Railroad crossing gates and how they work

[@johnsalomone5101]

What's flog--mon,, are trying to say flag man ??? Floshing, liots,, do you mean flashing lights,, maybe,??, & what's an olane,, do you mean an Island,,all crossings has lots,, I bet you mean lights,, not lots,,

[@hnf1930]

Most of the time I just simply delete comments like this. I feel sorry for you and your lack of education, so I will reply. There are about 160 English dialects around the world, some 30 are used in the United States with four being the most common. In the most common accents: Southern, New England, New York City, & Midwestern. Remember, these are general accent regions. I am sure you are asking yourself, what does the word dialect mean? Well, dialect, a variety of a language that signals where a person comes from. The notion is usually interpreted geographically (regional dialect), but it also has some application in relation to a person’s social background (class dialect) or occupation (occupational dialect). The word dialect comes from the Ancient Greek dialektos “discourse, language, dialect,” which is derived from dialegesthai “to discourse, talk.” A dialect is chiefly distinguished from other dialects of the same language by features of linguistic structure-i.e., grammar (specifically morphology and syntax) and vocabulary. In morphology (word formation), various dialects in the Atlantic states have clim, clum, clome, or cloome instead of climbed, and, in syntax (sentence structure), there are “sick to his stomach,” “sick at his stomach,” “sick in,” “sick on,” and “sick with.” On the level of vocabulary, examples of dialectal differences include American English subway, contrasting with British English underground; and corn, which means “maize” in the United States, Canada, and Australia, “wheat” in England, and “oats” in Scotland. Nevertheless, while dialects of the same language differ, they still possess a common core of features.

[@kplinger]

​@@hnf1930 that guy's just jealous of your cool accent

[@hnf1930]

@@kplinger Thank you friend!

[@mefor3]

@@hnf1930 it’s a joke….

[@RailfanRXR]

Dont be a dick

[@DoubleM-hf6ih]

Interesting. Railroad tracks have always amazed me ever since I was a kid. Always loved it when we would drive over them. Still love it today.

[@daffers2345]

I love trains and train "stuff" and find this sort of thing fascinating, so I thank you for posting :) Here's a bit of trivia for you: the monotone bell sound probably dates from the early days of trains. Old locomotives were fitted with a large bell that would swing back and forth to warn traffic. These engines were slow enough that the bell could be heard and was a sufficient warning. When electronic signals were implemented, they mimicked the noise that was standard at the time, which remains to this day. You can still see locomotives with bells at train museums that run such engines for show.

[@jovetj]

Locomotives all still have bells, and are required to ring them when in motion in certain situations (such as a yard or grade crossing).

[@michaeldougfir9807]

Jovetj: I have been watching this carefully. It seems that the locomotives bell is used when they are around people. Pedestrians who need a constant reminder that the loco is in motion. How close is this to the truth? It's just my amateur observation.

[@jovetj]

That's the truth as I understand it. I also believe it's more for railroad personnel than the public, because you can get pretty desensitized to hearing running locomotives when you're around them all the time. Hearing that bell is the signal to be alert because there's one in motion nearby. There are several standardized railroad rule books around, and reading them is great insight in matters like this.

[@pegbars]

All locomotives have bells.

[@BRBWaffles]

When I was a kid, my friends and I would use two quarters to short circuit the crossing gates and hold up traffic.

[@echogeko4684]

Lol I never knew you could do that!

[@missourivalleyrails]

LOL I happened to do that on accident when me and my friend put quarters on each rail at a crossing and then they stared going down and it scared the shit out of us!

[@The09creeper]

How does that work?

[@IwshIcldstrtover]

Nick Hiebert, That's not funny! That's not funny at all! What if a fire truck or ambulance needed to get through to save a life or lives?

[@DigitalSubset]

IwshIcldstrtover Just stop they were kids lol lighten up

[@coxsj]

Really enjoy your descriptions - very thorough. Thanks!

[@mrdougeran1]

Thank you very much for that in depth explaination, I was coming home tonight, seeing a train, I was wondering about this!

