Hey all, new to the site! (newby/longtime lurker )
Anyway, I'm trying to model a grade crossing circa 1955 in the Buffalo, NY area and cannot find any information or history on crossing gates in this area. Were they similar to what we see today in terms of gates, lights etc? when did the modern crossings begin? If anyone has any helpful links or two, it would be much appreciated!
-Jon
Can't say for the Buffalo area, except that I would expect it to conform to the standard practices of whichever railroad owned it.
At the opposite corner of the state (Nassau County), somewhat earlier, the Long Island RR used wood-blade gates, alternating white and red, with yellow (?) lamps on top. One long blade lowered from about 45 degrees to close the traffic lane(s) A shorter blade would lower in the opposite direction if there was also a sidewalk to be blocked. I recall the machinery being attached to the same mast as the usual crossbuck and alternately flashing lights. Not sure whether the metal parts were painted black or aluminum.
Hope this has been helpful.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with cable sling crossing gates)
I imagine in the late forties / early fifties there might still be a very few air-activated crossing gates in use, where a watchman in a nearby tower or shed would manually activate the gates.
For a crossing with an automated flashing railroad crossing sign, it wasn't uncommon back then for the flashing crossbucks to be located in the middle of the road, rather than to the right of the road (or one on each side of the road) as you faced the crossing.
Note that in 1955, octagonal road/highway "STOP" signs were black letters on a yellow background. Today's red and white started coming in about that time but wouldn't be universal for a while.
I found several copies of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices on the internet. It has several sections devoted to railroad crossings, though no pictures. The version I have is 1954 and it mentions the new official color for stops signs as being red, so the color change would have been taking place during the mid 50s. It would have taken some time for all the signs to be changed.