Trains.com

Chatterbox summer 2015

16583 views
300 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,022 posts
Posted by tree68 on Friday, September 11, 2015 11:34 AM

The Butler
All traffic stops at a Stop sign before entering.

At least that's how it's supposed to work...

LarryWhistling
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...

  • Member since
    July 2008
  • From: Southeast Missouri
  • 573 posts
Posted by The Butler on Friday, September 11, 2015 10:51 AM

Murphy Siding

    I have to risk my life twice a day through a roundabout.  To me, it's a mixture of the Keystone Cops movies and a figure 8 demo derby, except now everyone has a cell phone stuck to their face while blindly wizzing around the curve.   Personally, I want to see a motorcycle cop parked in those tall, decorative, native grasses that so completely camouflage the darned thing- a cop working on a commision! Grumpy

 

This traffic circle is in Des Plaines, Illinois.  It's name is Cumberland Circle, growing up and learning to drive there, the locals called it "Suicide Circle."

All traffic stops at a Stop sign before entering.

 

METRA's UP Northwest line can be seen in the lower left.

N 42.05371 W 87.91029

 

James


  • Member since
    July 2008
  • From: Southeast Missouri
  • 573 posts
Posted by The Butler on Friday, September 11, 2015 10:37 AM

mudchicken
....Called a "braided" interchange. US-36 north of Denver on the Boulder side has a pair.
 

Thanks, MC, I could not remember that name.  The local paper claimed this interchange was designed in France, and, was the second one built in Missouri.

Carl, a K-rail type divider runs down the center of the bridge.

Here is a video (not mine) on how traffic flows through this type of interchange:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGowXK911Ds

.

James


  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: S.E. South Dakota
  • 13,569 posts
Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, September 11, 2015 9:48 AM

    I have to risk my life twice a day through a roundabout.  To me, it's a mixture of the Keystone Cops movies and a figure 8 demo derby, except now everyone has a cell phone stuck to their face while blindly wizzing around the curve.   Personally, I want to see a motorcycle cop parked in those tall, decorative, native grasses that so completely camouflage the darned thing- a cop working on a commision! Grumpy

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: US
  • 13,488 posts
Posted by Mookie on Friday, September 11, 2015 9:26 AM

We have several here in "the city" and I always approach them with my eyes tightly closed and my teeth gritted.  Fortunately, The Driver does neither.  Mischief

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Friday, September 11, 2015 8:32 AM
....Called a "braided" interchange. US-36 north of Denver on the Boulder side has a pair.
Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
    July 2008
  • From: Southeast Missouri
  • 573 posts
Posted by The Butler on Thursday, September 10, 2015 8:20 PM

CShaveRR

I see what they did there.  I'd want a high median between those crossed-over lanes, for sure!  What method of traffic control do they use at the crossover points?

 

They use standard red/yellow/green traffic lights.  They are timed so you travel through the whole thing without having to stop.  Traffic entering and leaving US67 is governed by Yield signs.  By the way, there is not an ATM in the middle of the right crossover.  Wink

James


  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,022 posts
Posted by tree68 on Thursday, September 10, 2015 7:12 PM

Well, isn't that interesting.  

Coulda just done a couple of "Michigan lefts..."

LarryWhistling
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...

  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois
  • 13,681 posts
Posted by CShaveRR on Thursday, September 10, 2015 7:09 PM

I see what they did there.  I'd want a high median between those crossed-over lanes, for sure!  What method of traffic control do they use at the crossover points?

Carl

Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)

CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)

  • Member since
    July 2008
  • From: Southeast Missouri
  • 573 posts
Posted by The Butler on Thursday, September 10, 2015 6:31 PM

Roundabouts have shown up here in rural Missouri over the last ten years.  The thing that has caused a lot of confusion is the left hand bridge running over US67 seen here: N 37.77178 W 90.44518

James


  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,022 posts
Posted by tree68 on Thursday, September 10, 2015 4:31 PM

This one gets the truck traffic from CSX's North Baltimore intermodal facility...

