Minor Railroad Crossing Gate Malfunction - Wheaton, IL, 3/31/2015

[@cellogirl11rw55]

That noise would drive me insane. . .

[@jayasmrmore3687]

I sleep through it. Partially because I’m used to this sound, because otherwise I’m a light sleeper. I also sleep through train horns but I guess some people can and some people can’t. The noise bothers some and doesn’t bother others.

[@FreedomtowerStudios]

Looks like what happened was the gate at 0:49 was rising and hit the wind guard which prevented it from rising all the way and turning of the crossing.

[@ddme098]

Maybe a car or truck made it move a little because you do have a point about the gate

[@FreedomtowerStudios]

or wind

[@wesr87]

Freedomtower Studios 🧞‍♀️🧞‍♀️🧞‍♀️🧞‍♀️🧞‍♀️

[@albamartinez3917]

ddme098 v

[@airlink-ff5xe]

Freedomtower Studios g

[@dragonicankh]

I just love how because of this malfunction. It put all the lights to red, making the Railraod system in Full stop

[@virginiatrains7886]

Or maybe it’s because no train was aligned to come though there...

[@trainknightt]

It goes red when a train passes it or when no train is lined

[@sammyhakimvlogs5608]

Sometimes these railroad malfunctions can happen when you least expect them to.

[@carter28817tt]

this has been my favorite railroad crossing video ever since i first saw it in like 2017-2019

[@irelandbloke]

Great catch 👍🏻

[@chicken-27-w7t]

Hi

[@Alizara75]

I kind of like the angry e-bell.

[@tornadochaser283]

Alizara75 it is not an 😡 e bell

[@urielhernandezT150]

A sick wch e bell

[@TrainsandAdventuresTV]

@@tornadochaser283 yes it is dummy

[@JunoTheRailfan844]

It sounds better lol

[@EnderShadowborne]

The WCH E-bell sounds like something similar to an old video game from a distance, not sure, but thought I would point that out... try listening to this video with good quality headphones... It sounds like it at 0:18

[@extremeneils]

UK gate stuck

[@urielhernandezT150]

That's a sick e bell

[@kaseyaldrich4746]

Pretty simple really… and it is minor. The gate was Caught on the wind bracket. Odds are the shear pin was broke in the gate saver, which cussed the gate to flop and catch the wind bracket. No wind, and when the gate goes down and back up, it won’t flop. Easy 5 minute fix if that.

[@CWR_56]

The gate should just push past the angled portion of the wind guard. If it stopped where it did, that's where it stopped motoring up. Adjustment of the vertical stopping point is made by adjusting the motor up cam switch.

[@kaseyaldrich4746]

@@CWR_56 that’s only true if gate isn’t hitting dead center into a side of the wind bracket. Lights stay on because the contact can’t close. it’ll sit there and keep hitting hand up. These calls come on A LOT with high winds, spun mechs, broken gates etc. Not sure if other companies call it a “cam switch”, but we just say we adjusted the roller on the cam. There’s no “switch”

[@CWR_56]

@@kaseyaldrich4746 One can clearly see at 0:49 that it's not striking the side arm of the windguard dead center. It should be able to keep motoring up with the gate deflecting past the guard into it's home pocket, but it's not happening here. This is where the motor up cam circuit was adjusted to stop it. It should be readjusted to bring that gate further in, and either the gate mech or the windguard should be rotated to better center it. There's not technically a "roller" on the cam switch, but rather it should be adjusted by loosening the allen head screws on the cam and rotating the cam. It IS indeed a cam "switch", as it's an electrical contact that's opened or closed by the action of a cam. The only gate mech I know of that actually has a roller on the cam switch is the US&S model 95.

