Believe that the technology originated in the USSR, explaining why it would be in both Russia and Ukraine. I am pretty sure that it is only at manned crossings though. Definitely an interesting bit of tech though I have seen some videos of motorcyclists and bicyclists going airborne on them and crashing catastrophically.
@@TheCentralTexasRailfan Ukraine prior to the start of the SMO had all of its railway crossings attended. Even though most were automated. I think Russia had moved away from this.
A Signal Maintainer's worst nightmare, getting the phone call that the crossing never activated when a train went through. Talk about a punch in the gut feeling.
Yup. Not fun. On top of the gut punch and brown pants feeling, it also sucks because you know you will be under scrutiny, even if there was nothing you did to cause the activation failure. It also means the local FRA man has to come out, and that is never fun either.
Then you run out to the truck and realize that one of your jumper wires is missing. That sinking feeling turns into panic as you wonder whether you still have a job and whether you will be dragged into court for your negligence.
I still remember one evening during the fall of 1996 up to Bowling Green, Ohio at the apartment I was living in across the street from one of the crossings on a side street in town. Being into trains, I'd go over to the window to watch whenever I heard a train coming through town. That night, there was a long northbound Conrail mixed freight that came through well after dark. The crossing signals were working normally, and with no streetlights on that stretch of street, they were providing the only light at the crossing. About mid-train, I was surprised when I saw the gates go up, and the lights turned off. As the last car cleared the crossing, the lights came back on, and the gates came down for a minute before the signals turned back off. This was before railroads had published their emergency numbers so I called the police department's non-emergency line and told them what I'd just witnessed. Later on, I heard another northbound train coming into town. I didn't have my scanner on to hear what was being said, but it was obvious that the police had notified the railroad as the train creeped up to the crossing and didn't proceed until they saw that the signals were on and the gates down. Never saw the signals act up again, but it was spooky on that dark street where the mainline track at the crossing is raised up and seeing the signals go out like that. If somebody had been coming down the street and not noticed the shadow of the wheels of the train going over the crossing, they could easily have hit the hump over the track and gone right into the side of the train without the crew knowing it. That's why I always approach any crossing as though a train is approaching, whether the signals are on or not.
Wow, that is a crazy story! That is good that you were able to use the police department to notify the railroad. It is surprisingly often that cars smash directly into the side of a train, hence why retroreflective strips are now required on locomotives and railcars.
As you said it was in fall, leaves can leave a film on the tracks preventing shunting. They now not only send stone trains but have pressure washers for this reason. As well as sandite!
That is crazy to hear! Scary how something like that could happen. Also, that mentality you have? Every driver should have the same one. Never assume a railroad crossing is clear, even when you don't see a train on it. Before crossing, listen to those three words of that all-too-famous PSA: "Stop, Look, Listen". Seriously, can we start showing those old railroad PSAs of the 60s and 70s again? Those were great at showing just how these accidents happen and how to avoid them.
Thank you, C. *You may have saved lives!* In EMS and an Operation Lifesaver presenter, I suggest everyone look and listen approachingrade crossings in case of thextremely rarevent of a *(o)T(o)* malfunction. In my cellphone istored ourailroads' emergency numbers. You are correct. The train crewould not even know thatheir traihad been hit.
As a train driver myself i find pretty scary that the operator doesn't know in advance that the crossing is actually working. In Switzerland we have either a yellow flashing light to tell us the crossing is fully closed and operational or sometimes the crossing is even linked with the track signals meaning the train cannot start moving before the crossing is closed. Either way if the crossing malfunctions i have enough time to come to a safe stop before the road.
Here in the US, the railroad crossbucks are the equivalent of a traffic yield sign, meaning it's always the drivers responsibility to look for trains. Though in our quiet zone crossings we do have a flashing light to tell us the gates are down, and if they aren't then we must blow the horn.
@@WTC2014 i understand, we also have this system for very small or country roads with very light traffic, then there is only a crossbuck with no lights or gates. Thanks for the clarification 👍
This should be mandated by law at any crossing that is busy enough to have gates and/or warning lights. But in the USA, the railroads are very influential in politics and fight anything that will cost them more money.
In India, all gates are manual and close 3 minutes before train comes, and there are signals for train, before grade crossing so the signal stays red until the those THICC gates are closed, so if the gates don't close the train stops
Back in ‘21, I was using my dad’s new truck for a garbage run from our house to the dump in Medfield, MA. There’s 4 crossings in that town and 2 have only lights. I was crossing when I heard a train, and saw one about 200 feet away coming straight towards me. There was no warning and this crossing is a major school bus route for the town. I was fine, but the pucker factor was high.
