Why we stop, look, and listen.

The practice might seem like a waste of time, or at least like an overly cautious safety measure. But like many traffic laws, it was a tragedy that led to this one. To understand, we need to go back to a foggy December winter morning in 1938.

A school bus filled with 38 students was driven by 28-year old Ferrald Silcox and picking up students for delivery to Jordan High School. A snowstorm had blanketed the southern end of the valley that morning and visibility and driving conditions were difficult. The bus Silcox was driving was unheated, except for a defroster for the front windshield. With the cold weather, the windows were closed and covered in condensation. Pausing at the crossing, the driver could neither see nor hear the oncoming train.

Silcox had been driving the bus for almost three years and had never seen a train on the crossing at that time of day. He stopped the bus and looked out the window, but he did not see the train approaching. The law at the time only required bus drivers to stop and look, not to listen for oncoming trains.

A Challenger locomotive from the Union Pacific.
By Mark Evans – originally posted to Flickr as Challenger 01, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7581984

The Flying Ute was the D&RGW’s second class freight, carrying loads from Pueblo, Colorado to Salt Lake City at the same speed as a passenger train. Led by a 314-ton Challenger locomotive, the train was part of a new generation of fast steam trains capable of speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. Approaching the crossing, the train was traveling just over 50 miles per hour.

As required to by law, the train crew, who saw the school bus parallel to, and ahead of them, blew their horn for around 1,500 feet (approximately 20 seconds) before reaching the crossing. As the bus moved forward, the fireman on the locomotive called a warning to the engineman. The engineman hit the emergency brakes, but a train that size takes nearly a half mile to stop.

The body of the bus was thrown 100 feet from the tracks, while the steel chassis was wrapped around the front of the locomotive and dragged for the half mile, scattering band instruments, school papers, and the bodies of students along the way. The crash killed 23 children and the bus driver, making it the deadliest school bus crash in U.S. history.

The crash had a profound impact on the community, and led to changes in national railroad crossing regulations. The accident reverberated beyond the community as well. Accounts of the crash appeared in major newspapers all over the U.S. and helped spark a series of new safety protocols for bus-railroad interaction. Today, bus drivers are required to not only stop at railroad crossings, but also to open their door and driver side window to look and listen for oncoming trains.

For a time, a “lookout” was also required — a student who would step off the bus and visually check down the tracks. Later, this practice was abandoned because it put the lookout in jeopardy.