Photographs from The Queens Borough Public Library, Long Island Division, Frederick J. Weber Collection.

These 1950 phoptographs show the Long Island Railroad tracks looking east. In the first photograph, the photographer is in neighboring Forest Hills looking toward Kew Gardens. The Union Turnpike overpass in the background marks the dividing line between the two communities. The motorman of the Babylon train received his go slow signal just before entering that overpass. The second photograph shows the view from the Union Turnpike overpass looking east into Kew Gardens. The Kew Gardens Long Island Railroad Station area is about 1/3 of a mile distant. Once the Babylon train had rounded the bend from Forest Hills, the tracks leading to the site of the collision were straightaway. However, as this second picture illustrates, the distance between the two trains at this point [more than 4,000 feet] would have made it impossible for the motorman of the Babylon train to have seen anything. Remember, these photographs were taken during daylight hours. The crash occurred at night. Click here to return to the main page.