Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

It has been a major occurrence here in Texas. From San Antonio all the way north as far as Denison, every new setup has it. I honestly do not understand why. But I honestly think it is a waste of money, and I feel that the BNSF should go another way. What do you guys think?

Here is a setup similar to what I am talking about 3 blocks from my house in Frisco, TX

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.152477, ... 312!8i6656

Another one a block down.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.151436, ... 312!8i6656

If I had to guess, it's so pedestrians on the sides of the crossing with no signals can see the crossbucks. This also seems to be pretty common up in parts of NJ, as I've seen plenty of photos and videos of crossings with no less than 4-crossbucks at one crossing there.

freebrickproductions wrote:If I had to guess, it's so pedestrians on the sides of the crossing with no signals can see the crossbucks. This also seems to be pretty common up in parts of NJ, as I've seen plenty of photos and videos of crossings with no less than 4-crossbucks at one crossing there.

I've seen it too. My thinking is that this day an age of distracted drivers, they do that on purpose. If there is an accident and the railroad gets sued, the driver can't say the warning devises were inadequate . That's why you see some crossing on major roads with 16 pairs of lights!

Love your points guys. I was just so caught up on why the BNSF are the only ones to do it. I have never seen the UP, NS, KCS , or CSX do this on their installs. One other thing I do not understand is why BNSF uses US&S stuff on everything they install. Once in a blue moon I see some WCH or Safetran equipment in use on wch installs.

cabman701 wrote:

freebrickproductions wrote:If I had to guess, it's so pedestrians on the sides of the crossing with no signals can see the crossbucks. This also seems to be pretty common up in parts of NJ, as I've seen plenty of photos and videos of crossings with no less than 4-crossbucks at one crossing there.

I've seen it too. My thinking is that this day an age of distracted drivers, they do that on purpose. If there is an accident and the railroad gets sued, the driver can't say the warning devises were inadequate . That's why you see some crossing on major roads with 16 pairs of lights!

They should use these in Florida then. Last time I went to visit, Lots of xings over in the Tampa/Clearwater area and even in Orlando already are no train horn zones. These signs or more lights could maybe make a difference. BTW Miami is also pushing for no train horn xings as north as PBI. THE FRA IS TO OBSESSED WITH FLORIDA!

CSX has done it before, as here's a CSX crossing up in NJ with four crossbucks on it (though it might've been a Conrail thing for all we know):


And here's another crossing up in NJ with four crossbucks on it:
http://www.rxrsignals.net/New_Jersey/Bl ... Waterfall/

NSrailfan4life wrote: They should use these in Florida then. Last time I went to visit, Lots of xings over in the Tampa/Clearwater area and even in Orlando already are no train horn zones. These signs or more lights could maybe make a difference. BTW Miami is also pushing for no train horn xings as north as PBI. THE FRA IS TO OBSESSED WITH FLORIDA!

You can thank the Florida East Coast Railroad (FEC) for that.

NSrailfan4life wrote:Lots of xings over in the Tampa/Clearwater area and even in Orlando already are no train horn zones

I can tell you for certain that there are no active quiet zones in Tampa. I work/go to school right in-between both the CSX A and S lines to the east of Tampa and there are no quiet zones in place there. Also through Ybor City, and even Downtown Tampa, train horns are still blaring to this day.

Well you got me there. Might have been thinking of somewhere else near. But yes the FEC is the most strict at the moment with quietzones. There is actually a page on their site that talks about decibel ratings on their K5HLs installed on their new GEVOs. The page also talks about quiet zones. Also about the Double sided crossbucks in the video, that is the doing of Conrail. They were ahead of their time during the 90'S since they were the only Class one to do this practice. Now they did not do this everywhere.

Probably the reason why the FEC is so strict with their quietzone rules is because they were part of the reason why the FRA established the quietzone and horn-use rules.

When crossbucks are installed on both sides of the mast that appears to me to be the modern day eqivalent of the classic days when two-piece double-sided crossbucks were mounted on both sides of a mast/post.

(Gives me an excuse to post this pic again.)