicides are very prevalent on railroads.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 39,518 suicides were reported in 2011; in that year, someone in the United States died by suicide every 13.3 minutes.

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People who have lost someone to suicide and are seeking help, or people contemplating suicide, may call Contact Lifeline at 518-689-4673, or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.