Manually Activated Railroad Crossing

[@chaosdemonwolf1]

245 years ago, America pretty much told us Brits to get stuffed. Happy 4'th Roly and everyone else.

[@railrol82]

LOL I'm not familiar with British slang, but I can only imagine what that means! I appreciate the good wishes, thank you and many good wishes for you and yours as well!

[@j.sterling9167]

@@railrol82 TRANSLATION: Me thinks the bloke was wishin you a Happy 4th of July, getting stuffed means Get The F@@# Out of our country. . . . .Neat HuH?

[@railrol82]

@@j.sterling9167 LOL Now that you mention it, yes!

[@j.sterling9167]

@@railrol82 you have quite a tendency to bring out the real character in most average person. . . . . Lol until it hurts😃

[@railrol82]

@@j.sterling9167 LOL I say life is too shirt to make pretend and put on an act. I let people know who l am up front and all of my sincerity. Like that they either like me for me or keep it moving!

[@DanielNewhoff]

Happy 4th of July. Those were Dade County pine trees. Native trees. The old FEC stations were made of Dade pine. They are rare nowadays. Another kind, Australian Pines, are everywhere but not native. Thanks for the video, I know that location!

[@robertscharlow]

They're a sub-species of longleaf pine (which is what I thought they were), a species very, very common in the south. They're all over northern Florida. (As I live in Ohio, I'm not as familiar with them, but I go to Florida, and I love plants, so it was in my wheelhouse.) Thanks for the info, bro! I had never heard of this particular pine.

[@DanielNewhoff]

Railroading, archives, and now trees! This channel is expanding. Much of the original pine habitat is of course gone in South Florida to development. Perhaps Mr Roly may have a trip planned to Metro zoo and railroad museum in the future. The site in includes endangered pine forest Rockland. It's what Florida looked like 120 years ago.

[@railrol82]

I've always thought about expanding and incorporating other topics (closely related to railroads though) like old filming locations, songs about railroads (reviewing them), and other historic stuff like abandoned buildings etc. The only reason l haven't done this is because l don't want to lose my core fans who have been with me since the beginning and are hardcore railfans. Thanks as always for the views and comments, gentlemen!

[@albertjones1386]

Nice video about Trujillo & Son. They use to have a large building on the Downtown Spur at the corner of NW 12 Ave and NW 23rd St. that was serviced by the CSX before they vacated that building. Looking at the site Historical Aerials, I can not tell when they started in the building where you are but that building was enlarged at or just before 2013. There is a sign on the fence ( Oct 2015) outside the old building that said 'We are moving" and gave the address where you are at.

[@railrol82]

You know your stuff, Albert. Everything you said is right on the money! I do remember it was in that general time frame though, around 2014, 2015. Thanks as always for the views and comments!

[@conrailjohn6682]

Hey Roly! Happy 4th of July!! Great video. Very interesting crossing! I have never seen a manually activated crossing. Thanks for sharing sharing this! Stay safe my friend!!

[@thomasmackowiak]

Now that is something that you do not see everyday. I do not think that I have ever heard anyone mention a manual crossing gate control before that is currently in use. I presume that when there were gate tenders in the long ago past that the gate tender had manual control from his shanty over the gates at his road crossing. Thank you for documenting this manual crossing and for sharing this video with us!

[@railrol82]

Funny thing is I came across a couple of these, but they were all on industry spurs. As far as I know, there were never any gate tenders. The conductor always had the keys and activated/deactivated it himself. Hope you had a happy 4th. Thanks as always for the views and comments!

[@thomasmackowiak]

@@railrol82 When I mentioned gate tenders, I was thinking about the gate tenders that were employed on the lines of the Chicago & North Western Railroad out of Chicago. The gate tenders were located at road crossings near commuter train stations. The gate tenders stayed in a little shanty at the crossing until a train came. Then they either walked out of the shanty with a stop sign to stop traffic or they lowered the gates. Some of these gate tender shanties were elevated with stairs up to the shanty or they were on the ground. Here is a link to a blog post on gate tender shanties that I found myp48.wordpress.com/2013/10/06/railroad-structures-crossing-shanty/

[@doohickey-enjoyer]

In Australia, we have some crossings like that. I saw a crossing manually activated by the train co driver. Automatically turns off

[@railrol82]

How interesting, I guess the basics of railroading are the same worldwide! Thanks as always for the views and comments, Blue.