My Russian girlfriend said many things in Russia are in bad condition and you cannot count on train signals working. Can't rely on crossinguards who may be drinking or asleep. Manyears ago woman crossinguard awoke from the sound of a traihitting a bus.
I remember when the gates at a crossing I was by went down early but went up with the train approaching. People PROCEADED to Cross. The traffic was already backed up all the way to the crossing from the traffic lights so cars started trying to fit in the shoulder lane. And the best part was that the train was two locomotives and two cars. The gates did go back down when the train actually activated the crossing but the fact people decided to cross with no knowledge of the fact that a train is clearly visible is just depressing.
The railroad crossings of both 95th Street and Cicero Avenue in Oak Lawn, Illinois keeps malfunctioning almost every month and Metra crews have to repair them ASAP. It happens quite a lot of times.
Most european countries use some kind of beacon signals, mostly white lights for the train Crew that indicates the crossing is properly closed. Most time these signals are about 300-500 meters in front of the crossing, depends on train speed. Alternative some crossings are locked with standard railroad signals.
Some railroads use white beacon signals as you were mentioning, but always mounted directly upon the crossing which doesn't give enough warning for a higher speed train.
I noticed that here is South Jersey the Rivereline LRT has a white light both directions that go on flashing toward the train operator as the gates go down and go steady once the gates are fully lowered. These tracks are used by Conrail at night.
Incidentally, the UTA is a big user of these indicators including at many FrontRunner crossings similar to the one featuring the FedEx wreck in this video. Although they are only helpful with good visibility, which the FrontRunner train in the clip would not have had.
In the US, trains ALWAYS have the right-of-way! Any driver approaching a crossing has the responsibility to check before driving on across & assuming the signals are working. No train can stop quickly no matter how slowly it is going. That's why you are taught from first grade to Stop, Look, & Listen!
This reminds me of 10 years ago in Spruce Grove Alberta Canada. The signals on Golden Spike road had malfunctioned. As soon as the train passed, the gates kept raising and lowering
I've had to contact the railroad on more than one occasion due to a faulty stuck crossing gate in my local area. Four railroad mainlines go through my area, with quite a few crossings.
My Grandfather worked for the Railroad. While they have improved a great deal from his day, I still slow down, look and listen. Back in his day, his phone rang 2-3 times a week because the signal didn't work.
@@TheCentralTexasRailfan Not really sure. He died in 63 when I was 2 so I never got to know him. I would assume he quit work before 63 as he had cancer
In Jamaica we dont use those we have a set of people which work with the train companies who would know the time the train is coming and close the gates for the vehicles and open the gate for the trian and they are not automatic gates
Quite a number of years ago, in Charlotte MI, a woman was killed at a crossing on the main E-W street of the city when the crossing signal failed to activate. Her car was struck by an Amtrak train as she drove through the crossing. A building hid the tracks to her right. The only way she would have seen the train coming would have been if she had been stopped by the signal just before the tracks.
Railroad crossing signals are great at warning you of an oncoming train but that doesn't mean they don't ever malfunction. (Though major ones when they don't activate at all are very rare like you said) For instance, a crossing near me on the CPKC Watertown sub in Elm grove WI was malfunctioning a few weeks ago and passing trains had to flag it. I'm not sure of what kind of malfunction it was right now. Likely the signals not deactivating. But ya. it's never a bad idea to play it safe and stop, look and listen before proceeding across the tracks. Great video!
They are indeed very reliable. The signals not deactivating or activating without a train present seem to be the two most common types of malfunction in my experience. Though neither are as dangerous as an activation failure. Always good to use your eyes and ears at a crossing though.
@@TheCentralTexasRailfan agreed! After seeing a video from Practical Engineering about railroad crossing signals. Crossing signals are designed with a failsafe that will keep the signals on until the track circuit or whatever causes the malfunction is repaired. Something that rather surprised me as I already knew a lot about how signals work in general.
This is why, as a FedEx driver with train tracks on my route, I always look both ways before going over the crossings even if the warning lights and bells aren't activated
Very cool! I have spent plenty of time in both towns myself. Was it just MBTA and NHN through there when you were a kid or did any other freight or passenger trains run?
