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The derailment in Speonk in 2019. EXPRESS FILE
A Long Island Rail Road signalman was arraigned on Friday on a federal charge that he falsified a signal inspection report before a derailment in Speonk that disrupted traffic on the railroad’s Montauk line over Memorial Day weekend in 2019.
Stuart Conklin, 64, formerly of Ronkonkoma but who now lives in Texas, pleaded not guilty to one charge of falsifying records in a virtual hearing before federal Justice Joanna Seybert in Brooklyn. He faces up to two years in prison if convicted. He remains free on $25,000 bail.
Conklin was initially charged in May 2021, nearly two years after the accident, in which an eastbound train clipped a westbound train that had not pulled up far enough on a siding at about 4 a.m. on May 25, 2019.
An investigation determined that a signal malfunctioned that would have alerted the eastbound train’s crew that there was not enough clearance for it to pass the westbound train. The malfunction was traced to a connection problem at a joint in the track.
Federal prosecutors say Conklin filed a report indicating that he had inspected the signal connection on April 26, 2019, but that an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the railroad concluded that he had not done so.
In court papers, investigators say a surveillance video of the track showed no sign of Conklin inspecting the rail joint on the day in question. Investigators also say Conklin’s cellphone records indicate that he was close to his home in Ronkonkoma on the day in question even though he had indicated he was at work.
Conklin resigned from the Long Island Rail Road six days after the incident.
The accident left the East End without train service for two days. Railroad workers worked around the clock to repair track, switches and other equipment as well as put locomotives and railcars back on the track. They completed the work early on Memorial Day morning, allowing full service to resume that day.
He is represented by attorney Anthony LaPinta of Hauppauge and Mineola. He could not be immediately reached for comment.
Stephen J. Kotz on Apr 26, 2022