[@CWR_56]

​@@kaseyaldrich4746 The internals of the US&S 95, showing the roller on the cam switch can be seen here. The roller is installed in an elongated slot on the contact, allowing it to move vertically, thereby changing the point at which the contact opens, depending on whether the gate is moving up or down. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6mwl2N7fZd5bdE

[@kaseyaldrich4746]

@@CWR_56 you’re correct, it’s not, however, if you inspect throughly, you’ll notice that the light itself is striking the wind bracket. Now, the thickness of the plastic on the light, let’s call it a bracket, although the light and bracket are all one piece, will cause the same issues. Now, we adjust and maintain different degrees on the contacts based on power lines, weight, start position, torque, etc, so not all are going to be the same. A simple push on the wrong direction by a mere couple of inches, unnoticed to the “untrained public”, can cause the gate to infact “hang up”. The amount of times a maintainer finds these simple scenarios is remarkable, it can be as simple as the wind blowing just hard enough to catch on the way up, and the next time down it’ll clear itself, but it’s all a game of chance. As far as adjusting, yes, it’s not a full roller, more of a half moon, but, any maintainer or technician worth his salt does not call it cam switch. We refer to them just as that, a roller, infact when we close tickets out there’s not an option for “cam switch”, it’s “adjusted contact/adjusted cam roller”. Even funnier instance, sometimes you have no choice to but to change the internals of a mech based on available parts, so while the mech shows it’s a western cullen hays, without it being open, who knows what’s inside other than the owning maintainer. You would be flabbergasted at how many times we have these calls and simply go shake the mech, or recenter the mech, and clear the problem. It doesn’t take much to stop the gate, and the last thing you want is it to hit the wind bracket and slide, if it’s pushing past the wind bracket, you’re scraping your gate, putting undo wear on the gears and motor, arcing the contacts, all because your gate and wind bracket isn’t centered. now, if you’d like, you can come ride with me any time on a trouble call.

[@jdonw2003]

The one with the NEG E bell is fixed

[@bellum128]

At 1:46, you say its a major malfunction, but the title says it's a minor malfunction :P

[@odinconnor-randomvideos5267]

Even know that Bell it’s sick I like the sound of it and what type of lights are those on the crossings

[@JackMustang]

That e-bell sounds sick.

[@duanemunger5655]

I agree with you

[@newchannelcheckaboutpage2140]

Agreed. Sounds strange tho. On one side it’s normal and the other it is fine.

[@Jess-tx6pc]

Yep

[@FloridaRailfanKidWith804]

That's because it's a WCH type 1 e bell.

[@NC_YT_123]

It’s actually supposed to sound like that

[@angelyxox]

Okay, I take back what I said. The bell died this year in April in Manitou and they installed a new one in June, even if the gates are 10 feet apart from each other.

[@msj191961]

Angie H Oh, I see. So the crossing does have two bells? Either way, two bells is better than none! I know of a crossing in my area that has absolutely no bells. You'd think it be some kind of code violation, but I guess not.

[@ErickEstrada-ui3ch]

2nd crossing e bell is my favorite sound

[@JMANWiSS]

looks like the gate holder is crooked, preventing it from going all the way up. pause at :49 and see what I mean

[@msj191961]

Yeah, I see what you mean, but I think what you are seeing is a bit of an illusion. That wasn't the problem. It was a problem with the gate mechanism itself not holding the gate up all the way. But the problem defiantly was the north gate not going up all the way causing the whole system to stay activated.

[@angelyxox]

msj191961, there IS a two gate crossing at Manitou, N.Y. and it has TWO bells. I was so confused because that crossing only needs one! But the electronic bell on the other crossing gate died, so now, I won't have to worry about a two gate crossing with two sounding bells.

[@msj191961]

Angie H Ah, I see. I have seen many crossings with two bells. Very common here on the Union Pacific West Line, and more bells have been added over the years to the crossings in this area. It's nice because it makes sound on both sides to alert people, and if one bell fails, chances are the other one still works.

[@msj191961]

Angie H But it depends. Some crossings could use just one bell, but some crossings need two bells.

[@AJMartinezmtzsubproductions]

This crossing setup looks like it was put in back in 1999. That's when Union Pacific started replacing the much older signals. Not my favorite product from WCH. The funny part is the older signals would still get the job done since there are older crossing signals on the Bakersfield Sub in California.

[@msj191961]

***** Yeah, that is true, I believe. I confirmed the signals at Hale Street (can be seen in my railfanning video) were put in in '99, so chances are these were too. However, I think the south mast may have been replaced, or at least had upgrades done to it. You can see the original signal with the WCH bell has those clear LEDs while the south mast has a new General Signals e-bell and red lights.

