1938 South Jordan rail crossing disaster

1938 South Jordan rail crossing disaster
Details
Date	December 1, 1938 8:43 am
Location	South Jordan, Utah
Coordinates	40°32′56″N 111°54′08″W
Country	United States
Line	Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
Incident type	Collision
Statistics
Bus	1
Trains	1
Deaths	24
Injured	15

The 1938 South Jordan rail crossing disaster was a collision between a school bus and a train at a level crossing resulting in the deaths of 24 people, 23 of which were students on their way to school. The accident is the basis for an urban legend in San Antonio, Texas.[1]

Accident

On the morning of December 1, 1938, a school bus being driven by Farrold Silcox was heading towards Jordan High School. The weather that morning created a thick fog which decreased visibility immensely. As the bus prepared to cross the grade, a Freight Train called "The Flying Ute" was approaching carrying 80 cars, and accelerating at a pace of 50 miles per hour. By the time the engineer saw the bus, there wasn't enough time for the brakes to slow down the train.[2]

The ensuing collision killed 24 on the bus, including Silcox. 15 students managed to survive the crash, but with serious injuries. It is the worst railroad crossing accident involving a school bus in U.S. history.[3]

Aftermath

A Challenger locomotive, similar to the one that ran into the bus

A memorial was erected nearby at South Jordan Cemetery to commemorate the accident. The plaque lists the names of all of those killed in the collision.[4]

The legal aftermath of the accident mandated that all buses be required to stop at level grades before passing. A "lookout" was also temporarily required, which mandated that another employee get off of the bus at every grade crossing and check for oncoming trains.[3]

Alleged haunting

While the site in South Jordan is not known to be haunted, this incident inspired an urban legend in San Antonio, Texas. One of the crossings was said to be the site of this catastrophe. The legend goes that any car that is stranded on the tracks will be pushed off by invisible hands believed to belong to the children that perished in this accident.[1] However, this might be explained by the occurrence of a gravity hill.[5]

There is no proof that a bus was ever hit by a train at the supposed intersection and is likely a case of residents misremembering the South Jordan bus accident due to how the newspaper was printed.[1]

See also

• Gilchrest Road, New York, crossing accident, a similar incident involving a school bus driver attempting to beat a level crossing.
• 1995 Fox River Grove bus–train collision, a similar incident involving a school bus driver that was unaware that the bus' rear was positioned in the path of an express train.

References

1. "24 killed in horrific bus-train crash that inspired 'ghost tracks' legend in San Antonio". News 4 San Antonio. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
2. Dalrymple II, Jim (December 2, 2013). "Deadly Utah school bus accident remembered 75 years later". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
3. Benson, Lee (October 21, 2009). "About Utah: Bus crash in 1938 led to train laws". Deseret News. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
4. "1938 School Bus/Train Accident Memorial". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
5. "San Antonio, Texas: Ghostly Gravity Hill". Roadside America. Retrieved August 8, 2024.