Dennis,
The gates are down, the lights are flashing but there 'aint no train coming.
Now, I've seen that literally happen...and when I do, I call
the toll free number on the grade crossing signal box, to notify
the railroad of the problem. In central Arkansas, it's Union
Pacific, on the former Missouri Pacific Railroad corridor.
In one case, it turned out to be that electricity was lost to
the signals, so as a backup, the batteries kicked in, and
activated the signals, lowering the gates. I was first in line,
and being a railfan, I didn't mind...especially considering I
wasn't in a hurry.
Well, what Union Pacific did was put a "slow order" (15 mph)
on all trains through the crossing...but the trains were
allowed to increase their speed once through the crossing.
One locomotive weighs at least 300 tons, and a fully loaded
freight train can be in excess of 12,000 tons. Most vehicles
are 1 to 2 tons...so, in short, it's no contest. The force
created by a train hitting a vehicle is the same as you driving
over a can of soda.
As Operation Lifesaver (the organization promoting safety at
highway grade crossings) notes, "Even if it's a tie...you lose".
The coupler will come through the window, decapitating the
driver, and obviously resulting in instant death. In one
staged video, when the train hit the van, it caused the vehicle
to catch fire.
They would never seat me on a jury dealing with an incident
at a railroad crossing. The crossbuck means "YIELD TO TRAINS".
It takes far more inertia to stop a moving train (at least 1
to 3 miles), than it does to start it moving from a dead stop.
The laws of physics win every time.
Daryl
... Try to beat a train to a railroad crossing?? You'll be DEAD WRONG.
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