Carpenter's Crossing Malfunction

Made a trip to the Strasburg Railroad on Sunday, October 9th. When we arrived at the Carpenter's grade crossing on Black Horse Rd, we noticed the crossing was having a seizure...
Person who tries to "fix" the crossing: koasterkidd

[@fostoriadistrictrailfan3907]

2:13 "But I like hearing the ding ding!" "I'm sure you do."

[@CoolNinja925]

Plot Twist: Everything works fine, the train is reversing back and forth a mile away.

[@captainminecraft631]

Then why isn’t the other one activating?

[@ReegieeHomeCat]

@@captainminecraft631 because thats the broken one.

[@VestedUTuber]

I've seen this very malfunction happen in person in Hinsdale, Illinois at the Garfield Street crossing. We ended up using the bridge at Oak Street to cross since we didn't trust the signal, and with good reason - the moment we were on the other side, a train came through and the gate was still spazzing out like this. We ended up reporting it to the BNSF.

[@thunderbolttdmplayz6750]

I like that Safetran bell

[@Stormchaser3030]

@@thunderbolttdmplayz6750 its not a Safetran. I'm guessing its probably a Western Cullen Hayes or a Western Railroad Supply

[@Indianarailproductions]

@@Stormchaser3030appears to be WC Hayes or Federal Signal

[@Ih8kone]

1:33 Oh way to go you broke it even more!

[@supermariotransitfan1662]

Ding Ding 🙂

[@kimberlylewismckinney6099]

😂

[@kimberlylewismckinney6099]

@@supermariotransitfan1662 he broke the RAILROAD CROSSING

[@sephirahisui]

"Stop it Lucille!!" lol wtf! the crossing has a name?! at least that's what I heard.

[@freebrickproductions]

Bad hold clear mechanism (the hold clear is what keeps the gate up).

[@FreedomtowerStudios]

***** Simple fix?

[@GabryJ84]

This is a Westinghouse box and what it is failing is the slot that keeps the level crossing UP. This unit works with 24V dc and the basic principles are the following: 1. When the level crossing is commented to close (through a pedal mounted onto the tracks), the electrical current changes its verse going from 0-24Volts to -24-0Volts. 2. This triggers the engine inside that turns on the bell (only when descending mode, never in ascending mode), the lights and then, after 7 or more seconds, the mechanisms that lower the barrier. 3. When the barrier is completely lowered, the level crossing sends control current to the sentry-box and eventually turning on railroad signals. 4. After the train passes the level crossing, there are more pedals to press that tell the sentry-box to open the gates re-inverting the current (from -24-0 to 0-24V). 5. When the barriers have completed the cycle, a special device cuts the current to the engine (which would blow if kept under power with the gates at the bottom end) and uses that current to feed this special device called "slot", which is basically an electro-magnet with a pin(which is unlikely to break or get damaged) that keeps the barrier locked into position untill the next cycle, where the current to the slot is cut and fed again to the engine and everything starts again. If the slot is short-circuited, broken or has been stroke by a lightning or any other overcharge, it does no more work as an electro-magnet. Not being retained anymore, the pin doesn't lock the barriers in place and, since the whole system is designed in a way so that if there is a power outrage, the gates automatically close by gravity, the barrierd begin to fall. This alerts a switch that operates only when barriers are not into 90 degrees position and turns the whole system on again. But since the sentry-box is still in the "up" state (since no train commanded gates closure), the current is stil set to lift the barrier and the opening cycle begins again. At the end of that cycle, the box should go to rest, but since the slot is damaged/non working, the pin can't lock the barrier into 90° position, the barrier begins to fall, this alerts the switch and the whole story goes on and on again and again, until someone comes to fix the problem. Fortunetely "slot fulmination" is really a rare event. The boy trying to keep the barrier into 90° position is doing exactly what the slot and the pin would be supposed to do if the slot worked correctly.