N 41 10' 24" W 83 40' 45"

LarryWhistling
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...

  • Member since
    September 2010
  • 2,515 posts
Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Thursday, September 10, 2015 3:53 PM

Last month enroute to Door Cty WI, I missed my normal exit from I43 and wound up on Wis 310 and encountered three roundabouts in a row.  Heres the East one. 

44°09'13.2"N 87°39'38.1"W

44.153656, -87.660586 

It was faster than a complete stop but there is little traffic there.

Remember, "Blessed are those who go around in circles as they shall be called BIG WHEELS"

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,320 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Thursday, September 10, 2015 2:43 PM

afternoon

Ns had a westbound frieght go by when I left work.Chores to do here at home.There is a round-about in North Baltimore.The signs have been whacked a few times from what I have seen.

stay safe

Joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Southeast Michigan
  • 2,983 posts
Posted by Norm48327 on Thursday, September 10, 2015 1:59 PM

Near Brighton, MI there are two round-a-bouts so close together one could easly wind up going the wrong way on the freeway. Gotta pay close attention there.

Norm


  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Cordes Jct Ariz.
  • 1,305 posts
Posted by switch7frg on Thursday, September 10, 2015 10:52 AM

Surprise Tree,there is a tourist torment (roundabout) here in Malfunction Jct.The yield signs are just for looks and often smashed flat and more often the roundabout is a merry go round for people who like to go in circles. All the info signs are in san scrit.

Y6bs evergreen in my mind

  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois
  • 13,681 posts
Posted by CShaveRR on Thursday, September 10, 2015 8:50 AM

Some people swear by them, most people swear at them.  The rotaries seem to have come into favor in western Michgan over the past several years (we regularly encounter three of them...two of the three actually replaced traffic lights.  Now they've put one in front of the high school in Glen Ellyn.

The ones we encounter in Michigan have now survived a couple of winters.  Indiana has a few of them in the snow belt.  Some of them, at problematic intersections where there isn't too much traffic and only one lane goes around the circle, seem to be an improvement (the one up near our cottage in Michigan is actually a win).  It's also fun to watch big trucks negotiate some of these...Glen Ellyn might have to outlaw trucks.

Carl

Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)

CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: At the Crossroads of the West
  • 11,013 posts
Posted by Deggesty on Thursday, September 10, 2015 8:49 AM

Rotary--isn't that a club?

On the same trip on which I drove out of Boston--without fighting a rotary, I did drive in one in one of the villages west of Boston. We left the car in Nashua and rode a bus back to Boston.

Surely, if you have driven in Bedlam-on-the-Potomac, you have had the same experience in driving around the areas which were set aside to provide spaces for placing cannon in case the Capital was invaded. I do not know which is worse--the circles or the squares, which have many streets focused on each one. They are quite annoying when you are trying to meet a deadline for turning your rented car in.

Johnny

  • Member since
    March 2016
  • From: Burbank IL (near Clearing)
  • 13,540 posts
Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Thursday, September 10, 2015 7:49 AM

tree68

You haven't driven in New England unless you've been through a "rotary..."

 
I just finished 7th grade when we went on vacation.  Dad did not have too many nice things to say about rotaries, especially in Boston.
The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,292 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, September 10, 2015 6:53 AM

Sheboygan, WI - within about 1/2 mile - 3 round-a-bouts - one on the East side of a N/S Interstate for the exit/entrance & through traffic; one on the West Side for the same functions; the 3rd one was for a cross street that served at Walmart shopping center - I got dizzy!

43°47'46.57" N  87°45'54.66" W

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,022 posts
Posted by tree68 on Thursday, September 10, 2015 6:02 AM

You haven't driven in New England unless you've been through a "rotary..."

LarryWhistling
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...

