Gilchrest Road crossing accident

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The Gilchrest Road crossing accident was a level crossing accident that occurred on March 24, 1972 in the town of Clarkstown, New York, between Valley Cottage and Congers, roughly 25 miles north of New York City. Five students from Valley Cottage were killed, and 44 other students were injured.

The Penn Central railway crossing at Gilchrest Road West just outside of Valley Cottage was an unprotected crossing without flashing lights. The railway line was also difficult for road vehicles to see due to the curvature of, and trees alongside, the road.

On the morning of March 24, 1972, 35-year-old Joseph Larkin, a part-time bus driver who had only driven the route for a week, was driving his school bus, loaded past capacity, downhill on Gilchrest Road. Larkin also worked as a fireman. He wasn't popular with the children on the bus. They claimed he drove too fast and always tried to beat other cars to an intersection. Meanwhile, Penn Central freight train number 2653, travelling at 25 miles per hour with 73 loaded freight cars, was heading towards the Gilchrest Road crossing. It had sounded all required warnings. Approaching the crossing, the bus was not slowing down to allow the train to pass. The train sounded the horn again, to no avail. It then applied brakes, but the train's momentum carried it through the crossing, where it collided with the bus.

The train tore the school bus in two parts. The front half ended up 1000 feet down the tracks. Three students were killed instantly. Forty-five more students and the bus driver were taken to hospital. Two of the students taken to hospital later died. Some of the children that survived required artificial limbs. Larkin was brought to trial and charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of the five students. He claimed he had come to a complete stop and looked both ways before the collision, sixteen witnesses claimed he did not. He was given probation. The judge told him "You will be punished for the rest of your life and you deserve to be".

[edit] References

• Wallechinsky, David and Irving Wallace (eds.) (1975). The People's Almanac. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 566-567. ISBN 0-385-04186-1.