I've been seeing this type of stupidity for over 45yrs now and I still see it on the New England Hwy here often enough (even doing it while going through this village with a 50km/h limit), but some arn't so lucky.

Cheers.

True, but there just seems to be more & more of it occurring.
How often is one of the first things you see on the news these days "Head on crash..."?

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Grant
Darwin NT

Trucker’s dash cam video shows amazing near miss with a car

Elderly driver charged after car's near miss on Monaro Highway caught on dashcam.

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Grant
Darwin NT

http://patch.com/illinois/algonquin/s/fsmp2/authorities-id-man-killed-in-tractor-versus-train-crash

This hits a bit too close to home. The UP at this crossing is right next to the museum main and west station lead. This might force us to finally put in gates. The two railroads are too close together for one to have gates and the other not. Our gates would have to be linked to theirs. This is complicated by the fact that we're electrified.

And I see the Hiway department calls them two seperate crossings. I could see how someone going north seeing the two tracks sign could confuse your two tracks as one and the UP as the second.

Also looking at the crossing is there actually enough room for a full size semi to sit between the two RR's? If not it really is a single crossing and mismarked for road drivers.

As to signals, electrified might be an issue, but I suspect it will be their equipment and you will have to supply signal indications at their electrical specifications. So you have to put in a relay box to connect to theirs. Of course if you don't have block signals on that track, that is another issue.

No, there is absolutely not room for a semi. However, the way the signage is set up is pretty typical for this kind of situation.

What would happen is that we and UP would each install our own crossing signals. There would be an interconnect between them so that if a train comes on UP, both of their gates would go down as you would expect, but our south gate would also go down. Our north gate would stay up so that anyone already between them and us could escape. When our train comes, both of our gates and UP's north gate would go down (which would be the much more frequent case during our operating season).

UP does not have any sort of block signals on this line. However, this crossing and Seeman Rd. (the other one where we parallel them) are the only ones all the way from West Chicago to Belvidere that don't have gates (okay, Karstens too, but that's a private driveway, not a public road). No doubt UP would install a state of the art system with speed detection (same theory of operation as radar, but instead of radio waves through the air it sends a pulse down one rail and measures how long it takes to be shunted by the train's lead axle and come back down the other rail).

We do have operating block signals, but the reason we can't do speed sensing has to do with us using the rails as the ground return for electric trains. Our system would just detect a train within a fixed distance of the crossing. I'm sure we would also use brand new control equipment, but we might try to use antique lights and gates if the state (and our insurance carrier) will let us.

The South Shore line (also electrified) over in northern Indiana has several similar crossings to our situation here, so however they do it is probably how we would.

The biggest issue, actually, is the necessary 24/7 on-call maintainer for malfunctions. Very likely, we would contract with UP to respond to our problems (which again makes our being electric an issue, since UP's maintainers would be unfamiliar with our system).

What it all comes down to is the money to install everything. I'm sure this incident will cause both UP and us to reassess the risk/benefit analysis.


Footnote: a couple of years ago, the state announced plans to start Amtrak service to Rockford on this UP line. This would have involved installing some sort of signal system to raise the maximum speed from the current 49 to 79 MPH. As part of the project, the state would have paid to install gates on these crossings. However, our voters in their infinite wisdom/stupidity elected a new governor, who put the project "under review," meaning nothing has happened and probably won't before the federal grant expires. (Although, the project to run Amtrak to Moline just got a new puff of artificial respiration last week when the state informed the feds it's still interested and would like to have the grant deadline extended. However, in that case some money has already been spent and the state would have to pay it back to the feds if the project is not completed.)

[edit]
Footnote 2: on our Thomas weekends, we have people out to flag the crossing. There are huge numbers of cars going over it, and Thomas is very tightly scheduled and can't afford to slow down or stop for cars on the track.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Not Safe
http://kron4.com/2016/06/29/viral-video-police-chase-go-kart-down-oakland-freeway/

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Bad news for Driver & Family...