@@TheCentralTexasRailfan Guilford freights used to go through the Danvers branch in Wakefield and to the container corporation on Audubon road. I also remember seeing Guilford freights on occasion go thru Reading . In Wakefield there was about one train on the Danvers branch per week
There is a trolley museum in my state that runs historic trolleys over a track that has crossings at grade. Using early 1900s technology, the crossing gives the trolley operator a white indicator light that flashes for “gates in motion” or is a steady white light that means “gates fully lowered”. Do railroads operating at high speeds with modern technology not have this feature??? Also, many modern railroads have a system that automatically triggers emergency braking if the engineer passes a danger signal without stopping. How is there no system to automatically activate train brakes if the railroad crossing safety devices fail and the engineer is not taking appropriate action to reduce the chances of a collision?
Fun Fact: When RTD (Transit Agency in Denver USA) was first testing it’s gate crossings for it’s new A Line, some gates were closing 3 minutes, to 70 seconds early which lead to frustrated drivers but they were later fixed
There are small holes on the side of crossing lights that sine down the tracks. They are there so train crews can tell from a distance that the crossing is working. No lights and the crew is supposed to stop and flag the crossing.
Fortune UTA FrontRunner one, that crossing his at the end of a curve, so the operator has no way to see that light until he's far to close. For the Metra ones, those lights were there, but the trains are traveling too fast to stop.
I agree about the crossing indicator lamps. However both the Metra and FrontRunner incident, I might add that visibility was reduced and that both engineers would have struggled to notice the flashing lights. Plus an emergency stop raises the potential chance of injury or death to the train's passengers who may be standing or walking, or thrown from their seats. I'd say neither crew was in the wrong with all this taken into account.
In general things like crossing warnings, red lights, stop signs, are not safety devices at all. They're traffic flow efficiency devices. You don't have to slow or stop at those intersections. Accordingly they actually increase danger slightly because they can fail to warn when they should warn.
That's an interesting perspective for sure. I would still argue that they are a safety device as these failures are extremely rare and they have saved countless lives. Even with the occasional slip up.
3:41 3:53 and 4:21 all happened at this street called 191st Street in Mokena Illinois the reason why of this malfunction is bcuz u can see a switch at 3:41 so the gates stayed up when it got close u can see the lights flash there was another malfunction where for train 416 the gates were down and when he went through the switch the gate wavered up and went down the route is Rocky Island District Inbound-Outbound
You got that one right. I always wait because it's not uncommon for the gates to start coming right back down without fully recovering should another train be approaching
This has happened a few times here, an amtrak train will approach a station and a barrier or two will come up before the train passes the crossing, even though its only one or two come up it still could've been bad
Automated crossings are failsafed. There's a shunt across the rails in the distance in each direction, and if the crossing circuitry can't detect the shunt, it failsafes to closed. That's the state almost all failed crossings are in, and somebody comes out to fix it. That's relatively common and almost every failure falls into this case.
The first clip with the UP sd40 looks like a Bachman crossing tbh Also I went on a GSMR scenic railroad and we went over the same malfunctioning crossing twice and thank god it was a small town and ppl know the dangers a train can poses
You remind me of Sebastián, the kid that plays with the switches and heaters. Kinda like a grown up, anti mischief, train safety guru, making up for a court order to give lectures. (Now im not saying you are, you just remind me of that)
Also, it’s not “exceedingly rare” it happens once in a long while the crossing doesn’t turn off in time. Haven’t seen that malfunction in a few years though.
I from Germany aka Europe has a question dont you have like warning signals that warn the train driver if crossing dont work since we have that in europe for every crossing with warn lights and barriers
In canby, after the amtrak passes, thr gates stay lowered for over 1 minute and then go up. Single track. No 2nd train. But after a UP train passes, the gates go up after 5 seconds
The fast moving and rather light Amtrak may not register with the track circuits in the highway portion of the crossing. In that case the signals will stay activated for a specific set time until they time-out. The crossing actually does not see the passenger train cross the road segment (known as the island circuit) but it does see a heavy freight train. Crossings are designed to fail-safe. That means if there is a problem (fail) then the signals will go into their warning mode (safe).
Great explanation. I couldn't have said it better myself, but sometimes shorter trains don't register with crossings as well, usually in the scope of deactivation.
Railroad signals are on a backup battery system that can power the crossing for at least several hours of run time. If that fails, the gates (if the crossing has them) will lower by gravity as they are held up electro-mechanically.
