I might not be the smartest person in the world but if a train is that close to a crossing shouldnt the crossing gates be DOWN. Or am i the only one that sees this as wrong
Is the train moving or is it stopped for some reason. If it is stopped maybe the crew disabled the gates while they were sitting. There is a section near me where CSX does alot of switching and while they are doing these moves the gates stay up.
The first thing wrong is it’s UP, up and UP go together ?
The ditch lights aren’t on - that indicates the train is probably not moving. I see them park close like this all the time at a crossing near my home.
snicker snicker[}:)][}:)]
I can hear the UP trolls grumbling!!![:D]
Nothing, if you can believe UP’s statement that any fatality at that railroad crossing will be totally due to vehicle driver’s error.
I’ve actually seen a train sticking out into the street . The loco wasn’t running, so naturally the gates weren’t down and the lights weren’t flashing. Fortunately, there was a huge shoulder on the side the locomotive was on.
Matt
I never thought about movement but i dont get trains stopped alot here but just at a glance i thought it had lawsuit all over it
What’s RIGHT is that the crew of that stopped train raised the gates so vehicles could use the road until they actually needed to block it. Incidentally, this is required by local ordnance in many jurisdictions.
Am I mistaken or isn’t there an automatic trip relay when the engine gets a cetain distance from the crossing triggering the gates and lights? I have just the opposite at a crossing near my home. the gates and lights start woring when there isn’t a train within a mile of the crossing, constantly see a CXS work truck by the relay box, apparently they still haven’t worked it out…
Radioman2
Yes, you are correct. But, they can also override the trip.
As for the CSX truck, they’re probably testing it. They did this many times a day here a few years back.
As Ken stated above, the ditch light’s aren’t on and the gates aren’t down and the light’s aren’t flashing, so the train isn’t moving. Most locomotives today have a switch in them that sends a signal to the crossing to raise the gates if the locomotive stops inside the circut.
nharrison21…I live in Rock Hill SC, southeast of you, just south of Charlotte…I see your rr of choice (NS) do exactly that quite often in town…there is a main and what appears to be a lead to a yard in town (still looking for that)…what ever the reason, sometimes the locos (up to 5 that I have observed) are parked and no crew is anywhere in sight…other times one or 2 really old hi nose locos are parked in another location just idling for hours…the police won’t let the rr block the crossings here for very long…as a recent SoCal transplant, I know both the UP and BNSF have very heavy restrictions regarding the blocking of crossings in Riverside and Orange counties…traffic is a nightmare at best, loosing a major street to a train just doesn’t get it in SOCal…
I believe not too long ago there was an article in the Trains Mag NewsWire that a CSX engineer had parked their train close enough to trigger the crossing. Therefore, the engineer opened the gates and allowed cars to pass. Unfortunately, another train came, and the gates remained open, causing a car accident with a fatality.
I would think that this situation was similar, however, it didn’t result in the gruesome end.
If you guys have not noticed there is a man in the locomotive!! I am not sure abnout this one?? There is a gap in the rail and when a trains wheels roll over it triggers the gates. I think I am correct??? Tim
Could be the crew getting ready to disembark or the new crew settleing in before they get moving. Either way, in today’s railroading, it’d be very unusual to see a train moving over a crossing without it’s ditch light’s on (required by FRA I believe).
What code is that rail? looks huge.
Ken.
Now a days, many crossings are equipped with motion sensing triggers, so that if a train stops (as this one appears to be) the crossing gates go back up, and stay up until the train moves again. This also can trigger the gates sooner or later depending on the speed of the train.
It’s also possible that there is a crossing failure, and the conductor has yet to flag the crossing.
Nick
That’s not just UP’s position - because it is TRUE! Too many peopel forget Stop,Look,Listen. Who cares who has the right of way - kind of like pedestrians have the right of way over cars, but are you going to challenge a 20 ton truck heading for you?
–Randy
its generally normal for gates to raise back up if the train hasnt passed its main protection area. If the train hits the solid down circuit they will drop.
Gate circuits are usually blocked into 3 circuits. Approach, the gated area, and exit.
The circuits will tell if its approached and if still moving and exit, the gates will raise after it leaves.
The train has to approach the raised gates slowly till it hits the true protected circuit, then they drop no matter what.