There seem to be two kinds of crossing gates to be found at most intersections: one kind with gates that stay down for as long as the passing train is blocking the intersection. The second kind, which seems to be popular close to very heavily-trafficked yards (at least in SoCal), feature gates that stay down for, say, as long as the train in question is making fwd progress, but then, if the train stops, after about five minutes, the gates will go up and the lights will stop flashing.
Two questions: What kind of governing mechanism (if any) dictates which kinds of crossing gates are used at given arterial crossings? And, legally, if someone happened to crash into a train at a stopped crossing, where the gates had already gone up, would any of the responsibility for that accident be borne by either the RR for having its train block the intersection, or (I guess) by the state, since they’re the ones responsible for deciding what kinds of crossing gates are placed at different categories of intersections? As a corollary, is there any restriction (or rule of thumb) of how long a freight train can block an arterial intersection, dependent or independent on the time of day?
Can’t speak for the railroads, but it’s probably a variety of things, including type of traffic on both the highway and the railroad, and when that set of gates and their accompanying activation hardware was installed/upgraded.
The railroad owns the crossing. The highway is the visitor. Barring a time limit for blocking crossings (which some municipalities do have), the railroad can block the crossing as long as they want. If a vehicle runs into the train that is occupying the crossing, total and complete blame would fall on the motorist, regardless of the operational status of any crossing signals. The general idea for the signals is to prevent anyone from occupying the crossing when a train is approaching. Once the train is there…
In most towns in the Chicago area, tickets can be issued for trains blocking crossings for 15 minutes without moving. And they often are. Sometimes its cheaper for a railroad to pay the tickets to keep its freight moving down the line, and they see it as a cost of doing business.
If a driver was stupid enough to run his vehicle into the side of a stopped train at a crossing where the gates were up, he would be cited for “failure to control a motor vehicle to avoid an accident.” Among other things, like reckless driving, if the officer was in a “mood” that day.
"1. TRAIN MOVEMENTS-Except as provided in Paragraph 5, a
public grade crossing which is blocked by a stopped train, other
than a passenger train, must be opened within 10 minutes, unless
no vehicle or pedestrian is waiting at the crossing. Such a cleared
crossing must be left open until it is known that the train is ready
to depart. When recoupling such a train at the crossing, move-
ment must be made promptly, consistent with safety.
SWITCHING MOVEMENTS-Switching over public grade cross-
ings should be avoided whenever reasonably possible. If not
reasonably possible, such crossings must be cleared frequently to
allow a vehicle or pedestrian to pass and must not be occupied
continuously for longer than 10 minutes unless no vehicle or
pedestrian is waiting at the crossing."
Tree68, yes, the RR owns the crossing, but doesn’t the state in question make the decison(s) and provide the financing for whatever traffic control device (i.e. crossbucks, flashing lights, gates) is installed at given grade crossings, and can therefore be held liable (or not) for any possible accident, regardless of the RR company that “owns” the intersection? Of course, it does defy common sense to “crash” into a train in such a setting, but as we’ve seen in recent train/motorist/pedestrian encounters, common sense appears to be in shorter and shorter supply, doesn’t it?![:(]
I’ve seen some of the crossings you describe, where a train may pull into the “range” of the crossing and activate the signals. The train may stop short of the crossing (say, a passenger train at a stop) and the gates go up. The gates are reactivated once the train begins moving again. Multiple sensors along the track distinguish a moving train from a stationary one.
The crossings with protection depending on the speed or stopping of the train are relatively new. They don’t really have multiple sensors, but rather sophisticated computer programe. Certain types of protection may be mandated by the governments involved, but they are installed and maintained by the railroads based on the specifications (and suppliers) that they favor.
Having said the above about gates that will lift if the train stops, I’ve seen earlier versions that must have had multiple sensors, with the most distant being to a timed circuit and the next one to something more permanent (i.e., the train had to stop short of a certain point for the gates to go up, then crawl toward that point–often indicated by a sign or other marker–to lower the gates).
Several grade crossings on Metra Electric’s South Chicago branch are set up so that they aren’t activated until the train moves a few feet from the hi-level station platform. The Special Instructions state that the train must stop and can’t proceed until the gates have lowered completely.
The reason I posted a portion of the NORAC rule for flagging crossings was to suggest that once the train is in the crossing, the crossing signals essentially become redundant. There is now a very large, and very solid, object occupying the crossing.
As far as a RR “owning” an intersection, there are no “quotes” about it - in virtually all cases the highway is the interloper.
MC can speak better to who provides what and under what circumstances when it comes to crossing warning equipment.