[@Bestomusic85]

I was hoping for a detailed explanation on how the arms are lowered. This was very enjoyable to watchI have watched them for years and always wondered how they were activated. Now I know. THX

[@johntrojanowicz7362]

Thank you always wondered how they operated

[@jovetj]

The basic principle is that a motor is connected through gears to the pivot point of the gate arm. At various times in the motion of the gate the motor is powered, or, the motor acts as a brake (just like a dynamic brake on a diesel locomotive). The weight of the long gate arm is mostly counterbalanced by the weights hanging off the other end, so a humongous motor isn't needed to carry the weight of the entire arm. A series of cams inside the rotating shaft connected to the gate arm cause a series of contacts to engage/disengage depending on the position of the arm, so the unit knows when to turn on and off the motor. For more information, you can watch some troubleshooting and maintenance videos posted by a leading US manufacturer of the gate devices. Go to www.wch.com and then click "Training Video" on the left. You will probably find those videos fascinating (but also fairly technical).

[@davidanderson7465]

I worked for the fec rr for 10 years watching trains go bye doesn't do much for me your videos are a nice change very nice

[@RealMesaMike]

I used to work for one of the grade crossing equipment manufacturers. It's really pretty interesting how a GCP can not only tell where a train is, but which direction it's going and how fast, by comparing the phase and amplitude of the received low-frequency signal compared to the transmitted signal. With that information, it can predict when the train will hit the crossing and activate the gates and lights at some constant amount of time before. When there is a GCP involved, merely putting a bar across the tracks may bring the gates down momentarily, but they'll come back up, because the electronics thinks there is a train in the approach, but stopped. The track short needs to be moving!

[@plutonium9]

No joke, when I was a kid, my sister and I called crossing gates the "ding ding things"

[@daffers2345]

They have a funny name of their own: sometimes they are called the "wigwag" X)

[@corntastrophy]

Wig wags are actually a thing, they were used in the 60's, with a light that swayed back and forth.

[@capet373]

Gerald G lol

[@Bigbuddyandblue]

Gerald G I miss wig-wag signals. They should bring them back.

[@scottdinges3347]

Lol there's some "ding ding"s that like to swarve around them crossings.

[@chrisbroesky2932]

Would of liked a more detailed explanation on how the train trips the circuit.

[@Ham549]

the train steel wheels and axles complete a circuit.

[@michaeldougfir9807]

CHRIS BROESKY: Well I loved this video too. But I too want more info. For example, what about when we wartch videos of railway speeders? It seems like most of those don't activate the bell and crossing arms. Also, I have seen situations where a train was very close to the crossing and the arms, lights and bell were activated. But when the locomotive was very close but stopped for a time, it seemed that they turned all that stuff off till they needed it again.

[@chrisbroesky2932]

Michael Dougfir Yes, I've seen the crossing arms come down and the bell come on when there was no train around. They were having problems. The way they turned it off was attach some wires to the rail with a battery or some device box it looked like.

[@MFXdump]

CHRIS BROESKY The "track circuit" is shorted by presence of a train. The Grade Crossing Predictor knows where the train is by measuring the electrical load resistance. The Grade Crossing Predictor cuts voltage to a Master Relay in the relay box. This master relay is always energized. Without power, the master relay drops out of the circuit, activating the lights, bells, and cutting power to the Hold Clear in the gate gear box. This is a "fail safe" way of wiring the system. In the case of loss of commercial power and failure of the back up batteries, the hold clear will release, and the gates will lower to protect the road. There used to be an interesting website that illustrated these systems really well called Signaldepartment.com. But seems to be gone now.

[@jovetj]

See my description elsewhere in these comments.

[@CH_343]

Enjoyed this, thanks for taking the time to show all of this.

[@hnf1930]

Christian Hickman Thank you for watching

[@CH_343]

hnf1930 your welcomed

[@kevinmagee8955]

I'm from Mississippi and that accent of yours sounds like it a Mississippi accent!!!!