[@GabryJ84]

Forgot to say that this is something "box-related" only. As you can see, only one box is failing while the other is correctly into rest-attitude.

[@CWR_56]

Crossings typically work by nature of track circuits, not pedals, and what you call a "slot" is probably what we call a hold-clear in the states. Also, our gates typically also work on 10-12VDC, not 24V.

[@GabryJ84]

@@CWR_56Nice to understand the differences between Italy and the States. In our country both closing command and opening command are given from pedals (1 bidirectional for closure, 2, monodirectional and distanced 7 meters one from each other for opening). They are built by a French company called SILEC and are used in all automatic level crossing like the one in the video since mid '50s. There were some experiments with AFO (Audio Frequency Overlay) but were dropped soon and the pedal system was standardised. For the "slot" yes you are right, in Italy that is the name of the hold-clear device. As for the voltage, in Italy only the few first imported models of level crossing were 12VDC working with american relays, after the '50s the system was standardised and they were uniformed to 24VDC when national railways switched to SIEMENS relays which were working with 24VDC. By the way thanks for the message, it is always nice to know something about how railroads work abroad.

[@kellielee9829]

1:56 DAMN IT!

[@CoreythelordoftheIsles]

WRRS Bell: *ding ding*

[@loudoncountyrailfan9041]

0:44 I heard a steam train 😲

[@TheBoyFnfG_Alt]

Me too

[@CTR82]

Me three

[@JPabloBczk]

Me too

[@dominiknalezny7906]

Me four

[@TheActualKingOfRailfanning]

Me five

[@dirtycamerarailfan3302]

0:45 steam whisle

[@landon8590]

Noah Haggerty that’s what made the video good!! Well no the whole video was good I remember watching this before I had a KZbin account

[@kenrutherford1109]

The correct spelling is whistle. You left out the T. You spelled whistle the way it's pronounced.

[@SRR475]

Noah Haggerty yea that is former great western now Strasburg railroad #90

[@kingofmusicandpop]

I thought she was coming

[@sharky_99r83]

It’s sounds like Strasburg railroad train

[@RicardoSantos-il3ee]

I’ve seen this before multiple times, when the gate is up there’s a mechanism inside that locks the gear in place to hold the gate up. When the mechanism isn’t locked, the gate tries to fall but it’s supposed to be up, so then the lift function is activated. So the gate going up and down is caused by the gate being released and being pulled up into the up position and it’s constantly repeating.

[@friend6221]

you mean infinite loop?

[@RicardoSantos-il3ee]

@@friend6221 Yeah, pretty much.

[@CWR_56]

You are referring to the Hold-Clear device. Yes, in this case, it seems to not be latching.

[@rockisland4506]

Who heard the steam engine whistle at 0;45 to 0;49 Seconds

[@Hayden_the_Derg]

Me

[@schneidervargas5870]

Me too

[@apr859]

Me

[@heathertom1921]

Me

[@randombird390]

I did

[@Alizara75]

"I will decapitate the arm!" Not gonna lie, this is my new favorite 'cheer me up' video. Great stuff.

[@genie1278]

What now!

[@theowlfan9050]

0:45 did anyone hear the whistle in the background? I did!

[@emmieemmieperezoutlookcom]

The Owl Fan same

[@levelcrossingspotter-lcsra3368]

me too

[@thekv-2fan670]

That's 90's Reading 6 chime.

[@Sarah-nl2rk]

The Owl Fan I did

[@rockisland4506]

The Owl Fan I did

[@jenniferchittipangna2816]

1:33 oh way to go you broke it even more🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@user-vy3pe3hj4d]

1:33 Oh Way To Go You Broke It Even More,

[@Ih8kone]

Well I wouldn't go as far to say THAT...

