Every once in a while one will see a rural, dirt road grade crossing that has gates and flashers, and not merely crossbucks!
The above photo looks north; the below looks west (northbound) at the east switch of the Phelan siding.
The two photos above are at Union Pacific's Caughlin Road grade crossing on the ex-Southern Pacific Palmdale Cutoff in the vicinity of M.P. 452, in the unincorporated community of Phelan, CA.
(The railroad pronounces the siding Phelan as FAY-len, while the community says FEE-lan.)
I don't know about you, but I sure feel more comfortable crossing the above type of grade crossings than those with just crossbucks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K.P.’s absolute “theorem” from early, early childhood that he has seen over and over and over again: Those that CAUSE a problem in the first place will act the most violently if questioned or exposed.
Stop, look, and listen. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Gates or just crossbucks, if you do that at a RR crossing I'll guarantee you that you won't get hit by a train. Problem is that every grade crossing accident people didn't do that. Why do you think schoolbuses and hazmat trucks are required to stop at every RR crossing no matter what?
That's just incongruous ! Low-volume road with high-class grade crossing signals - good candidate for a "What's wrong with this picture ?" contest.
It's about here - N 34.44151 W 117.48641 (about 3 miles E x NE of the center of Phelan, about 7 - 8 miles NW of Cajon Summit, etc.) - but the aerial photo/ "Satellite" or "Hybrid" views of there on ACME Mapper 2.0 don't show the siding switch or the signals, even though the grade crossing cantilevers do show up - so they were installed before the siding ? Fron those views and K.P.'s photos above, the sight distances for drivers to see oncoming trains look OK, so that condition isn't a need that these grade crossing signals are meeting. There also doesn't seem to be a school or anything else sensitive around - so I really wonder who had the extra money or political clout to get these installed ? Otherwise, they don't make much sense there, at least not to me.
Thanks for sharing, K.P., as always !
- Paul North.
I'd say about half (or a little better) of our county gravel road crossings across Iowa (E/W) have lights and gates now. Nothing as fancy as K.P.'s picture though. A couple are in the process of having them added. Both of those seem to be on lightly used gravel roads at that.
Jeff
Could this be the work of Governor William J. Lepetomane?
"Somebody's gotta go back and get a (bleep)load of dimes."
Paul, using the "time machine" slider on Google Earth, the cantilevers were not there in 1995 but they do show up in 2002. Hmmm. I looked to see if something would indicate heavy truck traffic in the area, but nothing seemed to make sense for that. Hmmmm.
ChuckCobleigh (2-19):
In the late 1990's a bad auto vs. train incident occurred about four miles to the west, at the paved Johnson Rd. That auto about midnight ran into the southbound (east) Oil Can train mid-train, and became lodged underneath it, and was dragged three miles to the north switch of the Phelan siding, where a spectacular derailment occurred with crude oil going everywhere.
Shortly thereafter, crossing gates were installed at Johnson Rd.
The crossing gates at the dirt Caughlin Rd. were put around that time, and were probably inspired by that fatal accident. As far as I know, it is only desert-living residents that popularly use the Caughlin Rd. grade crossing.
Take care,
K.P.
ChuckCobleigh Could this be the work of Governor William J. Lepetomane? "Somebody's gotta go back and get a (bleep)load of dimes."
It sure looks like his work.
While it did not have gates, I recall a crossing east of Hampton on the old CGW with the oddest set up, just a crossbuck on a single lane gravel, with a bell. No lights, just a bell. The line is now abandoned, and I am sure all the crossing protection is gone, but I have never seen anything else like it in my travels.
There is a crossing on the Amtrak keystone line in Florin (near Mt. Joy) that has just a bell. I think it was at one time a vehicle crossing, but was reduced to a pedestrian crossing probably 15 (or more) years ago. Local kid was hit by a train there a few years ago, and the crossing is now completely closed off. Bell is still there (and works), plus a sign that says "do not cross when bell rings" or something to that effect.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Public Road crossing/ CA PUC calls the shots, not the locals or the railroads (as mentioned above, somebody nearby turned the crossing into a "stupid zone" (paid for in blood), something in the physical nature of the site (sight distances/approach/grade) or political pressure forced placement of the crossing.) Still, the Public Utilities Commission made the final call.
Just because it's a "dirt" (gravel) road doesn't mean it's rarely travelled.
The area where I grew up in MI could probably afford to pave pretty much every "back" road (or could, before the state's economy went sour), but they are, by choice of the residents, still heavily gravel.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
This shot of UP 844 from 1985 at a dirt crossing with lights was published at Trainnews.org recently.