[@theelginrailfan9489]

I have never heard of manually activated RR Crossing thx for the info!Have a good night or day!

[@Hawqis1]

I know of some in NY. The track crosses a 55 mph highway and has a standard traffic signal that the conductor/engineer has to get out to make the traffic control light go red. Once the train is across, the workers switch the other side for it to go back to green. It then has another one further up the track. It's on a 30 mph road that used to be a major facility, but isn't much now.

[@williamh.jarvis6795]

There exists one such manually activated grade crossing, on Mechanic Street in Leominster, MA. A former New Haven Railroad line, running from Framingham NW to Leominster (formerly to Fitchburg), had its tracks severed just after crossing Mechanic Street. Formerly automatically activated these crossing flashers are needed because the CSXT train, utilizing two locomotives, one of them must enter so that the Conductor can throw the switch so that the train can reverse direction on the runaround track so to return home. The Conductor turns the flashers on, then off afterwards.

[@josephkoszalka6516]

The trees appear to be Douglas fir pine trees rolly nice and healthy too

[@stevemellin5806]

Nice video 👍 thanks

[@georgettedebuhr2660]

That reminds me of back in the day when wishbone gates would be activated manually. That's rare to see a manually operated railroad crossing. Mechanical bells are much better, in my opinion. E-bells make the crossing sound so weird. Have a happy 4th of July😊🎇

[@railrol82]

This is one of the best comments I've ever read, Georgette! I agree with everything you said. Do you know where there might be some wishbone gates still around? Thanks as always for the views and comments!

[@csxtommy6562]

Nice video of your old working area. That key lock box for the manual crossing signal is new to me. That pine tree is a Florida long needle white pine. Not sure why it was called white, but that's it. Enjoyed the trip. Let me know when you go back to Palmetto.

[@railrol82]

I'm glad you liked the video, Tommy. I came across a few of them in my conductor days at FEC, but they were all on industry spurs. How interesting, in addition to the FL long needle white pine, it is also called scrub pine. Hope you had a Happy 4th and I will definitely let know you when I head back to Palmetto. Can you please send me an e-mail, [e-mail]... I'd like to have your info next time I visit if it's ok with you...

[@csxtommy6562]

@@railrol82 Ok will do

[@ed777tx-edward8]

Hi Roly: good morning nice video of an active spur. Too bad we didn’t get to see it in use, maybe next time? Will await your info on the T-shirt orders. Enjoyed it see you Wednesday.

[@TolgaEastCoast]

This crossing has DTMF activation. Likely the manual boxes are backup.

[@railrol82]

I remember the Biscayne Blvd crossing @ AAA is also DTMF. Good stuff. Thanks as always for the views and comments, Tolga!

[@jdoggez2083]

Nice video! 👍

[@railrol82]

I'm glad you liked it, thanks!

[@Texasdude987]

The best thing one of the crossing has a mechanical bell hopefully they don’t remove it and happy 4 of July railrol

[@ferenctakacs3138]

Érdekes videó!😀👍

[@j.sterling9167]

That manually controlled signal box lock is incredibly hardened, it's also heavy for a lock. it's called a security lock meaning the key that opens it remains inside the lock when it is released and cannot be taken out until it is re-locked again. Prevents the absent minded from leaving it open.

[@railrol82]

I like your choice of words, "open minded" lol. Once a conductor left down the radio powered crossing in front of the AAA in Downtown Miami on a Friday afternoon for a couple of hours, causing a traffic nightmare! Needless to say he got canned!

[@kman-mi7su]

Those pine trees are a pretty common sight in NJ, especially in the pine barrens. I grew up in NJ. I always notice alot of trash on those lines. I'm wondering when you were working for the FEC, did you ever have to move trash off the tracks on spurs like this one so you could pickup/deliver a load? Or did the cars and locomotive just run over it? I imagine some people dump bigger stuff there too, like a couch or old stove.

