Well, your post seems to indicate a strong dislike of CN.
And your repeated jibes at the railroaders here and in most threads you respond in seem to indicate a dislike of us as a group, although I suspect it is because we resist change for changes sake.
Yup, air brakes have evolved since their invention, but you don’t see that.
It amazes me that you belong to a forum that was populated by professionals involved daily with the subject matter, yet you and a few others seem to fail to grasp the fact that when one of us tells you “it works this way because”… you take off on a tangent explaining how we refuse to change, are simply satisfied with the status quo, so forth and so on, when in reality our industry does evolve all the time.
As for the subject of this thread…if the city was so concerned about that particular road being blocked by a train, well the solution is simple…don’t cross the tracks.
Go under, or over, but not across.
But the city built the crossing, designed by them, installed by them, and mostly paid for and maintained by the railroad.
If you decide to cross the tracks, then you should also accept the fact that, like any machine, a train may break down, in your way, so have an alternative route planned.
As for two hours being excessive, not really.
According to both NORAC and GCOR, if the train goes into emergency brake application, you first advise the dispatcher and any trains in your area you are aware of where you are and what has happened.
Then, by the rules, the conductor or brakeman must inspect the entire train, both sides, to make sure all the wheels are on the rail and no serious damage has occurred…during this inspection you determine what caused the emergency application, and if crossing are blocked, after inspection, if possible, you move the portion of the train you can clear of the crossing.
Once you find the cause, depending on what happened, changing a knuckle, even with a utilit