We where having a discussion the other morning between some school bus drivers on how does railroad crossing lights work. One of the driver said he was told that a voltage is run down one track and when the train is with in a certain distance it completes the circuit to activate the light. ???? Does anyone have a description of how they work?
Thanks
Terry
That's about as simple, straight forward description for the unititiated as you can get. There is a circuit that an approaching train shunts based on allowable speed limit so that the crossing lights and gates are triggered in an ample amount of time. After that you get into all kinds of discussions and overlaps, inductions, etc. But you've got it straight and simple and concise.
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Yup, it's battery powered, basically + on one rail and - on the other. The steel wheels/axles complete the circuit. I think there's also some sort of set-up where if the power is interrupted the signals change to red? I recall a case of an intentional derailment of a passenger train that was done years back, where the culprits wired up one rail so that it would still carry current and show proper signal indications even after a section of rail was removed.
The most recent sabotage of this nature (without using a sabot, or wooden shoe) that I recall was in Arizona, with Amtrak's Sunset Limited being derailed.
The word "sabotage" comes from French who were so unhappy with the thought of machinery replacing hand labor that they threw their shoes (sabots) into machinery in such a way that the machinery (and their shoes) ground to a halt.
Johnny
As a kid I recall my Dad talking about a routine the sectionmen had to undo the vandalism caused every Halloween at grade crossings. They each had assigned set's of crossing they had to check and turn the flashing lights off if the teenagers had vandalized them. It just seemed to be an annoying part of the job and I never heard of anybody calling the police about it.
AgentKid
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
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Thanks for the replies I will share this tomorrow with the other drivers...
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