[@haroldfannin9554]

Crossing gates are older than said here,the N&W had them in the steam era!!!

[@thebrantfordrailfan]

I know the plain old flashing light signals with no gates, date at least back to the 1930s! www.spoonercentral.com/Mastics/mastic2.jpg

[@b3j8]

We used to have a 6-lane highway railroad crossing that instead of the cantilever arm had a signal bridge w/6 sets of warning lights! Three for each direction. Pretty cool to see operating tho it was only a branch line so wasn't used much.

[@hnf1930]

That is one of the coolest set ups I have heard about. I always like the one that have a little mini gate for the sidewalk! Thanks for watching!

[@b3j8]

@@hnf1930 Sadly that branch was torn up. Miss seeing those lights. Those little gates ARE cool! I'm also a sucker for the old school crossing bells too! Lol. I enjoyed your video! Take care!

[@hnf1930]

@@b3j8 I see a few of the old crossing bells still in service on a few other people youtube videos. Hope they stick around.

[@b3j8]

@@hnf1930 Same here!

[@MoreDuckies]

Thank you! Super informative and very easy to understand.

[@ct737]

I love your accent! I live in the north and my accent is very boring.

[@calvindejong4566]

Canada?

[@pegbars]

From someone who lives in the East, but still has a trace of a Southern accent... it's a curse. People automatically assume you're ignorant.

[@dumdum7786]

EVERYONE talks like this in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, etc. pretty much the whole east part of the United States.

[@drummachine434]

Me and my dad actually put copper wire on both of the rails near a crossing and the crossing gates turned on. Lol. We almost got in trouble

[@williamh.jarvis6795]

Myself, as well, in South Royalston, MA, on the B&M many years ago. "Arhur," a former friend residing next to the railroad's grade crossing, wouldn't believe me until I actually showed him. I believe that the Railroad called the local police chief so to check us out, so I saw.

[@kevinmcwilliams5362]

There are remotes on trains now that trip the circuit. That's why you can see a train sitting right before a crossing, maybe waiting on a light to change, and not have the crossing gate down. Also at the train's end you will see a remote box mounted on the last car, usually with a blinking light on it to trigger the gate to raise up when the last of the train has passed.

[@jovetj]

Most of the time the _grade crossing predictor_ is what detects a sitting train starting to move towards the crossing again. Some crossings may be controlled by codes over the radio, or switches on the equipment housings. The Flashing Rear-End Device has nothing at all to do with controlling grade crossings.

[@kevinmcwilliams5362]

@@jovetj and the transmitter on the back is there for what?

[@jovetj]

@Kevin McWilliams The End-of-Train Device is connected to the brake line (like any railroad car would be) and communicates with the head-end. It constantly reports to the crew the brake line pressure it sees at the end of the train. In the event of an Emergency Brake application, the head end will send a command to the EOT device to open the brake line from that end. This allows air to escape both ends, and should provide for steadier train handling while it's slowing down.

[@mexicomorailfan3397]

@@jovetj it also helps with other trains approaching from behind. Let's say it's dark and yes I know train headlights are bright as fuck but they put that there for your reason and the reason for trains to stop. From behind

[@ltlpaa2973]

Not true at all. Your guessing doesn't make it true.

[@noneshere]

If you rub metal across both tracks the signals will go down. That's how we crossed big streets in California. There was always a coat hanger or or bed frame on either side of the street. You wonder why we traveled the railroad tracks cutting through town ? " The war on drugs " wouldn't let us smoke our weed so we traveled places cop cars couldn't go.

[@trainsoandnscale7357]

I already knew most of this stuff but not all of it, but very interesting and thank you for the info!

[@Locutus]

How does it work with fast and slow train, warnings? I didn't get that bit in your video.

