I rode the North Shore from Chicago to Milwaukee in late 1959 and we did some street running in Milwaukee near the end of the line. I vividly remember stopping for a red light.
Street running can be intersting
Something to consider for Right of Way, while running light, just an engine, you may have to stop for lights, if your running with a train, the town is gonna tell you to go through. Stopping for one light, means you tie up two, three, four behind ya.
In Noblesville IN, (museum train) the bell's on, but the whistle is silent to do a quiet zone requirement, I think. I believe the streetlights revert to a red or blinkiing red in alll directions, but we have to shoo the turn lane out of our way periodically because they stopped for a red light, and are oblivious to a GP7 climbing u there rearview. It's a lot of fun to watch the mars light in Streetrunning at night, and to watch a Light Mike tiptoe through the town in any day.
What I want to see is an officer try to pull over an SD for running a redlight.
"Sir, please shut off the vehicle and give me your license and registration, and the insurance card."
-Morgan
Ft Collins Co. 10 mph bell ringing blow for EVERY crossing which they considered every cross street. Yes we had the right of way.
Bellvue Iowa bell only due to whistle ban 10 mph town restriction ( Cp wants to bump it to 30)yes still have the right of way.
Those are my two experiences with street running.Its fun and I love it.
Yes we are on time but this is yesterdays train
I know that when the Monon main line ran down 5th Street in Lafayette, IN, that in addition to the intersections being controlled by the stop lights, and there being a speed limit, that DS would contact the city police department to alert them to the movement so that parts of the city unaccessable during the move would have units there to respond as required. As to right of way, there was one incident I recall where the railroad "assisted" in catching a bank robber who tried to avoid capture by driving across the tracks just ahead of the train and didn't make it across ... I seem to recall that DS also coordinated with Lafayette Junction to be sure the movement wouldn't get stopped by NYC/NKP traffic (MON didn't cross WAB [the 4th RR in the plant] at this point
get on google and check out the Manufacturers Railway St Louis. you can get some good ideas about street running from the satellite map views. MRS claims they have or had 42 miles of track but they must have been counting the rails in the engine house too.
the MRS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser Busch and exists primarily to switch what was the world's largest brewery complex. they served several other industries in South St Louis including part of the Monsanto WGK plant and i think they might have switched Nooter Corporation, the boiler works.
grizlump
Yellow Dog BillDo trains that run in the center of a street still have right-of-way? How were intersections controlled, fusees? How do the vehicles in the photo make a left hand turn without being totally wiped out while they wait for a break in the oncoming traffic?
From the 1970s in a couple of eastern port cities:
Don't recall ever seeing anything in writing, but in general trains took the right-of way (might makes right?) except that they were not supposed to proceed through red traffic lights. When the engine was pulling the train it was pretty easy for the engineman to regulate the speed to hit the lights on the green. When shoving the train they kinda maybe didn't worry too much about the traffic lights, just keeping ready at the back-up valve on the caboose if it looked like a car wasn't going to stop or get out of the way. When shoving at night they would display a lighted fusee on the caboose, along with the flashing red portable markers. The idea was to shove along steady about 8 or 10 mph and dump the air if necessary. When pulling a cut of cars any distance they would wire a portable marker on the last car in hopes that some drunk wouldn't plow into it.
The PRR did a considerable ammount of street running in Xenia, Ohio, and from what I've been able to gather, was required to obey the traffic signals. I bet that was fun.
I have a photo somewhere of an H10-44 with a few cars in tow sitting at a street light while cross traffic passes.
I also believe the clearance was tight on the firemans side of the street, and there wasn't enough room for longer cars and trucks, or any double parking.
Not sure where this is, but I'd be nervous.
http://www.lundsten.dk/railfan_pa/exmga/pa12-23.jpg
Do trains that run in the center of a street still have right-of-way? How were intersections controlled, fusees? How do the vehicles in the photo make a left hand turn without being totally wiped out while they wait for a break in the oncoming traffic?
....great photo!!!
This rainy, post-WWII scene shows a log train traveling down the middle of Sebastopol's Main Street without evidence of any street striping other than the center line. (The rail was pulled up in 1987, subsequent to the railroad's 1984 abandonment.)
The only consideration I observed of a UP train travelling the streets of Santa Cruz on its way to the Davenport cement plant was constant locomotive bell ringing and a speed not higher than 4-5 m.p.h. My memory might be failing, but I think there were stripes on the road surface indicating minimum safe distance from the train. I don't recall whether or not the locomotive horn was sounded at street intersections.
Mark
I have always been interested in street running railroads, but I need to know what type of special rules would be. Thanks.
sfb