[@conraillock666]

msj191961 gate is stuck

[@boplatt2564]

I thought the lights were part of the malfunction

[@Hayden_the_Derg]

Nothing to do with the pulsating lights, that's the camera but the lights are on continuous and for the e bell scratchy

[@5H5H5H10]

Same

[@tylerblackwell2688]

Believe it or not I have seen railroad crossings which were actually were frozen in place gates were hung up lights were not flashing they were froze to. The whole railroad crossing or crossings were frozen after a freight train went by. Almost all the crossings were frozen.

[@robertgift]

Tyler Blackwell. Means what? Frozen by ice?

[@mr.trainmanjohnson343]

I know what's the problem the gate is not all the way up

[@msj191961]

Trederek Simmons Yep.

[@mr.trainmanjohnson343]

OK

[@Crazybus-yj1tf]

yup. it is stuck in something.

[@piktureit]

That bell sounded kinda rusty and very loud and it's kinda sketchy

[@piktureit]

I tell you that that e-bell sounds very scratchy

[@urielhernandezT150]

And that could prevent the e bell from getting sick

[@CommodoreJames]

I just live close to that place. And I'm on the same Metra Line I ride on.

[@daniellalee418]

What kind sound is like ?

[@odinconnor-randomvideos5267]

The gate where the sick e-bell is, isn’t going all the way up

[@KDubielak]

Got to love the sound of the railroad crossing

[@nicksfuntv1281]

HOW?

[@thebestgachatuber_69]

@@nicksfuntv1281 That's what I'm wondering

[@jdonw2003]

The one with the WCH E bell is the one that's malfunctioning.

[@ErickEstrada-ui3ch]

It broken because lighting right?

[@20thAustinpicturestele94]

The sound when it hits 0:22 it literally makes my head scratch

[@TomZ23]

My friend, turn on the stabilization in the camera settings.

[@SamTheRailfanner]

Go to 0:49, the gate is not all the way up.

[@Jess-tx6pc]

This Willow crossing gate is not going down it stays up it makes some sounds I don't know what's going on this they had to fix this well we're crossing gate

[@Jess-tx6pc]

In the cops too

[@Alexander-yy4pf]

how many day did the crossing go stuck

[@msj191961]

+Alexander 1 hour at the most.

[@nickastridandtoothlessthen5494]

How many times has it malfunctioned since that day

[@tre-pi2jt]

The gate did not go back in the pocket.

[@msj191961]

+4895346tre Yeah, took me a while to figure that out when it's pretty obvious, haha.

[@Soupsandwich69]

What are those bells I never heard them before

[@JackieRiverahavealliance]

How come it has been bumping for the passed 10 minutes?

[@josejarreguin3946]

The first gate you showed didn’t catch the windguard. Thus keeping the circuit open on the gate mechanism. You could have shaken it. That’s all

[@markpaulson3923]

You can always look for the blue D.O.T. sign mounted on the crossing signals, find the toll free number, and call it in to the railroad, so they can come and fix it, rather than saying over and over how F'd they are.

[@jayasmrmore3687]

I did that today

[@ThePeelRegionTransitChannel]

I could see that the crossing gates were not fully up

[@SinRGY03]

These lights are worst than the ones at Metra Elmhurst. It does that to but the whole light of the blinker is shown.

[@danicamarini6142]

What a sick WCH Type 3 Gen 2 Electronic Bell

[@Alexander-yy4pf]

why are crossing lights doing this = =

[@msj191961]

+Alexander As I mentioned in the description, it's just an illusion created by the camera.

[@graythewolf6096]

The bell at 0:46 sounds cooler but more aggressive. However the bell at 1:20 Sounds nicer and is more pleasant. to listen to in a malfunction. But still gets annoying. Maybe that was why that bell was making that noise. Broken control box. ;-;

[@CH_343]

You should have just reported the crossing malfunction to the railroad who owned them, and a crew would have came out to fix the issue...There should be a tab below the cross buck that has the railroad phone number on it and has the railroad name. And that broken bell needs fixed to :)

[@jam22401ify]

I know that is just a bad Idea to not report it

[@Jess-tx6pc]

This will across the going down that had to fix it the cops can't

[@trainknightt]

he prob did but he didn’t do it on camera

[@kevinmiller6380]

@@yourlovelyneighbor3271 Kicking or pulling on a crossing arm isn't going to cause it to work.

[@tsg931]

How do you know that he didn't do it after the video was filmed?

[@EnderShadowborne]

Is the screwed up E bell sounding undeniably high pitched or really low pitched?