[@DatTrainGuyProductions]

@@Ih8kone He just held it enough that the contacts opened to flash the lights but not enough for the motor to kick the gate back up. Those malfunctions are caused by something in the mechanism not engaging the hold clear, causing the gate to fall. The motor then kicks the gate back up, and it repeats. It is funny to watch lol

[@loudoncountyrailfan9041]

That crossing won’t even work lol

[@gachaej56]

1:33 how I try to fix a broken crossing gate but when someone said I broke it even more

[@oscaralvarezproductions2430]

It’s located at: Blackhorse Road, Paradise, PA

[@eunicejohannaschuitema8852]

well, I really want to live near that thing!! it is always waving at you😂😂

[@60trainhunter]

that's a pumping malfunction that should be reported to the railroad company asap.

[@epic5651]

Crossing:cmon.. Gate:nah last time you didn’t let me work

[@pb4y-2privateer]

"Oh way to go, you broke it even more!" "Ding ding" This has me laughing so hard

[@boberttrain831]

This is the Strasburg Railroad in Lancaster County, PA.

[@usnva5638]

The railroad needs to hire someone full time to hold that gate up.

[@RoyanGreenwood23]

What guys it's just waving hello

[@dylanmendoza8351]

Ha what the heck wud it wave hello

[@dyl46225]

H - H Hello!

[@FranzFerdinandVIII]

+Royann Greenwood DAMMIT! It i snot waving at ALL, COME ON!

[@techflight8680]

LOL

[@FranzFerdinandVIII]

JarynGames How about we move that crossing signal to [You might never believe me] LOL-LOL-Land.

[@heal0152]

Rip railroad crossing 2011 - 2016, Reason: It was going crazyyyyyy, probably from a random train stepping on activation sensor and getting off it

[@tractorsmachinesro1405]

Great rail therapy....I like IT!!!! Big like from Romania

[@BrickMasterB06]

Faulty Hold Clear Device. The gate has no idea if it needs to be up or down, so it tries both.

[@renton9999]

might be poor balance or bad motor

[@r1pharaoh463]

the gate mech had a bad hold clear that's what keep the gate up while there are no trains as soon as a train hits the approach power is taken from the hold clear but in this case the hold clear is not holding the gate and the motor up contact is closed not allowing to drop fully. in a nut shell it's more complicated than this but this is the best way I can describe it

[@danmeyer7174]

I agree, or a bad/loose/broken motor up contact causing the gates to jack.

[@gordoncrisp3060]

This is the correct answer. I am a signal maintainer......

[@MainlineProductions2]

Yes there is a such thing as a trip relay, and a fault relay. I've had to replace many of them. Insulated rail joints, and fault activators in welded rail (signal activation points, signal joints, block meters) are in charge of activating the trip and fault relays.

[@frenchtoast2027]

The gate is pumping

[@CWR_56]

As an FRA 243 qualified signal maintainer, I have no idea what you're talking about.

[@ateohone1775]

Done lost your mind, it's a hold-clear device failing. Oh, and the gate arm is upside down

[@ateohone1775]

Matter of fact, both are upside down, geez

[@horroreader410]

Hold Clear won't lock into place

[@RRIA_America]

This action is called pumping. The crossings are unsure if they are supposed to go down, therefore it's a malfuntion

[@BlueCometProductions]

now hold on, what you watched was the second time the gates went bad. Before 90 even came through, I did manage to stop the gates from malfunctioning, but after 90 came through, of course, the gates started to malfunction again. This second attempt is what we filmed, because I actually thought, at the time, that I could fix it again. Just calm down, because you are the first person to make a big fuss over this video, and everyone else had a good laugh out of it.

[@CSXCO1122]

I think it's how the gate works. When the gate lowers to a certain point the lights and bells automatically turn on. And I guess it keeps bouncing back and forth

[@bkriegel95]

Cmon guys, can't you just see that the crossing just wants to wave a hello to you.

