Created November 20, 2007

Total Accidents:   11
Crossing DOT #:  281427B
TOTAL DAILY TRAINS:   2   (AS OF 2008)

Page written by WEHRAR17.

This would be your average crossbuck+STOP+# of tracks signs passive crossing, were it not for the single, incandescent, flashing red light mounted below each crossbuck! The lights are not automatic, they flash continuously regardless of whether or not a train is nearby.

From what the longtime Green Bay railroaders tell me, there is good reasoning behind this setup. When this line was owned by the Green Bay & Western Railroad, Norwood Yard (seen in Picture 8 below) was their main train assembly yard. The crossing would often be blocked for more hours a day than not, as cars being arranged into trains would be moved slowly back and forth over the crossing. It was determined that regular automatic crossing signals were not necessary, since they would be active nearly all the time anyway. Besides, the presence of a bell would not only be highly annoying to residents, drivers and train crews alike, the mechanical bell (which is all that was available at the time) would require almost constant maintenance to avoid wearing out from being active for long periods of time.

It was, however, decided that something extra was needed to call motorist's attention to the crossing, especially at night, since there was a good chance it would be blocked by slow-moving or stationary train cars. The old FRA reports reflected this situation, according to them the crossing used to get 202 daily trains, 198 of which were switching!