Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

legsbluetrain wrote:There was an Operation Lifesaver commercial with Wile E Coyote and Road Runner with a signal in it.

You mean THIS one?


I know it pretty well. Operation Lifesaver produced another animated train safety video in 1992, "Sly Fox and Birdie," which had a railroad crossing signal with a gate that swings EXTREMELY fast, and the bells and lights don't start up until the gates are down!

Since it's produced for young kids, Birdie refers to the crossbuck as "a sign with an 'X'." I think she should've said "You'll see a sign with an 'X,' also called a "crossbuck." I also get a kick out of how they refer to the crossing having "gates, red lights and bells!"

wilek209 wrote:I also get a kick out of how they refer to the crossing having "gates, red lights and bells!"

Upside down gates, no less... Birdie normally stops behind them when they are down, but because they are pointing the other way, Birdie had a mental cue to fly around them and get crushed by the big ol' Choo Choo. Fox had fried squab for dinner later on that night...

EDIT: On closer inspection the very first time you see the crossing gate, the stripes actually are on the correct way... but every other time, they're upside down. Oopsie!

wilek209 wrote:

legsbluetrain wrote:There was an Operation Lifesaver commercial with Wile E Coyote and Road Runner with a signal in it.

You mean THIS one?


I know it pretty well. Operation Lifesaver produced another animated train safety video in 1992, "Sly Fox and Birdie," which had a railroad crossing signal with a gate that swings EXTREMELY fast, and the bells and lights don't start up until the gates are down!

Since it's produced for young kids, Birdie refers to the crossbuck as "a sign with an 'X'." I think she should've said "You'll see a sign with an 'X,' also called a "crossbuck." I also get a kick out of how they refer to the crossing having "gates, red lights and bells!"

Yep.

Quite a few cartoons have signals.







The above videos have one wigwag apiece somewhere in the cartoon.

In Transformers Animated, in the 8th episode, there's a scene where Bumblebee, while trying to chase a super-speed villain, tries to beat lowering crossing gates, but changes his mind. Unfortunatly, he does so too late, shatters through the lowered gates, and ends up stuck on the tracks.

Sequence is from 1:37 to 2:30 in the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlZMMmQy8m4

Also, this is set in the distant future (2100 A.D.) in Detroit, MI.
They might have gotten around to repealing that law which requires all signalized crossing in Michigan to have SORS signs, which explains their absence.

In addition, there was a drawing on deviantART that depicted 6 different crossing collisions from 6 different cartoons, but it was apparently deleted.

In The Heat Of The Night(1967)

Crossing gate in TV series intro.I wonder why there was only one side gaurded at the crossing.There is not gate in front of the police car.

Will someone map the location of the crossing at the end of John Mellencamp's Pink Houses video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtIb8DNWJ4g

One of the infamous G.I. Joe animated PSAs from the 1980s cartoon series, this one has a railroad crossing signal that seems partially based off a Japanese signal but with regular English "RAILROAD CROSSING" lettering (I imagine it is because the show was animated in Japan). Needless to say, some kids attempt to beat the train on their bikes, but one of the kids and a G.I. Joe member (General Hawk) convince them it's a stupid idea.

This clip features the railroad I maintain signals on in the movie "Fireproof". GSWR Stands for Georgia Southwestern Railroad. That hy-rail truck they show with the flashing lights is one I see every day at the yard! Too bad I couldn't of seen this take place in 2007.

Here's a "Cars" toon short being told from Mater. It features a pair of wigwags operating sort of like from the film "Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind."