Do Crossing gates/lights ever fail to work?

[scottychaos]

There was an incident in Rochester, NY 4 or 5 years ago..
CSX train coming..no gate activity at all..
no lights, no bells, gates remained upright..gates completely unresponsive..
elderly couple met the train at the crossing..the train won.

It was in the winter, I believe salt was blamed..

Its rare that gates fail this way, but it can happen..

Scot

[DutchRailnut]

Salt will usually make train crossing activate, as it shorts the rails.
In a salt condition the gates stay down and activated.

[sd80mac]

At MP 356 (now QC 356) - Wayneport Rd., after the dump trucks and garabage trucks crossed the track at fast speed than they should be (big bump there), they rattled the rails and caused the gates to come down. The rails were pretty much loose at that grade crossing. I have seen that happened, not once, but many times. It occured years ago.. around 2000.

I dont think it happens right now.

[scharnhorst]

At MP 356 (now QC 356) - Wayneport Rd., after the dump trucks and garabage trucks crossed the track at fast speed than they should be (big bump there), they rattled the rails and caused the gates to come down. The rails were pretty much loose at that grade crossing. I have seen that happened, not once, but many times. It occured years ago.. around 2000.

I dont think it happens right now.

the number one cause for most derailments at at Railroad crossings is often from large trucks rattling the rails lose. A side from that I have seen bulldozers set off the crossing gates when going over the crossings. That We Care Organincs in Weedsport, NY is well knowen to use Bonta Bridge road as his own play ground as well as the CSX Maintaince roads when moveing bulldozers and he often sets off the crossing gates at Pump Road and sets off the signal bridge on occation.

[RedLantern]

I never thought to look but do the LED flashers have sidelights?

[scharnhorst]

I never thought to look but do the LED flashers have sidelights?

side lights as in a small clear light on the side of the light fixture that holds the light bulb?

[sd80mac]

side lights as in a small clear light on the side of the light fixture that holds the light bulb?

That's a small hole in the side of the housing that crews can see the light blub comes on, which indicate that the lights is working.

but LED light.. that might be difficult.

Yup. I never thought to check that out at Rochelle Ill... and one other place, i forget where, to see what they have done for that to give the indication to the crew.

[litz]

On the BRSR we only go 10-15mph (we are a scenic railroad, after all ...) ... our policy is to verify the lights are flashing and the gates down, otherwise we stop and flag the crossing. We go slow enough that if need be, we can actually stop in time. I haven't yet had to, however, in the trips I've worked (knock on wood!), thanks to the excellent work from our signals guys.

I can see it being a problem if you're going 79 ... there's absolutely no way you could stop and flag -- your tail end would be 1/2 a mile past the crossing by the time you stopped.

- litz

[NV290]

I never thought to look but do the LED flashers have sidelights?

Yes, ALL crossing lights will have sidelights regardless of whether they are LED or Incandescent.

How the sidelights will work will vary by manufacturer. There are several companies making LED crossing lights. Some use a clear outer lens with red LED's, others use a red lens with clear LED's and some use a red lens with red LED's. As for the side lights, some manufactuers have them working the same way as traditional style versions where the side lights are in fact light bleeding off from the main array, but some companies have opted to use a cluster of small clear LED's to mimic the side lights. This is mostly done where the main LED array uses red LED's and the railroads do not want red sidelights.

GRS, US&S, Safetran, GE/Harmon, Everray and LEDTronics are all offering a variety of styles.

[DutchRailnut]

One thing I would like to see is a reflective yellow stripe at top and bottom of the gates.
This way a gate is visible if its in up position and the crew can observe yellow stripe disapearing as gates close.
Why have reflective material just for motorist, make it a wraparound so crews can enjoy same benefits.

[130MM]

One thing I would like to see is a reflective yellow stripe at top and bottom of the gates.
This way a gate is visible if its in up position and the crew can observe yellow stripe disapearing as gates close.
Why have reflective material just for motorist, make it a wraparound so crews can enjoy same benefits.

Dutch, I think that's good idea. I forwarded it to our C&S Department.

DAW