history. On November 22, 1950, two trains collided after one of the trains passed a red signal in Kew Gardens, killing 78 and injuring 363 in the worst rail disaster in LIRR history. On March 14, 1982, a train hit a van at a level crossing on Herricks Road in Mineola after the driver of the van went around the gate. Nine people were killed and one was injured. On May 17, 2011 a commuter train in Deer Park obliterated a baked goods truck that attempted to drive around the crossing gate. The driver was killed and two passengers were injured. On October 8, 2016, a commuter LIRR train side-swiped a maintenance train east of New Hyde Park station. The commuter train cars suffered damage, 33 passengers were injured with 4 seriously. On January 4, 2017, a Long Island Rail Road commuter train derailed at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, New York. At least 103 people were injured. On February 26, 2019, two separate Long Island Rail Road trains hit a pickup truck at the School Street railroad crossing in Westbury, New York on the LIRR Main Line, causing the driver and two passengers to be ejected from the vehicle resulting in their deaths, numerous injuries, and damage to the nearby LIRR station platform. Train operations The LIRR is relatively isolated from the rest of the national rail system despite operating out of Penn Station, the nation's busiest rail terminal. It connects with other railroads in just two locations: West of Harold Interlocking in Sunnyside, Queens, LIRR trains enter the Amtrak-operated Northeast Corridor leading to the East River Tunnels. When this track was owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad, trains of the PRR connected to the LIRR at Penn Station. During the 1920s and 1930s a through sleeper was carried by PRR and LIRR trains from Pittsburgh to Montauk, called the 'Sunrise Special'. In Glendale, Queens, the LIRR connects with CSX's Fremont Secondary, which leads to the Hell Gate Bridge and New England; however, once trains leave the secondary, they enter LIRR trackage. All LIRR trains have an engineer who operates the train, and a conductor who is responsible for the safe movement of the train, fare collection and on-board customer service. In addition, trains may have one or more assistant conductors to assist with fare collection and other duties. The LIRR is one of the last railroads in the United States