| A westbound Port Washington train has knocked down the automatic at Little Neck, setting it to stop and proceed. It will go to approach when the train passes the next signal west, next to the bay after passing Douglaston. The street to the right, 39th Av, locally known as the "back road" because you could get to Douglaston on it without going out to Northern Blvd, had some misadventures over the years. One night around 1980, I was in the little store to the right when the gates went down. A car pulled up, its front hood under the gate. An express train from Great Neck to Penn Station clipped the front of the car, flipping it around, and demolishing the battery and radiator. The driver was not happy, but the cop who responded to the accident was not sympathetic. |