About 14 railfans set up outside Calvin OK on Jan. 28,1985 for UP 8444 with passenger cars in tow to pass. The scene, although overcast, was perfect. As we saw the smoke in the distance a yellow VW entered the scene from the right and stopped at the crossing. We all shouted for the driver to move out of the way but to no avail. In retrospect this picture isn't too bad.Charles Stookey Photo
Here's a link to the entire page:
http://69.181.5.214/read.php?2,1033,1033#msg-1033
Gates and flashers are actually fairly common on rural and dirt roads. The FRA has a risk analysis program that bases the need for the warning systems based upon traffic volumes (both rail and road), hazardous commodities involved, passenger service, school bus use, track speeds, past accident rates, etc. The passenger, train speed, and school bus characteristics move many rural crossings upward on the list.
Additionally, FRA track standards require full protection for the higher track speeds and many lines being looked at for High Speed Rail use are already being upgraded.
Bart Jennings
In my experience we have hit more people at crossings with flashers than ones with just crossbucks.
Mechanical Department "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."
The Missabe Road: Safety First
coborn35 In my experience we have hit more people at crossings with flashers than ones with just crossbucks.
Actually that really makes sense, as if there are flashers you "assume" if the flashers are off there is no train whereas with crossbucks there is no warning, you must stop and look for yourself so people may be more vigilant.
Michigan has lots of grade crossings both on paved/ non-paved roads. Most are marked with a STOP sign in addition to the crossbucks.
What should that tell you when you are driving?
Norm
Flashers are useless. It's like a dare to drivers. People won't even slow down if the flashers are activated - or if they do they quickly speed up and cross in front of us.
Norm48327 Michigan has lots of grade crossings both on paved/ non-paved roads. Most are marked with a STOP sign in addition to the crossbucks. What should that tell you when you are driving?
Ummmm... Gee.... isn't "STOP" an acronym?
Seems most people think it stands for; "Slight Tap On Pedal".
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
i finally got it ! (By "Taggart", the Slim Pickens character - Gov. Lepetomane is Mel Brooks' main character) Fits pretty well, really - see the entire segment at:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071230/quotes?qt0511683
from Blazing Saddles at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071230/
A little research discloses that this Caughlin Rd. public at-grade crossing is most likely U.S. DOT/ FRA - AAR Crossing Inventory ID No. 750-733-N, MP 0452.10, RR ID No. BB452.1, nearest station "WASH" on the UP RR's San Joaquin Div., Mojave Sub., Colton Cutoff, near Phelan, San Bernardino Co., Calif. Unfortunately, the FRA data is badly out-of-date - it shows just 2 crossbucks, but no flashers, gates, cantilevered flashers, etc. It also says just 12 freight trains plus 2 switching trains per day - of which 5 are during daylight hours - at typical speeds of 30 to 49 MPH, max. TT speed of 70 MPH. However, it also shows "Avg. Passenger Train Count" of 0, "Avg. No. of School Buses per Day" of 0 [emphasis added - PDN], "Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)" of just 100, and a "Posted Highway Speed" of 0 . . . So I'm still at a loss to see why this one rated all the bells and whisltes - well, OK, - bell, flashers, and gates . . . (usual disclaimers apply to the errors in this database - MC, you're allowed to laugh at them but not at me 'cause i saw it coming . . . ).
Yes, I understand that the CA PUC has the final say in these matters. But I've yet to see an instance where a state PUC refuses to issue an 'amicable' type order where the railroad, highway dept., and local community have all agreed in advance in the petition on the scope of the improvements and the funding sources/ shares for it, and there is no other controversy. So unless the CA PUC has by itself gone on an so-far unreported and unchallenged crusade to upgrade all grade crossings to the maximum extent possible short of elimination or separation - at least on this line, then who showed up and brought the money to finance it ? The railroad, as a concession as part of the two-main tracking ? CALDOT ? Local county politicos ? SOmebody did . . .
Paul_D_North_Jr ChuckCobleigh: Could this be the work of Governor William J. Lepetomane? "Somebody's gotta go back and get a (bleep)load of dimes." i finally got it ! (By "Taggart", the Slim Pickens character - Gov. Lepetomane is Mel Brooks' main character) Fits pretty well, really - see the entire segment at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071230/quotes?qt0511683 from Blazing Saddles at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071230/
ChuckCobleigh: Could this be the work of Governor William J. Lepetomane? "Somebody's gotta go back and get a (bleep)load of dimes."
I should have found http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbWg-mozGsU to go along with my original post. Count on YouTube to have the exact clip posted many times. It does kind of look like KP's pictures, doesn't it?
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