Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

I remember seeing a cantilever crossing on a major east-west arterial street in Fort Lauderdale, FL in the early 90's that had strobes instead of incandescent lights in the end light sets on the cantilevers. Do any of y'all know if the strobes are still there?

Brian556 wrote:I remember seeing a cantilever crossing on a major east-west arterial street in Fort Lauderdale, FL in the early 90's that had strobes instead of incandescent lights in the end light sets on the cantilevers. Do any of y'all know if the strobes are still there?

Interesting,
I'll have to look that up. Also I believe that strobes on a traffic control device are illegal (MUTCD)

Strobes (for traffic lights) may be illegal now... but we actually had one here for years. It was on a signal that was the first traffic light after you come off the interstate. There wasn't an off ramp or anything... you just came straight from the highway to a city street and I guess they thought people might not be slowing down fast enough to see the red light in time. It was only on the cantilever signal and it was a white strobe that was installed inside the red lens and of course flashed only when the signal was red.

When I was younger, my brother also told me that in Champaign, IL where he went to college there was a crossing that had strobe lights. But I never got to see these active myself and I believe he might have been fibbing just a little. I remember the signals looked like Lex C's so I suppose it was possible... but he liked to stretch the truth quite a bit so I have my doubts.

Strobes on traffic lights aren't illegal here in NYS - we use them in a LOT of places. I've never seen a strobed railroad crossing. As for those YouTube vids, I always thought it was a malfunctioning camera, as many of us know the ill effects LEDs have on cameras.

weatherdan882002 wrote:Strobes on traffic lights aren't illegal here in NYS - we use them in a LOT of places. I've never seen a strobed railroad crossing. As for those YouTube vids, I always thought it was a malfunctioning camera, as many of us know the ill effects LEDs have on cameras.

FEDERAL ORDNANCE VIOLATION
Q: Are strobe lights allowed in red signals?
A: No, they are not allowed. Section 4D.06 of the 2009 MUTCD specifically prohibits strobes within or adjacent to any signal indication. Research and experimentation over the years with white strobe lights as a circular "halo" outer ring around the red signal or as horizontal bar across the red signal has found no lasting safety benefit and, in some cases, the strobes resulted in increased crash frequency. Based on this experience, FHWA made a determination in 1990 no further experimentation with strobe lights in traffic signals would be approved and that all existing strobes were to be removed. In 1995 a report by the Virginia Transportation Research Council provided an updated review of strobe light effectiveness in the States where they had been used. That report validated the previous analyses and came to the same basic conclusion, that there is no evidence that strobe lights are consistently effective in reducing crashes. Therefore, it is still FHWA's position that strobe lights are not allowed in or adjacent to traffic signals and no further experimentations with these types of strobe lights in traffic signals will be approved.

I think there was a photo in the old forum that was from railpictures.net. The picture showed a crossing signal in some foggy mountainside with the signal flashing, but instead of a bell there was a white strobe. The strobe wasn't flashing in the pic, but cool nevertheless.

Crossbuck_Chuck wrote:I think there was a photo in the old forum that was from railpictures.net. The picture showed a crossing signal in some foggy mountainside with the signal flashing, but instead of a bell there was a white strobe. The strobe wasn't flashing in the pic, but cool nevertheless.

A shortline in Wichita, Kansas has strobes on the damn (Gayside horns (Copyright KLM92 ) to let the crews know there working.

TRAINMANKIGHT wrote:FEDERAL ORDNANCE VIOLATION
Q: Are strobe lights allowed in red signals?
A: No, they are not allowed. Section 4D.06 of the 2009 MUTCD specifically prohibits strobes within or adjacent to any signal indication. Research and experimentation over the years with white strobe lights as a circular "halo" outer ring around the red signal or as horizontal bar across the red signal has found no lasting safety benefit and, in some cases, the strobes resulted in increased crash frequency. Based on this experience, FHWA made a determination in 1990 no further experimentation with strobe lights in traffic signals would be approved and that all existing strobes were to be removed. In 1995 a report by the Virginia Transportation Research Council provided an updated review of strobe light effectiveness in the States where they had been used. That report validated the previous analyses and came to the same basic conclusion, that there is no evidence that strobe lights are consistently effective in reducing crashes. Therefore, it is still FHWA's position that strobe lights are not allowed in or adjacent to traffic signals and no further experimentations with these types of strobe lights in traffic signals will be approved.

Sorry in advanced for dragging this OT, but I have a few pics to share:

http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1306745781.jpg
- NYS Rt. 787 at Tibbits Rd

http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1306768257.jpg
- The end of the Adirondak Northway at Rt. 20

There's also strobes at these locations:

I-87 Exit 8 on both off-ramps, NYS Rt. 9 at Church Hill Rd and Vischer Ferry Rd, NYS Rt. 20 west at Willow St, and Rt. 67 West at Truax Rd (one in each LENS).

As you can see, they're used quite frequently, usually on roads with very few lights or at intersections that are nearby eachother as to help tell which light is closer. IDK if any high accident rates due to these things, although they are quite bright and can "overpower" a driver...

There are still several several places across the United States that use the white strobe lights at traffic signals, but it is indeed illegal on a federal level, with no room for state or local exemptions. It just isn't being enforced as it should be. It's illegal for a main approach to a signalized intersection to have less than 2 separate signal faces controlling it, but yet, you still see the old school singular Eagle traffic signals hanging on a span wire over an intersections, especially in historic downtown areas. Some local/state DOTs are too lazy and/or cheap to care about what is federally mandated, if what they are already doing is adequate in their personal opinions. Doesn't mean it's legal though.

TRAINMANKIGHT wrote:

Crossbuck_Chuck wrote:I think there was a photo in the old forum that was from railpictures.net. The picture showed a crossing signal in some foggy mountainside with the signal flashing, but instead of a bell there was a white strobe. The strobe wasn't flashing in the pic, but cool nevertheless.

A shortline in Wichita, Kansas has strobes on the damn (Gayside horns (Copyright KLM92 ) to let the crews know there working.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Kansas+He ... ,,2,-25.56
Found one of the crossings on streetview.