Not too good for Tesla either

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36680043

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Happy Crunching,

Graham

Woman dragged by train when hand trapped at Hayes and Harlington station

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-36681656

(News of RAIB report)

I hope that is taken into account by the current 'one person operation' negotiations.

"Our investigation identified that the train driver and other railway staff held the same misunderstanding: if someone had a hand trapped in a door it would not be possible for the door interlock light to illuminate and a driver to take power."

"This is not the case, and the door was found to be compliant with all applicable standards after the accident."

Will they never learn. Double-decker bus roof ripped off after collision with railway bridge



Luckily the bus was returning to deport and no passengers on board.

Doubt it. Every time I see photo's like that I can't help but think back to a youngster that started with us in 2003. Out with me many times & did the Gloucester run long enough to learn the problems of delivering in Tuffley Lane (Tuffley, Glous).

It's a very long road with a bridge at the end from the A38 entrance to Tuffley. After his last drop in Tuffley Lane, next several drops were in Stroud, so he decided to go through the end. Only problem is that the bridge is 10'6" & the truck 11'3".

To compound his grief, there was a police patrol car behind him. Too many want to get back quickly after finishing their shift & forget their common sense.

The question I have to ask is, "Why cannot technology be used to as least stop some of these events?".
Why can't a WiFi transmitter, or similar, be placed on these low structures and signal to approaching high vehicles a warning, maybe to a GPS device.

Over the years various devices have tried - the most effective is the "dangling chain of bells" placed before the last point of retreat. These clatter the roof of any vehicle tall enough to strike the bridge. The trouble is not every driver takes notice of the "delightful ringing in the years" that results from hitting the bells and ploughs on to the point of impact.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Over the years various devices have tried - the most effective is the "dangling chain of bells" placed before the last point of retreat. These clatter the roof of any vehicle tall enough to strike the bridge. The trouble is not every driver takes notice of the "delightful ringing in the years" that results from hitting the bells and ploughs on to the point of impact.

Yes some are just totally engrossed in "get-home-itis" and nothing will stop them except an immobile object. The only cure for them is to make the bridge taller and dig the road out deeper. Idiot proofing is expensive.

page 9 http://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2013/media/MarApr2013.pdf

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Over the years various devices have tried - the most effective is the "dangling chain of bells" placed before the last point of retreat. These clatter the roof of any vehicle tall enough to strike the bridge. The trouble is not every driver takes notice of the "delightful ringing in the years" that results from hitting the bells and ploughs on to the point of impact.

Yes some are just totally engrossed in "get-home-itis" and nothing will stop them except an immobile object. The only cure for them is to make the bridge taller and dig the road out deeper. Idiot proofing is expensive.

page 9 http://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2013/media/MarApr2013.pdf

I assume you know what "Idiot Proofing" does.
produces bigger idiots

produces bigger idiots

Genius has it limits, stupidity knows no bounds.

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We all know that water & electricity don't work well together...

Neither does booze

This driver must be intelligent, nobody could be born this stupid.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-36986004

WK inline for a Darwin award.

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WK inline for a Darwin award.

He didn't kill himself (yet) so he isn't eligible.

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A Boeing 737 cargo from Paris to Orio al Serio (Bergamo) overshot the runaway and ended with its nose on a highway during a storm. Fortunately it was 4 AM and the motorists were few so they could avoid it.
Tullio

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A Boeing 737 cargo from Paris to Orio al Serio (Bergamo) overshot the runaway and ended with its nose on a highway during a storm. Fortunately it was 4 AM and the motorists were few so they could avoid it.
Tullio

Reminds me of a radio transmission years ago from a California airport, tower talking to a plane that just landed a bit far down the runway:

"Nxxx left at last exit if possible. If not possible, continue north on I5, take the Elm Street exit, right at the Gulf station back to airport."

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Sexist, non-PC, but sorry I couldn't resist.
Women Drivers