Where I live, one grade crossing has become a quiet zone. Every time I approach that crossing, I put my hazard flashers on slow down, stop and check, just in case the mechanism is not working. I have wondered why there is no auxiliary train horn at the crossing. Would it still make too much noise for a quiet zone?
Some crossings actually do have auxiliary horns mounted near the crossing. While they are quieter, they aren't as popular as a full quiet zone, probably because they still make noise. It wouldn't help warn people in the event of a signal failure though, because it would be tied into the crossing signal system.
I live in a very rural area in northwestern Montana and have to cross a railroad track every day I never trust the signal equipment I always stop and look at both ways before proceeding
Going to work one night and crossing had lights and fate that weren't flashing and gate was up but looked anyway and train came flying through and gates never lowered!
1:18 I’m sure the driver of the car would avoid the accident (assuming they were paying attention to their surroundings) unless if they weren’t looking up like if they were texting or whatever. And it also depends on the speed limit of that road which to me looks like a 40 maybe 30 mile an hour road. So unless if they were traveling at a high rate of speed then yeah there would’ve been an accident faster than whatever the speed limit is there. That’s why we have eyes people let’s use them
3:44 MERCY!! Ok, although the crossing signals _were_ majorly delayed, they still activated soon enough for the white SUV to see them, so that near miss is on the driver for trying to beat a train they couldn't even see until it was right on top of them(note the obstructions earlier on the right that block the train from view in that direction). Edit: The dashcam footage of the second incident helps reinforce my second point. Due to the obstructions, there's no way to see the train until you get close enough to the crossing. However, I will concede that given the relative higher speed of this road(which appears to be a highway), the white SUV in the first incident _might_ not've had enough time to stop. Still, I feel they could've tried.
Stopping might have been possible, but given the winter conditions and potential for ice/slush buildup, I would say locking up the brakes to try to stop would have been more dangerous, had the gates been working properly. In any case, though, the driver is lucky to be alive.
This is why trains blow their horn for controlled crossings “except for certain areas or certain times at the request of the residents in the area, which while I understand, I think is the dumbest and unsafest thing ever). Even if those gates fail, so long as you do what you are supposed to, what you learned in drivers ed, and have heard your entire life, to STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN, then you won’t get hit.
It is the responsibility of the signal maintainer to see that the signals are working. They are to be inspected monthly if not more often. Most, if not all signals have an 800 number for civilians to call and let the railroad know there’s a problem-- at least in the USA. Yes, things occasionally go wrong, but thank God they are rare. If you see a malfunctioning crossing signal, call the 800 number and report it.
I once called the Norfolk Southern 800 number to report a crossing activated at 1am with no train anywhere around. I let it ring for at least a minute and nobody ever answered. I guess the dispatcher fell asleep.
In the town I grew up in, some kids wanted to see a train destroy an old car bumper they found. They laid it on a UP mainline track and it created a circuit that deactivated a nearby grade crossing. There was a collision and a woman was killed.
Wow, that's unfortunate. Although I don't know how a car bumper would do that, since if anything it would cause nearby crossings to remain active. Do you have any news reports about the story?
@@TheCentralTexasRailfan Grade crossings are programmed to deactivate when a train stops short of the crossing. The steady circuit made it think a train was nearby but stopped. This was many years ago so I don’t have a story link.
Ah that makes more sense. However an approaching train should still be changing the circuit impedance and lower the gates. Although back in the day crossing circuits were much more primitive.
The railroads are usually very careful with this because an accident resulting from a crossing failure, for which they would be liable, can cost them a great deal of money.
@@TheCentralTexasRailfan School busses are a bit noisy inside. So we have to stop, open the driver's window, shut off anything that makes noise, open the door so we have a clear view and can listen for the train.
That's pretty much what happens right now. Almost every crossing in the US is automated, and the few manual ones left are typically in low-speed branchline operation.
Inspections are due every 30 days per Federal Railroad Administration. Class 1 railroads are currently lobbying the FRA for 90 day testing using monitoring devices. Kinda scary.
That can happen if a train approaches the vicinity of the crossing but they stop 100 yards or so before the crossing. It is not uncommon with freight trains when they are switching tracks or making some other maneuver that requires a full stop. The signal controls will usually time out and the gates will reopen if no train is occupying the crossing.