  • Member since
    July 2010
  • From: Louisiana
  • 2,310 posts
Posted by Paul of Covington on Thursday, September 10, 2015 12:40 AM

   New Orleans used to have several traffic circles, but back in the '50's they replaced all but one with regular intersections to expedite traffic flow.  Lately they are talking about putting in "roundabouts."  Bang Head

   I spent some time in New Jersey back in the '70's and '80's and noticed they had traffic circles on some heavily trafficed roads, but they were of fairly large diameter so traffic could move pretty fast through them.   In fact, I figured the local rule was that whoever hit the circle the fastest had the right-of-way.

_____________ 

  "A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,022 posts
Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 10:10 PM

mudchicken

 

 
JoeKoh

 

City officials insist on a round-a -bout where the citizens are asking for a traffic light.Things getting warm in city hall.Don't live in town but know the location and buisness owner at the intersection.

Joe

 

 

 

Happy New Stupid Zone! (betcha they don't want to buy additional R/W either, so the radius will be tight.- Get a ringside seat after the first snow/ice storm.)

The city of Utica put in a small roundabout on the main drag.  They had to make sure the curbs were low enough that bigger trucks (including fire apparatus) could get through...

LarryWhistling
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...

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 9:18 PM

JoeKoh

 

City officials insist on a round-a -bout where the citizens are asking for a traffic light.Things getting warm in city hall.Don't live in town but know the location and buisness owner at the intersection.

Joe

 

Happy New Stupid Zone! (betcha they don't want to buy additional R/W either, so the radius will be tight.- Get a ringside seat after the first snow/ice storm.)

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: At the Crossroads of the West
  • 11,013 posts
Posted by Deggesty on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 7:38 PM

Mookie

Johnny - are you working toward another Amtrak trip as soon as you can escape the torture chamber?  

 

I had laid plans to attend the 75th Anniversary celebration of our favorite magazine, including Amtrak and hotel reservations back in May. Now I hope that the good friends of mine here come through. Oh, yes, the natives here are quite friendly, especially the survivors from three years ago--they seemed glad to see me when I arrived.

Johnny

  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: US
  • 13,488 posts
Posted by Mookie on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 5:42 PM

mudchicken

PDN & Zugster might want to be on the lookout next week for an errant dirty bird in their backyard. Mooks will have the net out on Sunday morning. (Staying away from 777's until they quit torching the turbines.)

 

Grab the KPLX train Sunday morning - heading south and we will definitely wave!  Kisses

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,320 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 5:26 PM

evening

Weather getting better.City officials insist on a round-a -bout where the citizens are asking for a traffic light.Things getting warm in city hall.Don't live in town but know the location and buisness owner at the intersection.Ns was clear when I left work.Time to take Matt to confirmation class.

stay safe

Joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 4:26 PM

PDN & Zugster might want to be on the lookout next week for an errant dirty bird in their backyard. Mooks will have the net out on Sunday morning. (Staying away from 777's until they quit torching the turbines.)

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: US
  • 13,488 posts
Posted by Mookie on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 3:36 PM

Johnny - are you working toward another Amtrak trip as soon as you can escape the torture chamber?  

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: At the Crossroads of the West
  • 11,013 posts
Posted by Deggesty on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 1:48 PM

I learned recently where all the new clotheshangers come from: the socks that you lose in the laundry and cannot find are metamorphosed into coat hangers and then appear in your clothes closet.

For the past nine days I have been in the same skilled nursing facility that put me back on my feet three years ago; the torturers  physical/occupational therapists are doing a good job in their torture chamber gym in getting me back on my feet.

Johnny

  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: US
  • 13,488 posts
Posted by Mookie on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 1:38 PM

We have 2 - one for kitchen items and one for repairs (pliers, screwdrivers, etc)  I cleaned both out a few months ago and find they are related to clothes hangers - shut the door/drawers and all multiply! 

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy