Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

When you're a Class III Railroad and money's tight. Sometimes you just gotta improvise, right?
Check out this quick fix on the Ashtabula, Carson, and Jefferson Railroad!
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7853763 ... 384!8i8192
Nice close sticker view.

Certainly been around for a few years, if street view is anything to go off of...

Also, admittedly I'm tired and I suck at identifying fonts, but I wonder if that could be Arial or something similar?

It reminds me a lot of two different style crossbucks in use to the midwest by BNSF and a number of regional shortlines. I can't stand the way the word "crossing" is so narrow and has all the extra blank spaces between the word and the end of the crossbuck. "Crossing" should be properly justified to the crossbuck boarders with equilateral spacing between the characters.

Example 1
Example 2

SirKrunch wrote: Sun Mar 06, 2022 4:20 pm It reminds me a lot of two different style crossbucks in use to the midwest by BNSF and a number of regional shortlines. I can't stand the way the word "crossing" is so narrow and has all the extra blank spaces between the word and the end of the crossbuck. "Crossing" should be properly justified to the crossbuck boarders with equilateral spacing between the characters.

Example 1
Example 2

Think I've seen CSX use similar ones before, though I can't recall any off the top of my head.

I see Canadian National is starting to use crossbucks on their new installs with "crossing" improperly justified as well.

I will say, that's probably the one and only thing I like about UP's new bold font they are using on their new replacements, is that the font is properly justified across the entirety of the crossbuck blade.

Here are some examples I saw on CSX lines as well:
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.980864, ... 6656?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.8758617 ... 6656?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.8845579 ... 6656?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.91021,- ... 6656?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.9102946 ... 6656?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.8515615 ... 6656?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.8069846 ... 6656?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.2758027 ... 8192?hl=en

Seems CSX largely used them back in the early to mid-2000s, as those installs seem to be where they usually show-up.

EDIT: In fact, I just remembered that the site confirms this, lol. These two pages for crossings that were documented in O'Fallon, IL, were taken around when two gateless crossings on the now-dead CSX Illinois Sub show them before and after being upgraded in the mid-2000s, and the (then) new signals feature those crossbucks:
http://www.rxrsignals.com/Illinois/L-Q/O_Fallon/Oak/
http://www.rxrsignals.com/Illinois/L-Q/O_Fallon/Cherry/

Actually, with the new UP font crossbucks - Here is the first Crossing Railroad mounting I've seen here using them.
Honestly, I think it just makes the font look even more hideous.

SirKrunch wrote: Sat Apr 30, 2022 6:20 pm Actually, with the new UP font crossbucks - Here is the first Crossing Railroad mounting I've seen here using them.
Honestly, I think it just makes the font look even more hideous.

Yuck.

On the Nebraska Northwestern Railroad (Former DME, former CNW Cowboy Line segment)
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8558732 ... ?entry=ttu

SirKrunch wrote: Thu Jun 15, 2023 9:29 pm On the Nebraska Northwestern Railroad (Former DME, former CNW Cowboy Line segment)
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8558732 ... ?entry=ttu

That seems to have been a custom job done by a local road department. The two pieces of the crossbuck are made out of extruded street blades (just one of the ones near me as an example), and the font appears to be the same Highway Gothic variant as what's typically used on street blades as well.

That C&NW cantilever's definitely nice to see though.