This is why school buses MUST stop at all railroad crossings, even where other vehicles, such as hazmat trucks & motor coaches, are allowed to proceed without stopping.
It's definitely situational, I'd argue there are some roads where it is more dangerous to come to a complete stop if traffic is behind you. But slowing down and looking both ways at the very least is a great idea.
I'm chiming in on this. You made statements regarding ample warning time. Sometimes we the train crew get general orders stating rather or not to flag the crossing. As long as the head and ditch lights are on, bell ringing, and horn blowing, you can proceed through the crossing at 10 mph, as long as you can see, that's no traffic impeding the crossing. Both cases earlier in the video, that's exactly what the crew was doing.
I would counter that the first train was exceeding 10mph to some extent. Additionally, a building blocks the view of road traffic approaching opposite from the direction I was filming in. Had a car been rapidly approaching I don't think the crew could have stopped, especially with the number of cars on the local. Second case is the same in terms of limited sightlines, the track emerges from warehouses built directly up to the ballast on both sides, so a car approaching at higher speed would be invisible until the crew is practically on the crossing at which stopping, even at 10mph is impossible.
@TheCentralTexasRailfan you can't simply assume that the crossing is not being protected. It's things we can see from the locomotive that you can't see from the ground. I'm not saying we have x-ray vision, but there are a variety of factors in what we see, what we know, and what we are doing that you don't know about. When railfans post videos about a operation and using their own opinion or even thoughts about what is taking place, railroaders get pissed and start running people off, flipping them off, and catching attitudes with railfans, especially in this instance. That's exactly what Capitol City rail did, while he was the one who created the situation. Keep your opinion to yourself.
So basically were saying to avoid the blinking lights and just keep blowing through them till the gate comes down. I can tell you first hand that those lights start blinking 25 seconds before the train arrives. People dont care at all. They must have the gate come down to make its not a scam.
I don’t know anything specific about Elko, but a bridge is more efficient for the flow of traffic. Freight trains can easily stop the flow of street traffic for 20 minutes or more in some places. If the train experiences a mechanical failure while occupying the crossing, it could stop motor vehicle traffic for an hour or more.
I've worked in train and engine service for 38:years. Yes those things do happen I attest to that to let people know its mechanical they do fail. Every crossing in ever crossed I made sure the gates and lights work properly on every single crossing that's part of the job. And if one doesn't work its reported to the dispatcher. The dispatcher then informs all trains that are about to use that crossing that its an inactive crossing . The trains then stop short of the crossing the conductor gets off and protects the crossing by live flag . That's not just rules from the railroad those are rules from the FRA. For you to say the crossing was intentionally set to fail is federal violation . you do not intentionally set up anything on the RR to fail . once again federal violation and you become suspect of tampering with such equipment just the same as the guy who tampered with a switch to see it derail. You want views I'm about to get you some .
None of these incidents were intentional. For the three I filmed, I can assure you I didn't touch or sabotage ANY equipment. The other three were from the internet and no foul play was suspected in any of those as far as I know. The last one was caused by the signal maintainer disabling the crossing system for repairs without notifying the appropriate channels...a colossal mistake.
Probably terminology that was borrowed from the military. I’m imagining a projectile that nearly hit its target but missed. This was a frequent occurrence before smart bombs and guided missiles, so it makes sense that there would be a term for it. The use of the term in other settings would still highlight the close proximity to catastrophic destruction.
Couple of things. The trains are granted the right of way over all street vehicles. Most systems use a roadbed mounted transducer pointed up. They can fail into a SAFE condition, gates down-lights on. When they do fail people and police loose their minds. I had a crew get ticketed by local police as he waited for the next train to pass through. Tankers and busses are required to stop and look. Folks Might want to at least take a peek.
Interesting information. While I think every vehicle stopping outright is a bit overkill, slowing and looking is definitely a good alternative, and probably safer given the possibility of rear-end collisions on the road.
@@TheCentralTexasRailfan The point about tankers and busses stopping is due to their absolute safety requirement. Vehicles still get clobbered at traffic stop lights and stop signs. But a lift of the throttle and a quick glance before your car is on the track is never a bad idea.
At least with crossing signals, they generally aren't. They work properly way over 99.9 percent of the time. Crossing signals are the biggest public liability so maintenance of them is prioritized. This video isn't meant to show that maintenance is bad, it's to show that mistakes happen. Now, tracks and rolling stock on the other hand...
