Railroad Crossing Rant

[B47]

Originally Posted by RubyDually

Here in Canada and I'm sure it's exactly the same in the US...

No signal is sent... when a problem arises with a crossing they go into fail safe mode and stay activated. They then rely on the public or police to call it in.

Like Choo says... we then get a restriction where in our case we must stop and manually protect the crossing until its occupied by the locomotive.

I see there are some RR employees,both active and retired,here and I enjoy reading your posts. This is a great forum,both for RV topics obviously and other subjects also. I'm learning things about RR's that I never knew before and enjoy it just as I hope my and others posts about aviation are enjoyed by some of you.

One question - am I understanding that the RR relies solely on the public/police to call in a problem or is going into the fail safe mode the first indication the RR gets of a problem?

For those of you who get the Smithsonian channel,they occasionally feature espisodes called Trains and Locomotives about both steam and diesel locomotives and RR's that no longer exist.

[RubyDually]

Originally Posted by B47

One question - am I understanding that the RR relies solely on the public/police to call in a problem or is going into the fail safe mode the first indication the RR gets of a problem?

The reason they stay activated is for the obvious... When the crossing protection device breaks down that it defaults to being continuously activated. It's a lot better than the alternative that it not work at all.

BTW... they have battery backup in the case of a power failure.

Then an added benefit is not just RR people who are going to notice and call it in where it's often the police.




EDIT: Sorry about the hijack on your thread ChooChooMan74

[Steelframer]

As a retired FF/EMT I've been to my fair share of train vs auto....auto never wins.


TT-2015 Cherokee 274dbh TV-2010 Jeep Commander Limited

[raspivey]

A question for you US rail guys...I see a lot of cars being sorted late at night down where I'm at. When I say sorted, I mean breaking down a train..a few cars down this track, a few down this one, and back to the other line. What they'll do is hit the gas, turn a car or two loose, and hit the brakes while a guy switches tracks when the cars roll by with no control on them whatsoever. Then back up and repeat. Is this a normal operation while outside of a rail yard (between public roadways)?

[youroo]

Originally Posted by JohnF

I just told this story to a nephew at a Christmas gathering last night. When I was riding the school bus in rural Ohio in the 60’s we had no railroad crossing lights. I remember Mr. Vincent (science teacher and bus driver) pulling up to the rr tracks on a very foggy morning. He sent a high school boy (Joe Sherman) out ahead of the bus. Joe would put his ear to the tracks and if he heard nothing would wave the bus through. I bet that doesn’t happen anymore!

John

John was Joes nickname (Flat Head?)

[ChooChooMan74]

Originally Posted by B47

I see there are some RR employees,both active and retired,here and I enjoy reading your posts. This is a great forum,both for RV topics obviously and other subjects also. I'm learning things about RR's that I never knew before and enjoy it just as I hope my and others posts about aviation are enjoyed by some of you.

One question - am I understanding that the RR relies solely on the public/police to call in a problem or is going into the fail safe mode the first indication the RR gets of a problem?

For those of you who get the Smithsonian channel,they occasionally feature espisodes called Trains and Locomotives about both steam and diesel locomotives and RR's that no longer exist.

There are new crossing technology that is being implemented when a crossing gets updated. I know of an incident at this one crossing, where the engineer messed up by releasing the brakes early on a downhill before going uphill. Train was built where the loads were in the back, so he under estimated what his train would do. This is on 10 MPH track. He hit the crossing at 17 and it sent a signal to the office that the crossing may be having issues, because the gates were not down long enough before the train was going across the road. But, there are very few of these crossings, as they are only being put in when an update is needed, mostly due to a major project on the road.

[ChooChooMan74]

Originally Posted by raspivey

A question for you US rail guys...I see a lot of cars being sorted late at night down where I'm at. When I say sorted, I mean breaking down a train..a few cars down this track, a few down this one, and back to the other line. What they'll do is hit the gas, turn a car or two loose, and hit the brakes while a guy switches tracks when the cars roll by with no control on them whatsoever. Then back up and repeat. Is this a normal operation while outside of a rail yard (between public roadways)?

