Both diesel locomotives and the first two coaches plunged into Newark Bay and sank immediately, killing 48 people and injuring 48 more.

[1] A third coach, snagged by its rear truck (bogie), hung precariously off the bridge for two hours before it also toppled into the water.

An autopsy found that the engineer, 63-year-old Lloyd Wilburn, had indications of hypertensive heart disease, but that he had died of asphyxia due to drowning.

Lacking more definitive evidence, it was presumed that the engineer had somehow become incapacitated in the cab and the fireman failed to take appropriate action to stop the train.

The Newark Bay lift bridge was used until the last passenger train left Bayonne's Eighth Street Station on August 6, 1978.

[4] Demolition of the central lift spans began in July 1980 after the United States Coast Guard declared the structure a navigational hazard to ships.