The 17-year-old girl who ended her life Tuesday night at a Caltrain crossing was identified today by friends as Sonya Raymakers, a senior at Gunn High School who had been accepted at New York University for next fall.

Shock spread through the Gunn and Palo Alto school community as word spread of the death when she stepped in front of a northbound train at 9:55 p.m. at the West Meadow Drive crossing.

The girl reportedly left a note.

Sonya was heavily involved in theater, working in costume-design, and for years had been involved in creative writing. She won first place in the Palo Alto Weekly's annual short-story contest for her tale "Nighthawk" when she was in the sixth grade at JLS Middle School.

The Oracle, Gunn's student newspaper, featured her in an article published March 16 about how she designed her own clothes and jewelry.

Her Facebook page lists nearly 370 friends.

Trains were halted in both directions for more than an hour until one was allowed through slowly, heading north on the southbound track, after 11 p.m. A southbound passenger train was allowed through at a moderate speed shortly before midnight, as a soft rain began to fall in large drops.

The crossing is where "JP" Blanchard, 17-year-old Gunn student, died in an apparent suicide May 5, a day after a 29-year-old woman, Heather Russell, sat down in front of a train some distance south.

"I am completely shocked and speechless," Philippe Rey, executive director of the Adolescent Counseling Service, which provides counseling for Palo Alto area students and young persons, said of Sonya's death.

Rey said he met briefly with Palo Alto school Superintendent Kevin Skelly today and "all either of us could do was stand there an look down at the ground -- we didn't know what to say."