Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/l ... 27880.html

This happened yesterday at the South Bay Trail pedestrian crossing at Boulevard Park between the "Old Town" and "Fairhaven" districts of Bellingham.

Personally, I'm not too surprised that this happened. I was expecting this to happen now for a very long time. Just about every time I've been in the area I've seen people walking along the right of way (picking up gravel, taking photos of their children, putting coins on the rails, etc.) Back in 2012 when I was with my family there, I had to yell (and even curse) at a man who was walking his dog when an empty coal drag was about less than a quarter of a mile from here.

Prior to late 2014, there were only crossbucks here. Gated LED signals were put in place afterwards. Even when the signals are active I see people trying to push the gates up to get through. At this point, I'd just shut down the crossing altogether. Unfortunately, people would still be walking on the tracks because "Bellinghamsters" (the nickname for people who live in the area) aren't the brightest people.

LARDLOGO wrote:https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/l ... 27880.html

This happened yesterday at the South Bay Trail pedestrian crossing at Boulevard Park between the "Old Town" and "Fairhaven" districts of Bellingham.

Personally, I'm not too surprised that this happened. I was expecting this to happen now for a very long time. Just about every time I've been in the area I've seen people walking along the right of way (picking up gravel, taking photos of their children, putting coins on the rails, etc.) Back in 2012 when I was with my family there, I had to yell (and even curse) at a man who was walking his dog when an empty coal drag was about less than a quarter of a mile from here.

Prior to late 2014, there were only crossbucks here. Gated LED signals were put in place afterwards. Even when the signals are active I see people trying to push the gates up to get through. At this point, I'd just shut down the crossing altogether. Unfortunately, people would still be walking on the tracks because "Bellinghamsters" (the nickname for people who live in the area) aren't the brightest people.

Maybe they could put skirted gates at the location...

TrickyMario7654 wrote:

LARDLOGO wrote:https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/l ... 27880.html

This happened yesterday at the South Bay Trail pedestrian crossing at Boulevard Park between the "Old Town" and "Fairhaven" districts of Bellingham.

Personally, I'm not too surprised that this happened. I was expecting this to happen now for a very long time. Just about every time I've been in the area I've seen people walking along the right of way (picking up gravel, taking photos of their children, putting coins on the rails, etc.) Back in 2012 when I was with my family there, I had to yell (and even curse) at a man who was walking his dog when an empty coal drag was about less than a quarter of a mile from here.

Prior to late 2014, there were only crossbucks here. Gated LED signals were put in place afterwards. Even when the signals are active I see people trying to push the gates up to get through. At this point, I'd just shut down the crossing altogether. Unfortunately, people would still be walking on the tracks because "Bellinghamsters" (the nickname for people who live in the area) aren't the brightest people.

Maybe they could put skirted gates at the location...

Depends, but eventually someone might get their hands on scissors or even a saw of some kind.

Skirted gates would have to be approved by the FRA in order for railroads to use them.