[@cruisnblastfan9277]

That's what i saw lol

[@RossiZockt]

What a friendly railroad crossing. 😂

[@SantaFebuff]

Nah, it's a problem in the gate mechanism. Crossings work that the bell and lights work with the gate, depending on how it's wired, the home-clear is supposed to hold the gate up, but since it's not working, the gate is falling and the motor is catching it and bringing it back up. It's call a pumping gate or oscillation of the gate mechanism. =)

[@chrisc95367]

i love the part where he says stop it luciule he lets go dang it!!!!

[@Montera15]

i hope that your friend knows how much trouble he'd be in for just what he did alone... they'd have a fit over that!!

[@Fcutdlady]

Presumably traffic would still have to stop due to the red light and ringing bell 🛎

[@crazybenzy3426]

Leave it alone it just waving hello to people that are visiting

[@Ih8kone]

No it's not it's malfunctioning

[@MobileGamer-ow1co]

When the video ended he was waving at the veiwers goodbye

[@SilverreploidCLE]

That railroad signal is waving hi. XD

[@DougCeleste]

I hope someone called this one in for repair. And I hope that this guy did not cause any damage to the gate with his antics.

[@noschoolpat]

I like the guy trying to fix the gate

[@gunsho11b]

Reminds me of something out of the movie Maximum Overdrive.

[@robertgift]

Thank you for trying to stop the oscillations. Call it in now. Need to get inside and adjust the hold close. Maybe worn beyond adjustment. Should be causing both (o)T(o) to light.

[@Garylee17]

How come do that for??

[@NariNW]

Gate pumping?

[@user-uo4cz9gc8x]

Nathan Rigby

[@NariNW]

?

[@mayawilder7463]

竹間昌弘 6&/ bg n

[@fadhilfadhil-us4zn]

+Rainbowlevelcrossing its having a bad day

[@FranzFerdinandVIII]

RXRNathan yes the gate is pumped up for a party lmao 🚂🚂🚂

[@Strasburgfanatic]

I saw the inside mechanism on that very gate. It prob had an electrical contact that wouldn't open. I told the rr's electrician about this vid, he explained it to me.

[@tayloroux]

"That doesn't even make any sense." hahahaha

[@Ih8kone]

Oh way to go you broke it even more!

[@987computer]

Did you report the crossing?

[@Ih8kone]

Hopefully.

[@trailswest4579]

Did you video record the steam train, by chance? I would rather have seen that then a malfunctioning crossing signal. Strange that only one side is doing that though. Usually, both signals do the same thing.

[@nsrailfann4life91]

Hey mom! Look! Railroad tra.... What the? OMG! THAT GATE IS WAVING AT ME!!!!!! Hai!!!!!

[@tejasnite]

Gatemms mechanism and ratchet gears are stripped,,, signal maintainer needs to be notified,,,, just call the 800 number that's posted on the location and give them the DOT# AND MILE POST

[@KB9TKB]

That crossing gate is reenacting the scene from Wayne's World where they go "We're not worthy we're not worthy".

[@AKChannel_lol]

i like when the guy try to fix it

[@finky555]

I live in Canada and we don't have toughs often. and to me lol at 1:32.

[@GabesElectronics]

I know whats wrong its the gates swaying that makes the bell sound

[@FranzFerdinandVIII]

Why did the Railroad companies NOT repair the crossing THEN instead of the RAIL last moment????

[@ThunderboltFan2000]

Seems to me like the magnets that hold the gate up are worn out

[@CTR82]

When I saw the the title “Carpenter’s Crossing Malfunction I thought the man who was fixing the railroad crossing was his name

[@denniswoolfolk8009]

Its just one saying the other one activate its not a malfunction or singing did you hear the train horn it wants both to be activated

[@southernsignalfilms4157]

Cause: Lock In the Gate Mech Is Not Locking/Or Needs Replaceing

[@controllertehsparten940]

the gate might be loose and it goes down but sense there is no train coming the gate will go back up

[@magikman6883]

It has a locking mechanism and the arm wants to fall down but the mechanism stops it from doing that It could break the arm and mechanism if it isn't fixed soon

[@kyleb06]

Where's the tracks? I found it on Google Maps, but can't find it in the video!

