Today I got caught at the crossing as the local was switching the elevator. A couple of interesting observations.
a. The guy in front of me stopped for the lights – right on the track with the crossing gate bouncing on the top of his car. Fortunately the engine crew were stopped and signaled him to drive on, but could have been a disaster if this had been one of the through trains rather than the local.
b. After pulling the loads, the train backed beyond the switch to drop them. Then pulled forward past the switch and then pushed into the elevator spur. What was interesting was when they pulled forward, they didn’t wait, but immediately began the push. Just like we often see in modeling when someone goes from forward to reverse as fast as they can flip the switch without stopping. So there’s even a prototype for switching at modeling speeds.