Railroad Forums 

  • Mass Coastal Railroad (MC) Discussion

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #1505597  by BandA
 
Wow. I can't think of any crossings on a major street that don't have flashers. She must have been going pretty slow to hit a train and the airbags don't go off. Do they flag unprotected crossings?
 #1505623  by 690
 
Generally speaking, no, you wouldn't have to flag for a crossing protected with just crossbucks, unless it's a shove move. The crossbucks are the "protection" for that crossing, and it's up to motorists to use their judgement to cross safely.
Last edited by MEC407 on Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:50 am, edited 1 time in total. Reason: unnecessary quoting
 #1505639  by Falmouth Secondary to Otis
 
The news report certainly lacked any specific details about how it happened, but as in most case's the Train always wins that match up. Talk about close calls I was at Canal junction on 7/18/2013 watching a MC Locomotive coming off the Canal RR Bridge headed to Otis approaching Bell Rd crossing ( crossbuck warning only ) & sounding horn and car comes up to crossing stops & looks, then speeds across. Another car following does the exact same thing with the Locomotive less than 20 feet from the crossing. Train engineer was certainly pissed as he was sounding the horn continuously all the way through and some. I thought for sure that car was going to get snagged and dragged down the tracks, but it must have been his lucky day for sure ! I reported the incident at that time but crossbucks still are the only warning at Bell Rd, maybe one day it will get an upgrade unless a similar situation results in a tragic fatality unfortunately to make it happen sooner.
 #1505650  by Safetee
 
In the Cape world of well heeled, me first, smart phone laden nimbys..... gates. lights, crossbucks, not to mention bells and whistles are meaningless anachronisms.
 #1505655  by MEC407
 
690 wrote:Generally speaking, no, you wouldn't have to flag for a crossing protected with just crossbucks, unless it's a shove move. The crossbucks are the "protection" for that crossing, and it's up to motorists to use their judgement to cross safely.
Depends on the particular crossing and the railroad's particular rules or practices, I suppose...? PAR stops-and-flags the crossings on the Saco Industrial Track, which are protected with crossbucks, even when the locomotive is leading. On the other hand, there were some mainline crossings in southern Maine that only had crossbucks before the Downeaster track rebuild, and they didn't stop-and-flag those. Could be because there were multiple trains a day and motorists always knew to expect a train, whereas the Saco IT is seldom used and more likely to surprise people.
 #1505670  by Falmouth Secondary to Otis
 
Safetee wrote:In the Cape world of well heeled, me first, smart phone laden nimbys..... gates. lights, crossbucks, not to mention bells and whistles are meaningless anachronisms.
I would say that description fits anywhere in this world, not just the Cape. There are incidents daily all over the world where people think they can beat the train for some stupid reason, don't pay attention for a long list of excuses and end up paying for it with there lives over it. Some people have to learn the hard way unfortunately, as shown in the links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjTZqtxoOvY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1xARNv1uzg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1505673  by Falmouth Secondary to Otis
 
Falmouth Secondary to Otis wrote:Mass Coastal trash train in route to or from Yarmouth transfer station was hit by a car at around 4 PM yesterday on West Yarmouth road near the intersection of Elisha's Pond road which has crossbuck warning signs only. Probably paying attention to a phone instead of driving as the trash train is slow moving target, pretty hard not to miss that approaching ! Found video below that was posted about the incident

https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20190 ... mouth-port" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://hyannisnews.com/hn-video-car-vs ... -cape-cod/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like this crossing in Yarmouth has a history


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q2IcepBfx4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1505706  by 690
 
MEC407 wrote:
690 wrote:Generally speaking, no, you wouldn't have to flag for a crossing protected with just crossbucks, unless it's a shove move. The crossbucks are the "protection" for that crossing, and it's up to motorists to use their judgement to cross safely.
Depends on the particular crossing and the railroad's particular rules or practices, I suppose...? PAR stops-and-flags the crossings on the Saco Industrial Track, which are protected with crossbucks, even when the locomotive is leading. On the other hand, there were some mainline crossings in southern Maine that only had crossbucks before the Downeaster track rebuild, and they didn't stop-and-flag those. Could be because there were multiple trains a day and motorists always knew to expect a train, whereas the Saco IT is seldom used and more likely to surprise people.
To clarify (for Pan Am, anyway), any main track that has crossbucks for a crossing generally doesn't need to be flagged, unless specifically noted within the TT, or instructed to do so in a Line 12. On other than main track (such as the Saco IT) you're supposed to flag crossings because you're operating at restricted speed, and one of the key parts of that is being able to stop within one half the range of vision short of obstructions in the track (ie a vehicle crossing).

Now I'm not sure exactly what the Mass Coastal's operating rules are, but iirc they use NORAC as well, so it should be pretty similar.
 #1505859  by BandA
 
Is there a speed restriction where flashers or gates are not present? Presumably a driver should hear the horn and that should give early enough warning, but visual warnings are much more effective.
 #1506013  by Backshophoss
 
Depending on state law, A Crossing with just crossbucks require the vehicle driver to stop and make sure the crossing is clear BEFORE driving
across,in some cases a stop sign is also posted.
 #1506425  by Falmouth Secondary to Otis
 
Saw 2 bid opening's for project's of refurbishing at-grade RR crossings & upgrade of selected components of existing wayside automatic highway crossing warning systems on the Cape Main line, Falmouth Secondary & South Dennis Secondary as well.
Looks like the Cape lines will continue to receive some much needed repairs which started last year with the implementation of the 2018 State Rail plan.

https://www.commbuys.com/bso/external/b ... entUrl=bid" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.commbuys.com/bso/external/b ... entUrl=bid" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1509337  by shepaug
 
In 2019 websites are the normal.

For someone just interested OR maybe a potential business situation ?

I notice their website is DEAD. Not gone but dead links, images or anything... Interested business customer ?
 #1509793  by BandA
 
Mass Coastal is still owned by Iowa Pacific?

Which website? Masscoastal.com or iowapacific.com/mass-coastal-railroad ? The first, linked from wikipedia seems to be dead, the second is basic but seems ok. There is a facebook page.
  • 1
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 47