[@18436Melissa]

That sorta looks like our railroad crossing on 423, The only thing changed is the lights, here is the location: 41.1798015,-75.4178525

[@redxgaming6645]

6 days before i was born.

[@jasonbenton1908]

this video is damn hilarious love Jason Benton

[@claireboyce]

The person says really good it will get even more crossing yeah you’re right broke me even more

[@isabelaandaj]

Something is wrong with the railroad crossing.

[@owentherailfan564]

so it looks like the crossing gate cant keep straight and whenever it falls the crossing activates and puts it up again and again, but how is the other signal not going off

[@YoungABBALover2046]

What kind of mechanical bell???

[@shamrockgirl804]

The most interesting malfunction I've ever seen! lol

[@traindude32]

U guys called csx or the railway to know that there was a malfunctioning grade crossing?

[@logan19971]

2:13 , Best Line EVER!

[@stphinkle]

I don't know for sure but I suspect there is a bad sensor in the thing not detecting it is all the way up an the motor keeps reversing.

[@TeamGroop]

What gate doing up there is railroad cossing

[@Olive4577]

Technically this has happen a lot of times this is a malfunction it’s and old break mechanism you can probably find one

[@Winni134]

So, the lights and bell got activated because the Gate kept coming loose?

[@devinstevens3129]

XD god of railfaning

[@FranzFerdinandVIII]

1:18-1:25~ "Chad, hold on, I'm gonna call it in for god's sake- Stop trying to be god of railfanning!" and then 1:30-1:42~ [Wabco bell ringing] "Oh way to go, you broke it even more!" [No other dialogue] "Well-oh my god.." and lastly 1:51-1:57~ [For a few seconds nothing then bell rings] "DAMMIT!" Those are the funniest moments in the film

[@eckm]

My brain during a test be like

[@kingofmusicandpop]

When i Heard 90s whisel in my head i Said fix it quick she is coming

[@RailfanRXR]

That guy holding it up looks like Mark Rober from afar

[@trainfann1]

@indie1361 What crossing was that?

[@thunderturbine8860]

Were both crossings having the same problem? Or was it only the one crossing having the problem?

[@TheBoyFnfG_Alt]

Only one.

[@jacksmith9951]

Could be someone putting a piece of metal across the track out of sight in the circuit to cause this to happen. Did you call the railroad about this? If it is a malfunction, it should be called in.

[@CWR_56]

No, if the crossing was being activated, both gates would be descending. This is most likely a failure of the hold-clear device to latch.

[@PanferriDPMO]

Where was that whistle coming from?

[@coach2476]

Was that a steam train horn in the distance.

[@jeantremblay5408]

Erin Cavey yes it is

[@unionpacificrailfan783]

Steam train has whistle they don't have no horn Diesel trains has horns

[@ebtmikado]

How far is the Strasburg Railroad from the Strasburg Rail Road?

[@ohnojuno]

Someone answer this. Why is there a crossing but no tracks

[@samanthamota3178]

The wire was showing that the arm was out of place causing a malfunction

[@dylandopsovic7045]

looks like the gate motor's hold clear mechanism took a shit

[@jacobtompke8677]

This is strasburg railroad? Is it? The whistle sounds like strasburg railroad.

[@Crazy_Caleb320]

Yes

[@Cnw8701]

LOL The guy tried fixing the malfunctioning signal!

[@joshpack7330]

front and ack dont look the same

[@RaisedLetter]

Because the Crossbuck only faces one way

[@DanTheAnimator4978]

0:45 OH NO TRAIN COMING!

[@MikeySartori]

crossing gate: im not having a seizure im malfunctioning GUY: fuck people are worried as hell Crossing Gate: fuck i cant stop GUY: forget it!!!!!!!!