• 1995 – A commuter train slams into a school bus in Fox River Grove, Illinois, killing seven students.

1995 Fox River Grove bus–train collision

Coordinates: 42°11'49.2"N 88°13'04.0"W


NTSB photograph of the accident scene

Details
Date: October 25, 1995; 29 years ago; 7:10 am
Location: Fox River Grove, Illinois
Coordinates: 42°11'49.2"N 88°13'04.0"W
Line: Union Pacific Northwest Line (Harvard Subdivision)
Operator: Union Pacific
Owner: Union Pacific (railline)
Metra (rolling stock)
Incident type: Collision
Causes: Bus driver misjudgement
Traffic signal timing

The 1995 Fox River Grove bus–train collision was a grade crossing collision that killed seven students riding aboard a school bus in Fox River Grove, Illinois, on the morning of October 25, 1995. The school bus, driven by a substitute driver, was stopped at a traffic light with the rearmost portion extending onto a portion of the railroad tracks when it was struck by a Metra Union Pacific Northwest Line train, train 624 en route to Chicago.

The crash involved a signaled rail crossing located very near a highway intersection which was regulated by traffic signals. The devices were connected and operations were supposed to be carefully timed and coordinated. Such locations are known as "interconnected crossings" within the industries. Highway and railroad officials had each received numerous complaints from the public about the insufficient timing of the warnings provided by the signals in the year prior to the crash, and citizens later told of situations with vehicles unable to clear the tracks in a timely manner.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation found that, while the bus driver was not aware that a portion of the bus was on the tracks as she should have been, the timing of signals was so insufficient that, even if she had identified the hazard as the train approached, she would have had to proceed against a red traffic signal into the highway intersection to have moved out of the train's path.

Legislation and re-engineering of interconnected crossings across the state of Illinois combined with greater awareness elsewhere resulted in efforts to help to prevent similar crashes from recurring. Informational decals were also added to Illinois school buses advising drivers of the length of each bus, since the substitute school bus driver was apparently unaware of the exact length of the bus she was driving. Other states have also embraced that and related aspects and incorporated them into their school bus driver training curriculum.

The Fox River Grove crash stands as the worst crash involving a Metra train in its history, and one of the worst grade crossing crashes in U.S. history. At the crash site, the improved signaling system installed after the crash now protects the passing trains and motor vehicle traffic. Nearby is a small memorial to the seven high school students killed in the crash.

Collision

On October 25, 1995 at 7:10 a.m., train 624 collided with the back of a school bus carrying students to Cary-Grove High School. The collision occurred at the intersection of Algonquin Road, U.S. Route 14, and a double-tracked mainline belonging to the Union Pacific Railroad.[4]: 1  At the time of the accident, the Metra train was traveling at approximately 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).[4]: 45 

The impact separated the body from the chassis of the bus and catapulted the wreckage into the intersection.[4]: 4  Five students were killed during the collision and two later died from their injuries. Another 24 bus passengers were injured, some critically, and four passengers were not injured. Most victims suffered blunt trauma and head injuries. The most seriously injured suffered skull fractures, lacerations and internal injuries. None of the 3 train crew or approximately 120 train passengers were injured.[4]: 7–9 

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[4] Hall, James E.; Francis II, Robert T.; Hammerschmidt, John A.; Goglia, John A.; Black, Jr., George W. (October 26, 1996). "Collision of Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (METRA) Train and Transportation Joint Agreement School District 47/155 School Bus at Railroad/Highway Grade Crossing in Fox River Grove, Illinois, on October 25, 1995" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. https://web.archive.org/web/20151106022132/http://www.ntsb.gov:80/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HAR9602.pdf Archived (PDF) from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2021.

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25 years later, Fox River Grove Metra-school bus crash still haunts engineer, other survivors

The engineer still dreams about it. The mom of one teenage victim drank for years to escape the pain. A survivor pulled through despite a fractured skull but lives in pain and lost years of his memory.

By Stefano Esposito Oct 23, 2020, 5:30am CDT

The dream that has visited Ford Dotson Jr. thousands of times always starts the same way. ... It’s a crisp October morning. Beneath clear skies, leaves shimmer copper, gold and red. ... It’s long before sunrise, and Dotson sets off from home. He’s happy anyway because there are no weekend shifts, no one bugging him to work holidays. He climbs into the cab of Metra’s Union Pacific Northwest Line train No. 624 heading to Chicago from Crystal Lake. At the end of the run, he’ll curl up on a cot for a few hours before making the return trip.

The 200-ton locomotive at the rear of the train pushes six passenger cars and the cab control car. It’s an express, and ahead the signals are green. So Dotson “jumps it up” to the maximum speed — 70 mph. He crosses the Fox River, which sparkles in the sunlight. ... In the distance, he sees a school bus. It’s moving slowly across the tracks, but there’s no reason to panic. Dotson nudges the brake handle — just in case — and blows the train whistle: two long blasts, a short, another long.

But something is wrong. The rear of the bus remains on the tracks. Dotson pumps several short blasts on the airhorn. He keeps at it because the bus isn’t moving. As the train hurtles forward, he slams the brake handle all the way. ... That’s the point in the dream when he always wakes up, shaking, just before the impact.

Twenty-five years ago Sunday, Ford Dotson Jr.’s train smashed into a school bus in Fox River Grove. It wasn’t any dream. Seven teenagers, all of them students at Cary-Grove High School, were killed: Jeffrey Clark, Stephanie Fulham, Susanna Guzman, Michael Hoffman, Joe Kalte, Shawn Robinson and Tiffany Schneider. The bus driver and 24 other passengers were injured. ... The images from that day will haunt Dotson forever.

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Fox River Grove train-school bus crash 25 years later: 'Just something we can't forget'

Christopher Placek
https://twitter.com/chrisplacek

Updated
10/24/2020 3:56 PM

Sunday marks 25 years since the tragic day a train slammed into a school bus in Fox River Grove, and many in this tight-knit community still can't pass the railroad tracks at Northwest Highway and Algonquin Road without remembering the students who died there. ... It's where a small group of loved ones gathers every year on this date to say a prayer for those they call the seven angels.

"Time has healed some wounds, but it's still difficult. Especially when we see each other and there's hugs going on," said Jim Kreher, who as deputy fire chief was the first to arrive at the crash scene shortly after 7:10 a.m. on Oct. 25, 1995. "We laugh and talk about life in general a little more, but it's still there. I can't imagine losing a kid like that."

Kreher, now the chief in the neighboring Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District, maintains a memorial garden at the site with the help of his wife. They often find flowers or mementos left at the foot of a stone carving that bears the names of the seven Cary-Grove High School students who never made it to school that day.

It's personal for Kreher and his brother Bob, the longtime Fox River Grove fire chief, who both grew up in town and never left.

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