Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

I don't know if they are still made anymore, but why not use the gates that have a little or no mast attached to them?

Something like this:

This would solve the rear light problem.

Smjh1979 wrote:I don't know if they are still made anymore, but why not use the gates that have a little or no mast attached to them?

Because with the short masts, they can't waste their money and install a "gate guard"!

OK... maybe I shouldn't say it is a complete waste... I have seen those do good if the crossing happens to be in an especially windy area, or if it has an extra long gate.

Yeah, I wonder if/when CN replaces theirs around here...if they will still do it the good way. That upside down gate needs replaced...

As for the gate guards...those can shear away as well if they are hit the right way. I was talking about them with the maintainer at one of the crossings here when he was painting...and we took a look at the shear pin. I think they are a total waste of money. It's alot easier to have the normal breakaway adapter. Plus, it cuts down on the number of calls you can get to replace the gates...and that means less money...

Here's my submission. This is an oddball crossing. The tracks cut through the middle of this intersection. The two approaches on the North side of the tracks have cantilevers. The two approaches on the South side of the tracks have gated mast signals. This is in Charles City, IA along the CP.

I dug this picture up for my submission this month. It is with my old camera and is from 7 years ago, so the quality is not that good.

This is pretty much just a plain old cantilever crossing, but what I think makes it unique is the gates. Due to power lines on both sides of the streets, the gates do not go up all the way.

After the signals deactivate and the gates rise, they bounce back and forth for a few seconds just because of the odd angle they stop at. I'll try to catch a video of it sometime.

A bit unique. I somehow doubt that those mechanical bells are still there.

Smjh1979 wrote:A bit unique. I somehow doubt that those mechanical bells are still there.

You are more than likely correct. Safetran Type 3's are par for the course on the NS line now.

Here's an unused cantilever photo I had: 4 cantilevers at one of two crossings on E. Washington Avenue in Madison that look like they came straight out of the Walthers catalog. The light housings say "Progress" on the back and have L.E.D.s.

Wow, that one gate at the opposite approach of the crossing is well past vertical. The long gate at the Highway 69 crossing by Story City likes to do that too, but often because of strong winds. The entire mechanism and mast bend to the East because of really strong winds the past couple years. Including a tornado close to it about 3 years ago.

AndyWS wrote: The light housings say "Progress" on the back and have L.E.D.s.

Yeah Progress is quite popular down here in Pensacola on the AGR Line. I can think of at least 4 crossings on the AGR that have Progress LED Lights. All 4 are either brand new or fairly new signals. One of them is 9 Mile AGR. I have to say they light up pretty well.