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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by ironhorseman [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by missouri The drivers figure the idiots are to lazy to turn the equipment off when there is NO train comeing. The railroads shouldn't be useing 1800's designed equipment. [/quote] It's my impression you are no authority on railroad operation, rules, equipment, etc. There was no electricity in the 1800s. The first lighting of a city came about in the 1870s, but the first electricly powered crossing arms came when? Does anybody know? Not before 1900. I'll go to the library and look in the book of patents and see when these electricly powered crossing arms were invented. INCIDENTALLY: everything in railroading has been revolutionized. Standards in place even 50 years ago are now gone. From the manufacture of rail to the wheels to crossties, even crossings are different today than many, many years ago. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR DEACTIVATING A RAILCROSSIN WHEN THE TRAIN IS STOPPED? I don't know, yet. I know some factors that cause a crossing to activate are motion, weight, and an electric current that closes a circuit from rail to rail using the steel wheels as a circuit link. I also know the electric crossings do not rely on local powerplants for electricity. They're independent. I would imagine turning off a crossing signal would have to go through the approval of the dispatcher. I'll research that as well for your satisfaction. WHEN THE GATE ARMS ARE DOWN, DON'T GO AROUND[/quote] The patented invention of the electric closed track circuit by Dr. William Robinson in 1872 gave the railroad industry its first means of automatic vital signaling. The track circuit is used to detect the presence of a train or a broken rail within a block of track. When an electric current traveling through the rails in a block of track is shorted by the presence of a train or interrupted by a break in the rail, a red signal indicates danger to approaching trains. When the track is clear, the closed circuit activates a green signal to indicate that approaching trains can enter the block. In 1878, Dr. William Robinson founded the Union Electric Signal Co. to hold his patents, to produce track circuits, and to install them. This technology continues to be a foundation of rail signaling and communications today.
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