That is called kicking cars. It is mostly done in flat yards (yards where they don't have a hump [hill] to let gravity do the work), but I have done it at some industries before when I was a conductor, especially if the industry likes to not empty the cars in order. We have special rules where we are not allowed to do it, but one of the #1 rules for us is "Always take the safest course". And, you are not supposed to kick cars over a crossing, but nothing between crossings.

[ChooChooMan74]

Originally Posted by RubyDually

The reason they stay activated is for the obvious... When the crossing protection device breaks down that it defaults to being continuously activated. It's a lot better than the alternative that it not work at all.

BTW... they have battery backup in the case of a power failure.

Then an added benefit is not just RR people who are going to notice and call it in where it's often the police.




EDIT: Sorry about the hijack on your thread ChooChooMan74

Don't worry about hijacking. Now, if we started talking about flowers, then that is a hijacking.

I experienced one total failure, but as a conductor. Dark territory (no signals, the dispatcher gives you a form that says the track is all yours and no one else is on it), lightly used secondary track that sees 2 trains a day each way, late at night, seldom used back road, they had a power failure in the area. The backup battery shorted out. Came up to the crossing at nearly 30mph and it was totally dark. Just say, the FRA was all over that crossing.

[rockfordroo]

Interesting story: The Milwaukee Road lines west (South Dakota to Washington state) shut down early in 1980. A few months later, some guys with speeders decided they’d go run the rails before they were taken up. So in mid-May, they went out to Montana to run the rails. They came to a tunnel that still had a red signal light outside. (That’s some battery, if it was still on battery power – they thought everything had been shutdown.) They sat there for 4 or 5 hours before deciding they could go through. Went through with no problem.

The real excitement was yet to come: They’d been out in the mountains for several days with no outside communication when all of a sudden, all this “stuff” started falling out of the sky. They thought the apocalypse had come. Turned out it was May 18, 1980 and Mt St. Helens had erupted.

[BooBoo23]

Originally Posted by asquared

My rant is people stopping on the tracks during a red light. The tracks in our town are very active, both with fairly speedy passenger trains and the long slow box trains. To give you an idea, we can see 2 or 3 trains in an hour sometimes. Now these not so bright individuals go and sit on these active tracks. People get hit. In the last three years, I'm aware of multiple accidents including some teenagers who got trapped between the crossing gates when they came down. They are now closing a major intersection because it has been deemed unsafe due to the number of accidents. It is not unsafe unless you are the one who stops on the tracks. Ok end of rant.

I don't know about other states but in Georgia it is against the law to stop on a railroad track(s). Where I live there is a main line running right through the business district with heavy train traffic and I have seen people stop on the tracks many times at a traffic light but don't know if anyone has been ticketed for it.

[onetonford]

Here where I live the RR and the police department get together and have a sting where they take a Engine and run up and down the main line and catch people running the signals or stopping on the tracks at the light. They put it on the news and people that don't know the laws tend to learn real quick. They do this every year and they catch over a hundred people every time and every year we get less accidents of car versus trains.....

[B47]

Originally Posted by onetonford

Here where I live the RR and the police department get together and have a sting where they take a Engine and run up and down the main line and catch people running the signals or stopping on the tracks at the light. They put it on the news and people that don't know the laws tend to learn real quick. They do this every year and they catch over a hundred people every time and every year we get less accidents of car versus trains.....

That's very interesting - I never heard of that being done in the DFW area.

[B47]

Originally Posted by youroo

John was Joes nickname (Flat Head?)

Was Joe an Indian?