[@msj191961]

Bob Trevek It's not the pitch. The pitch is perfect and it's how all WCH e-bells sound. It's just the scratchy sound to it.

[@EnderShadowborne]

msj191961 no, there is a pitch, there's a potentiomiter (variable resistor) that is used to increase the resistance or decrease the resistance, therefore determining the pitch of the bell... the potentiomiter seems to be bypassed, therefore causing that bad sounding E bell...

[@msj191961]

Bob Trevek I don't think that's it. If you watch my other video "Railroad Crossing E-bell Fail" take a look at the comments. I think those guys are spot on.

[@EnderShadowborne]

msj191961 true, but all an E bell is, is basically a circuit board with a potentiometer (to adjust the pitch) and a speaker with power 6-18 volts dc being supllied to the circuit board. just thought that I should tell you what an E bell is in a nutshell...

[@JPLCUK]

What happened to the lights and the bell

[@peanut5512]

Lights are fine, it's only the camera.

[@coreywilliams7445]

The e-bell though...

[@coreywilliams7445]

sounds weird.

[@NateCraven318]

It is mad

[@EnderShadowborne]

No, it had an electrical issue in the circuit board, the variable resistor was being bypassed somehow, giving it that "sick", like dying sound. as of recently (when the comment was made), it has since been replaced.

[@urielhernandezT150]

That could prevent the e bell from getting sick

[@1VaDude]

Sounds like a weird digital bell.

[@TempoDrift1480]

Those lights look fuckin creeeeeeeeeeeeepy! I understand it's a strobe effect with the frame rate and all that but woah... Looks like something you'd see in a bad dream.

[@graceohara5698]

The E-Bell Has A Fail Too

[@epacm50]

Looks like a bad gate contact and/or bad GCP 3000 module. Call Union Pacific.

[@thundersonic342]

The Scratchy E-Bell Sounds like a broke horn.

[@tornadochaser283]

Dutch Bro Railfan nice simile XD

[@urielhernandezT150]

A sick wch e bell sounds like that

[@thebestgachatuber_69]

Does it creep you out tho? 😨😨😨😨😨😨

[@mikemoss6045]

Its probably a service vehicle down the line hit a sensor. Never seen one? Cool as hell your average truck but with train wheels that can be lowered so the trick can roll on the tracks.

[@KamataMusik]

That e-bell is CURSED

[@NateCraven318]

It has anger issues

[@Alexander-yy4pf]

cuses are not real

[@Alexander-yy4pf]

its just broken

[@KamataMusik]

Alexander I'm just exaggerating -_-

[@urielhernandezT150]

That could cause the e bell to sound worse

[@NSSignalGuy]

I’ve seen one so bad that all of the crossings in town were activated and no train in sight

[@ThatoneTiv2Kid]

It's just cause by the Western Collin Hayes signal the gate cause the malfunction

[@abield9460]

Wch ebells a very common problem which is that bumming noise!

[@stanlee_x329]

It looks like the barriers got stuck.... look at the angle of them.

[@lewissaunders3960]

And that ebell sounds fast like it is hyped

[@jonbradford4627]

Is there a train coming

[@urielhernandezT150]

I don't see a train coming

[@leslietucker7118]

that gs e bell is my favorite

[@jam22401ify]

Why didn’t he call the cops or called the Raiload serevice for that Raiload

[@jadeniperez-lopez542]

The warning lights and the WCH electronic bell are messup

[@aydoyt]

The warning lights are fine, it’s just the camera, but you’re not wrong about the e-bell

[@gailyncookMilwRR]

To; msj191961 This may have been said before but I don't want to read 302 comments to find it! The problem is not your camera issue it's the 60 hertz cycle of 120 volts and the shutter speed difference when your are that close. From a distance it's not as obvious, but still can be seen depending on the shutter speed!

[@TrainsandAdventuresTV]

What's wrong with that E bell a?

[@awesomegamer1757]

the wire on the track has a short cause a train trips it but last train screwed it up

[@msj191961]

The gate didn't make it into the holder, but was pushing against one of the sides of the holder, causing everything to stay activated.

[@abunchofstuff2608]

The camera has a malfunction. What's with the black bars all around the video?

[@msj191961]

That's not the camera. I used Windows Movie Maker to edit the video, and accidentally set it to have that frame.