[@kman-mi7su]

@@railrol82 Thanks! I did. I spent it cruising on my motorcycle thru the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. I hope you and your family had a good one too.

[@ElCapitan1718]

Great video. The switch had a point guard. You don’t see that too often. It’s helpful for shoving moves so the wheel doesn’t pick the point rail. You mentioned that you delivered oil to the Trujillo facility. It is a nice building. Just curious if that is vegetable oil for food processing. Encouraging to see both facilities have cars spotted at their buildings. So many businesses have opted for truck delivery. Happy 4th of July. I hope you have a great day.

[@railrol82]

Thanks as always for the support, Capitan. You are very perceptive, I just noticed that point guard now. This train goes on duty at 11PM and gets back to the yard just shy of 11AM. Yes, it is oil for food processing, I think it was high fructose corn syrup, but don't quote me on it. I agree, it is refreshing to see rail activity in a world where it is truck dominated. Hope you had a happy 4th, always a pleasure!

[@KevinPlaysGuitar]

Very interesting!

[@railrol82]

Thank you my friend!

[@celioleitao7303]

Happy 4th of July, is that a snorkel on the side of your truck. Awesome a spur still in use. We all know if a certain railroad company owned it, it would have been abandoned.

[@railrol82]

Happy 4th Celio, yes, that is a snorkel in case water gets too deep! LOL and yes, you're right on the money. If CSX owned it, it would be full of tall grass on the tracks. Thanks as always for the views and comments!

[@TNS17]

Amazing video and happy fourth!

[@railrol82]

Happy 4th, thank you as always my friend!

[@alfonsesabatino2533]

Keep up the good work with the videos the tracks looks like they get very little usage

[@railrol82]

Thanks Alfonse, this one gets rail action maybe twice a week. Hope all is well and I appreciate the support as always!

[@Brian_rock_railfan]

great video happy Independence day also hope your ready for that storm coming towards Fla

[@railrol82]

Happy 4th to you as well and that storm is visiting us right now! So far so good!

[@Computist40]

That dog was just saying hi. Have a safe and Happy 4th my friend.

[@railrol82]

LOL He sure had a funny way of saying hi! Hope you had a 4th, C. Many good wishes!

[@Computist40]

@@railrol82 Sure did, and we did.. And stay safe with Elsa on the way.

[@Mike-tg7dj]

Nicely done. Love your baby though. Sorry it does look that good. Do you find yourself snorkeling in storm water. Take care.

[@SuperDave30]

Have safe and happy 4th of July my good friend!

[@railrol82]

I appreciate that, David. Hope you and your family has a great 4th as well. Thanks as always for the views and comments!

[@ArrowIIIRailfan]

Happy July 4th yall ! Hope you have a fun day of festivites . Dude you always do a great job with your videos. Those are Longleaf pine trees .

[@railrol82]

Hope you had a Happy 4th to my friend. I appreciate the kind words and your continued support of my channel. Thank you very much, Victor!

[@DouglasP201]

Yeah it's hard to stay focus with that doge barking, happy 4th ROL82, and stay safe!!

[@royreynolds108]

The turnout(often called a switch) is a typical industrial. Besides the switch-point guard, because it is on a curve, the turnout has a cast manganese self-guarded frog(probably a No 8) so guard rails are not needed. WCH-Western Cullen Hayes is noted for derails, bumping posts, and rail stops. The WRRS is Western Railroad Signal. The patterns for these signals were sold from one company to another and the parts are interchangeable. The manual activation is to not have the 3 track circuits normally needed for train activation of crossings-approach, crossing, and approach; in this location, the leaving or other approach circuit is not needed as there is not enough room for it. The least expensive arrangement is the manual activation because of the infrequent need for the signals. Danny Harmon describes how crossing signals work here:kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqLHpZxpltmrptk

[@railrol82]

I appreciate you sharing that info with the rest of us, Roy. I had no idea it was the least expensive arrangement. Thanks as always for the views and comments, Roy.

[@send2gl]

Another interesting one Roly. Sounded like the dog wanted to be in the video a bit more, that looked like a nice 'mota' you have, a closer look at some point would be nice

[@railrol82]

Thanks for the kind words, Geoff. Just out of curiosity what is a "mota"? I looked it up and I don't think that is what you were referring to?