[B47]

Originally Posted by ChooChooMan74

There are new crossing technology that is being implemented when a crossing gets updated. I know of an incident at this one crossing, where the engineer messed up by releasing the brakes early on a downhill before going uphill. Train was built where the loads were in the back, so he under estimated what his train would do. This is on 10 MPH track. He hit the crossing at 17 and it sent a signal to the office that the crossing may be having issues, because the gates were not down long enough before the train was going across the road. But, there are very few of these crossings, as they are only being put in when an update is needed, mostly due to a major project on the road.

Thanks to you and all the other RR employees and members here who have taken the time to reply to the RR questions.

I found it very interesting.

[DDC]

I use to work at a GM plant in London Ontario where we built a lot of the locos that are running today, just west of the plant was a very active line and it was very close to a junction controlled by lights and even though these people new both the size and power of a loco they would stop on the tracks and wait for the lights to change, it was a miracle that no one was ever hit. I always feel sorry for the engineer and conductor of these trains because they don't get to take any action other than applying brakes that may take a mile to stop, my son is an engineer for CN and does counselling for the crews of these accidents and the other ones 'suicide by locomotive' which is quite common and can be devastating to the crew.

[asquared]

Originally Posted by onetonford

Here where I live the RR and the police department get together and have a sting where they take a Engine and run up and down the main line and catch people running the signals or stopping on the tracks at the light. They put it on the news and people that don't know the laws tend to learn real quick. They do this every year and they catch over a hundred people every time and every year we get less accidents of car versus trains.....

That is actually a really good idea, especially since there are so many tracks in this area of nc.

[Blubear]

The possible problem today is there are too many people who seemingly "just don't care" about rules and/or laws. They do whatever they please and are oblivious to the consequences.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by onetonford

Here where I live the RR and the police department get together and have a sting where they take a Engine and run up and down the main line and catch people running the signals or stopping on the tracks at the light. They put it on the news and people that don't know the laws tend to learn real quick. They do this every year and they catch over a hundred people every time and every year we get less accidents of car versus trains.....

They do the same around here every now and again. Here was the latest in October with video:

http://www.myarklamiss.com/story/d/s...lEuMRaZe0bXprA

We also have an active Operation Lifesaver chapter around here that publicizes train safety pretty frequently.

http://oli.org/

[wmtire]

I can say I'm almost paranoid about RR crossings, which goes back to my teenage years (30+ years ago). At that time, there was this one crossing that I had to go thru between my job and home. It didn't have gates then (but they have been installed now).

Anyway I had worked late one night and was heading home. I don't know if I was just tired, zoned out listening to the radio, young and dumb, or what..........but this one time I didn't stop at the crossing to look....like I had so many times before. I just went right thru the crossing, and remember looking to my left as I was dead center of the crossing, and there being a light almost in my window. I just closed my eyes, gripped the steering wheel, and I 'think' floored the accelerator pedal.

When I did reopen my eyes, I glanced in the rearview mirror and could see the train cars passing in front of the headlights of the vehicle that had been behind me, and it was a fast train. I'm not sure when I started breathing again, but I think I fogged up my truck windows when I did finally exhale.

30 years later I still go thru that crossing twice a day, and even though there are now gates at the crossing...I stop way back and look both ways. I'm not even sure my mind is what makes me stop, or it's more of my rear end having a memory of that night and takes control of my leg to hit the brake, as it doesn't ever want to be clinched that tight again. I believe I may have pooped a diamond or two out later that evening.

[cdangel0]

Originally Posted by wmtire

I just went right thru the crossing, and remember looking to my left as I was dead center of the crossing, and there being a light almost in my window.

Yeah I know that feeling - one day about 20 years ago I was crossing tracks that didn't have the arms that come down. Bright sunny day. Red lights were flashing but I was wearing green tinted sunglasses .... if you didn't know, green lenses prevent red light from being seen. I was in the middle of the tracks when I saw the train less than 20' feet from my door. I have literally never been so scared in my life, or ever since.

Nor have I ever worn green tinted sunglasses ever again.