[@progen91enjoyer]

My god, those bells are horrible.. How do you even make an E-bell scratchy?

[@T1_Productions]

The County Seat of DuPage County, Illinois.

[@WestCoastElevators]

I have seen a similar situation to this before. I wonder if the iPhone pic was simply for documentation or assistance?

[@msj191961]

Yeah, I'm not sure. Just by how the workers were acting, I think they needed assistance with the problem.

[@WestCoastElevators]

msj191961 That makes sense as I doubt it's a problem they have to take care of often.

[@NJMoo3652]

I hate the bell on that thing

[@LunaMizuki8806]

+NJMoo3652 Ditto. I hate all E bells honestly enough.

[@LunaMizuki8806]

+NJMoo3652 Heck, those kinds are the worst, they don't even sound like a bell.

[@UnitedRailroader]

The bell at the beginning wasn’t normal. It was glitches and made that sound. UP has since replaced that bell and it sounds normal now

[@sldestruction]

The first sounds broken

[@thebestgachatuber_69]

Ik it creeps me out 😨😨😨

[@phoneguy9489]

what city is this in

[@msj191961]

+Kevin Croley Um, you're kidding, right? Haha. Check the title of the video.

[@jdonw2003]

That WCH signal needs to have his gate mechanism replaced

[@brandedmcgowan9414]

Nope, windguard has the arm stopped from raise fully up, straighten the arm and and windguard.

[@csxandamtraktrainlover2989]

Msj1919 how come they were malfunctioning?

[@msj191961]

Charles Vanhoose If you'll read the description, you'll find out.

[@Percexus]

I think the hold-clear device failed 0_0

[@Alexander-yy4pf]

its an error mabey when the train passed the crossing got stuck and the off was broken

[@hunterduncan362]

that western cullen hays e bell is so loud

[@relevanteaglealarms109]

Hunter Duncan and it’s crappy

[@shankarimendez]

Crossis😮and The car?

[@danicamarini6142]

If we replace the WCH Type 3 Gen 2 Bell It will be better sounding

[@robertwaite837]

i went on my track team on the way there,we saw a train crossing gates going up and down,moutfunction a cupple days ago!

[@msj191961]

Bob Waite Hmm, interesting. Yeah, malfunctions are all too common.

[@pennywise1281]

HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY

[@christianchilders8556]

hear the e Bell is still screwed up

[@chrisc95367]

Actually if the gates are up and it's a malfunction you treat it as a stop sign

[@msj191961]

Really? Now that I didn't know. Either way, the police did say it was illegal to go across; couldn't imagine them being wrong, but you never know.

[@jayasmrmore3687]

@@msj191961 I think it depends on your local laws

[@tejasnite]

COUNTER weight,,,, see in the VIDEO the gate ARM isn't ascending up into the WIND GUARD

[@mariahenry9385]

R those spring-loaded gates

[@josephalcoser4845]

that bell is taking a dump that is for sure

[@nousee9755]

At 3:59 i went to that st

[@epacm50]

In my railroad, we would of respond to this issue ASAP. This is a level 2 malfunction.

[@CWR_56]

Not sure what a "Level 2 malfunction" is, but in my railroad, we wouldn't respond at all to this, because this xing isn't on my railroad.

[@staceyhaynes2852]

The gate is not up all the way that's the issue...

[@rayhanh25]

Plot twist: The E bell wants to end its life.

[@EnderShadowborne]

maybe because the lights are running on AC...

[@KnightFilms32]

Atleast one car stopped, they don’t know what could happen

[@MatthewKehn187]

That thing sounds damaged the bell

[@destinyjewell3948]

yea it sounds like a mad bell

[@urielhernandezT150]

A sick wch e bell

[@nickmatheson1314]

Railroad crossing, have gates, preventing stopping cars

[@yiacha3173]

The E-Bell was having a sore throat

[@efrainherrera9430]

what happened to the eye of the railroad crossing

[@efrainherrera9430]

+msj191961 look at the eye of the red light on the first one

[@msj191961]

+Efrain Herrera I don't know what you mean.

[@efrainherrera9430]

+msj191961 the singal has a line going down

[@griselaaguirre3264]

msj191961 he mean what's the black bars

[@SG118P]

The gate got stuck halfway