August 15, 1956
Chicago Tribune

1 DIES, 1 HURT AS AUTO HITS HALTED TRAIN
Vernon Johnson, 26, of the Forest Trailer park, Park Ridge, was killed last night when the car in which he was a passenger crashed into a halted freight train at the North Western railroad tracks at Howard st., near McCormick rd., Skokie.

Robert Maynard, 26, who also lives in the trailer park and was the driver, was injured and taken to St. Francis hospital, Evanston. Police said that a truck making a U turn in front of the train apparently had obscured Maynard's vision.

Up to midnight Monday, 337 person had been killed in traffic accidents in Cook county since Dec. 31. Of these, 197 were killed in Chicago, where 20,726 were injured in the same period.

August 16, 1956
Chicago Tribune

1 KILLED, 1 HURT AS AUTO HITS HALTED TRAIN

Vernon Johnson, 26, of the Forest Trailer court, Skokie, was killed yesterday when the automobile in which he was riding struck a halted freight train at the North Western railway crossing at Howard st. near McCormick rd., Skokie.

Robert Maynard, 26, of the same address, who was driving, was seriously injured and was taken to St. Francis hospital, Evanston.

Car Catches Fire

A fire in the auto was put out with an extinguisher by Carl Wagner, 50, of 30 S. Homan av., an engineer in a nearby sewage treatment plant. Skokie police and firemen worked 45 minutes to remove the victims from the wreckage.

Witnesses said warning lights at the crossing were in operation.