Grade crossing warnings

Does anyone know how the lights and gates at some grade crossings are triggered? I have been wondering for a while.

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RE: Grade crossing warnings, Darkviper01, Mar-17-04, 00:44 AM, (1) RE: Grade crossing warnings, Grimace780, Mar-17-04, 01:38 PM, (2) RE: Grade crossing warnings, BNSF4999, Mar-17-04, 03:09 PM, (3) RE: Grade crossing warnings, rpicardi1, Mar-17-04, 09:40 PM, (4) RE: Grade crossing warnings, ssw_96, Mar-17-04, 10:24 PM, (5) RE: Grade crossing warnings, Erick_Cantu, Mar-17-04, 10:41 PM, (6) RE: Grade crossing warnings, ssw_96, Mar-17-04, 11:21 PM, (7) RE: Grade crossing warnings, Grimace780, Mar-18-04, 01:17 PM, (8) RE: Grade crossing warnings, FURX, Mar-18-04, 03:00 PM, (9) RE: Grade crossing warnings, rpicardi1, Mar-18-04, 08:11 PM, (10) RE: Grade crossing warnings, MikeF, Mar-27-04, 03:21 PM, (11) RE: Grade crossing warnings, bradhig, Mar-27-04, 06:49 PM, (12) RE: Grade crossing warnings, rpicardi1, Mar-27-04, 08:37 PM, (13)

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Most North American grade crossings use a week electrical current in the rails. The train creates a short circut, and the computer can tell how far away it is and how fast it is moving. Most grade crossings are set to have the gates in the fully down possition 30 seconds before the train arrives, but some are set to 35, 40, or 45 seconds. Some grade crossings still use trigger points, which lower the gates when a train runs over them.Paint Shop, Yonder Locomotive Works.

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The signals that govern the trains are controlled the same way with a current going through the track. The train wheels are metal and complete the circuit. When the train exits the area, the circuit is broken.My brother-in-law is a Signals & Crossings Maintainer for CN Rail here in Canada. He tells me that one day he is working near a crossing when all of a sudden the lights came on and the gates started going down. My brother-in-law knew of no trains that had been scheduled and did not hear one approaching. When he investigated, he found two men with an aluminum boat. They had been carrying it and set it down on the tracks for a moment to rest. My brother-in-law had to explain to the two men why setting their boat on the tracks was NOT a good idea. Cheers,
Gary Cameron
Grande Prairie "The last civilized stop before Alaska," AB
Canada

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This is one of those things that can be used as a prank I have heard. You put a metal bar or something of the like across the tracks and push it towards a crossing. The gates will lower and thus you can hold traffic up for as long as you want. Ive heard of some people doing it. Dont know if they were caught or not.Kevin V.
-President/CEO of Illinois Northern Ry Inc, subsidiary of The Midwest Regional Railways Corp.

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And, if you drive around such a crossing, where no train is present, due to a malfunctioning gate or prankster, it is double points, double fines, and lost of your Commercal driver license in Michigan.SRV Ron

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All you need is a set of booster cables and you can activate crossing signals and shunt signals. Not a good idea though.

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That's how I always thought it worked, I remember when I was little in our area there was only one crossing that wasn't marked by just a wooden stake with an X on it. Unique to this crossing, some distance off, were yellow markings on the rails, and in the same spot, what looked like a cable joined to them. From that I figured it must just be a way of creating an electric current when the trains went over it, and never really thought much of it."The Genesis and the F59PHI are the lamest locomotives Amtrak has ever operated. Accept it and move on. Hug an F40."

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thats to pass current through the rails. thats a insulated joint and the yellow lines let the crew know how far back to stop to keep the gates from firing up or how far to clear so they will go off.

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In Alberta, Canada if a crossing has lights but no gates you may cross when the lights are flashing ONLY if your vehicle has come to a complete stop AND it is safe to do so. However if a gate is down due to a malfunction or prankster, vehicles are required to stop and stay stopped as long as the gate is down.Also, at a crossing with gates, I was cautioned by a railroad worker to wait until the gates are all the way UP before crossing. This is especially true for crossings with multiple tracks as sometimes the gate starts coming down again before it has gone up fully.
Gary Cameron
Grande Prairie "The last civilized stop before Alaska," AB
Canada

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Some kids did that here on CSX a few years ago, I don't remember what they used, but they held up traffic for a while. Am I crazy? Is it me thats screwed up? I see this kind of thing all the time....what is it with these morons?-Jeffrey

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My Website; www.xanga.com/csxd765

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That's what I was talking about the fine, points, and loss of licence. You can cross if the signal is flashing after coming to a complete stop. But, You cannot drive around the gate. Bad news if you are driving a tanker, the gate is stuck down, and there is no way to turn the rig around. You sit there until the gate gets fixed or risk a job threating ticket.SRV Ron

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I was watching a front-end loader clearing snow one day away from a parking lot just opposite a factory. I noticed that the crossing signals were also 'going crazy' going up and down every few minutes.As I watched for a while, I realized, the front-end loader driver was 'cheating'!!! Every time he needed to cross the road with a load of snow, he would stop on the tracks (it's just a factory spur, not the main line) and wait a minute or two for the traffic to clear. When he got tired of waiting, he'd slowly lower the front 'bucket' down to the rails.Voila!!! The crossing gates would ring and flash, the gates come down and traffic would stop. Then he'd lift up the bucket and proceed across the road. Shortly, the gates would rise and traffic would resume.This guy really knew how to work the system

Mike F

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At Larimore Road trains sometimes sit near the grade crossing waiting for the signal and switch to change so there must be a motion sensor on it to keep stopped trains from blocking the road with the gates.

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Normally, in that case, the brakeman, or other worker, will shut down the signal at the control box until the engineer is given permission by the dispatcher to proceed. (Or the signal clears.) He will then sound the horn, the gate will be reactivated, and operate normally at that point on. They do this all of the time at the Wilder yard in Bay City while waiting for rail traffic to clear the line ahead.Next time you observe a train waiting at a crossing, see if there is a company truck or worker near an open control box. (Telephone booth size silver box with the name of the road on the side.)SRV Ron

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