[@send2gl]

@@railrol82 A poor pronunciation of 'motor', your car 😎

[@railrol82]

@@send2gl Ohhhh!! LOL What a coincidence, it is also the Spanish slang word for Marijuana.

[@send2gl]

@@railrol82 Strange, even some non slang words are different. Most of the time no issues, mind you, UK like US, even different areas can use different words.

[@railrol82]

@@send2gl Yes sir, that's the way the cookie crumbles!

[@RailfanNetwork]

Happy Fourth Of July Roly!!

[@railrol82]

Happy 4th of July my friend. Many good wishes for you and yours!

[@melperry3576]

you should tape this one in action ;-)

[@railrol82]

This was one of the least desirable jobs at FEC, because it goes on duty at 11PM, so you work the whole night and get back to the yard just shy of 11AM. PS not the best neighborhood to be in at night!

[@jeffrumbach150]

Is there more than 1 manuel railroad crossing switch for conductor to activate in Miami

[@michaelhayes1340]

Never knew that

[@nickastridandtoothlessthen5494]

Since you told me that you are filming a manually activated Railroad crossing, that little box is the activator

[@nickastridandtoothlessthen5494]

@@railrol82 it was awesome. This year, there were some new fireworks 🎆. Are you going to film tropical storm Elsa? I like to watch those. It should be hitting florida today or tomorrow

[@randysrockandrollrailroad8207]

Hard to tell what kind if pine, but they look like loblolly pine

[@railrol82]

Someone said it is scrub pine, and they're found all over the South. Thanks as always for the views and comments, Randy!

[@leepowers5826]

It would be a hoot if the conductor left the gates down. Lol I forgot to deactivate it.

[@railrol82]

Lee, that happened once at the crossing in front of the American Airline Arena in the middle of Downtown Miami on a Friday afternoon. That particular crossing is radio activated and the conductor forgot to deactivate it, so the gates were down for 2 hours creating traffic mayhem and chaos. Needless to say the conductor got the ax. Thanks as always for the views and comments!

[@tomweisenauer8816]

I think that is a Southern Yellow Pine !

[@railrol82]

Thanks for the heads up, Tom! I appreciate the views and comments as always!

[@AGSRailfan]

Nice Video Happy 4th of july!

[@railrol82]

Thank you very much and same to you, AGS!

[@dp2475]

👍🚂 If this crossing has the manual activator is it because the automatic sensors do not always trigger the lights and gate? Have a great 4th of July!

[@railrol82]

Good question, DP. I never asked why this crossing is manually activated by l know there are a few others and they're all on industry spurs. Hope you had a Happy 4th. Thanks as always for the views and comments!

[@csxtrainfan319]

Manually Activated crossing that’s rare

[@csxtrainfan319]

I hope it isn’t as Rare as I saw the morning

[@railrol82]

I've only seen them on industry spurs though.

[@jeffreybaker100]

Happy 4th! Pennzoil hat you're wearing. NASCAR fan? Penske Racing has Pennzoil in their sponsorship fold

[@railrol82]

Happy 4th to you too, JB! I'm a casual Nascar and Formula 1 fan. I'm an extreme fan of doing my own oil changes and and Pennzoil is my go to. How about you?

[@jeffreybaker100]

For me, I'm leasing a 2020 Chevy Trac and I have the dealership take care of my oil changes. If I were 2 do my own oil changes I'd use Valvoline

[@railrol82]

@@jeffreybaker100 Why Valvoline if l may ask?

[@jeffreybaker100]

I pick because Hendrick Motorsports has that as their oil sponsor. My favorite driver from their roster is Chase Elliott!

[@railrol82]

@@jeffreybaker100 Gotcha! He's ok lol. Hamlin is my dude. Hope you are having a good week!

[@LRF_101]

wow that’s rare

[@railrol82]

Yes, I've only seen them on industry spurs.

[@paulbergen9114]

I like dogs but those junkyard types have biting on their mind plus they don't shut up making it hard to sneak around while one is doing RR research. When the Burnham Industrial Belt was really hopping in MKE there were 3 Xings that had the manual buttons as cars were close to the street. There may be 2 on the north side and 2 or 3 on the south side but not seeing much use. Take care and stay safe with the upcoming storms

[@railrol82]

You're right on the money regarding the junkyard dogs, Paul. It's funny you should mention the manually activated crossings on the Burnham Belt, becuase they only manually activated crossings I've ever seen have been on industry spurs. Thanks for the good wishes regarding the tropical storm. Hope you and yours had a great 4th of July!

[@odinconnor-randomvideos5267]

That is a WC hayes e-bell

[@railrol82]

I appreciate the info, Odin. Thanks as always for the views and comments!

[@odinconnor-randomvideos5267]

@@railrol82 no problem

[@graphtonix6607]

Is this railroad track abandoned or still in use???

[@railrol82]

Yes it is! There are even some rails cars in the distance. Thanks as always for the views and comments, Anthony!

[@graphtonix6607]

@@railrol82 Your very welcome man.

[@robertscharlow]

Dogs... the enemy of railroad archaeology everywhere.

[@railrol82]

Truer words have never been spoken my friend. And the crazy thing is I'm a dog person, but you never know what kind of intentions a stray dog has. Thanks as always for the views and comments, Rob! Hope you had a Happy 4th!

[@robertscharlow]

@@railrol82 I did, mi amigo! Thank you so much. I hope the same for you! It was a good day. My wife and I built our son's new sandbox, by the light of tiki torches and deck lighting, since it took so long to build. And we're handy! But I guess that's what builds memories. I love dogs, too. I have an almost 13-yeard old Rotti/Husky mix named Maggie.

[@railrol82]

@@robertscharlow Awesome dude, we have a lot in common. I too am a jack of all trades. I must admit, I was too selfish to have kids. I bet Maggie is a cutie pie! I think you've seen Happy, my 9 yr old Dachshund.

[@robertscharlow]

@@railrol82 That was me, too, Roly. Didn't have my son until I was 46! And I have seen Happy. He's adorable! I love Wiener dogs, had one when I was a boy. Best dog ever.

[@railrol82]

@@robertscharlow You're right on the money, Rob. They are the most loyal and noble dogs. Hope you are having a great week!

[@Hawqis1]

Who let the dogs out?

[@railrol82]

LOL Good one! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours my friend.

[@taslimchoudhary1253]

🥀🥀🌴🇮🇳🌴🥀🥀 Awesome Video ,

[@railrol82]

Thanks as always for the views and comments, Taslim!

[@LRF_101]

I changed my profile picture into my Amtrak train plush

[@DouglasP201]

Awww that's so cute ^_^

[@LRF_101]

@@DouglasP201 you can buy it in Amtrak store

[@DouglasP201]

@@LRF_101 Cool, thanks.

[@railrol82]

Thanks as always for the views and comments, gentlemen!

[@andrewpalm2103]

Heh, maybe you should carry a bag of dog treats with you and toss a couple to any noisy dog you encounter (provided the owner isn't watching). Make sure they are fairly bland but not the cheap kind. They might shut up at least for a little while. Happy Fourth to you and yours.

[@andrewpalm2103]

@@railrol82 My granddaughter has a Dachshund, Zeus, and he is a real sweetie. We are now in the Chihuahua Zone with two of them, so we are used to frequent barking. When we ask a question, silence means "no" and 50 barks means "yes."

[@mikeskinner45]

Scrub pine. All over the south.

[@SueLovesTrains]

El Flaco says “ hey go find out if that railrol 82 has xx large tee “ He says he’s going to do some serious celebrating over the 4 th and just x large maybe not fit. Isn’t he special !

[@railrol82]

LOL I think we all have a flaco in our lives! You can't blame someone for partying too hard. I was supposed to have them ready for 7/7's video, but Tropical Storm Elsa delayed it. Hopefully all will be ready for this coming Sunday's video. Thanks as always for the views and comments!

[@glennjohnston2267]

Too much junk trackside. Wow

[@railrol82]

Welcome to Miami! That's what they don't show on tv. Thanks as always for the views and comments, Glenn!