[@yudha1577]

every railroad has its own speed limit that determine the distance of the trigger

[@devinstevens3129]

TIMER IT HAS A TIME TO GET TO THE ROAD AN D THEN STAY DOWN

[@jerrysinclair3771]

Some crossing devices have a ''timeout'' relay. This is usually near freight yards and industrial sites that have a lot of slow local traffic. i.e. Trains moving back and forth as they 'drop' a load and pick up empties. The timeout is activated if the engine never penetrates the island, thus raising the gates and shutting off the lights. Later, when the engine is ready to proceed, it creeps along at 2-3 MPH until the gates, lights and bells are activated and proceeds across the island. Another feature is for the conductor to climb out of the cab and deactivate (override) the crossing protection until such time as the engineer has completed the task of distributing the cars. Then the conductor reactivates the system, climbs back on board and they booggie back to the yard.

[@jovetj]

The _Predictor_ is what accomplishes that. I thought the video was fairly clear on that, but see my other comments here for an alternate explanation of how that all works in principle.

[@jamesdavis5096]

you missed an important point. There is a reset insulator about 50 feet down every track. you will see its plate and track insulator. All you have to do put your watch, or a penny in between the insulator on top of the track to make the gates go down., a signal man showed me once.

[@10630390]

Excellent video and explanation of the operation of these signalling devices. Thanks for sharing this.

[@pegbars]

He's reading word for word from the Wikipedia entry about railroad "crawsings."

[@plumbingstuffinoregon2471]

My uncle told me him and his friends used to set these things off with a coat hanger.

[@district2productions]

How??

[@plumbingstuffinoregon2471]

@@district2productions Apparently you just bend the coat hanger straight and touch the rails together. I want to try it, but it's extremely illegal

[@kathrynannwattsfabofkitt]

There are railroad crossings that don't need the crossing gate as in the case of the light rail in Phoenix, Arizona.

[@daltex81]

All railroad crossing need gates

[@bryttafitzgibbons6901]

@@daltex81 Agreed

[@mexicomorailfan3397]

@@daltex81 not all need gates as most non gate crossings are in a industrial area or yard. A train will be creeping along the track and there is no need for a gate. If the train is speeding the lights will go off several minutes before the train actually arrives. You got to be stuiped to go across and if you get hit its your fault there's still lights. You also have the crossings with no light or gate at all just a sign but your smart enough to hear the horn

[@CMDRFandragon]

What makes them turn off after a train stops at a crossing? The sensors only account for moving trains?

[@hnf1930]

Yes, in a way. I train can pull up to a crossing gate and stop, the gate will go back up

[@RealMesaMike]

The circuit can tell how fast the train is going and which direction, not just that it's moving.

[@rondaxen88]

But what i wonder is how to the train engineers know when there's one coming up? Is there some tone that plays on their radio, or perhaps a sign on the side of the tracks?

[@hnf1930]

Southern Railroad used signs to alert engineers of upcoming crossings, some are still used today on Norfolk Southern. Most just rely of training in the field and having at least one experience employee on the train.

[@rondaxen88]

hnf1930 Wow! Also, I watched your other video about the defect detectors, very informative video as well! You have just gained a subscriber :)

[@withamarshview1436]

MrPackerAnderson I've seen small white signs with a black W on them near grade crossings. I assumed that indicated "Whistle" for them to blow the horn.

[@youraveragejoe2]

@@withamarshview1436 correct

[@jovetj]

Train engineers and conductors must be qualified on the territory they operate on. That includes "knowing where everything is" including wayside signals and grade crossings. You don't send train crews blind down on new roads all by themselves.

[@raylrodr]

I'm amazed by the number of people who have no idea how railroad signalling functions that have all the (incorrect) answers. If you don't know, don't guess.

[@1VaDude]

Interesting..........even though this is something we all just take for granted.

[@jasongreen30183]

Here's a question: Why do railroad crossings silence their bells when the gate gets completely down?

[@hnf1930]

Great question. The bell is used as a warning to people walking, riding a bike, and even vehicles that the gates are starting to move (coming down) once the gate is all the way down there is no more need for the warning. Some gate systems will silence the bell once the lead locomotive has reached the crossing or when the gate reaches 10 degrees of the horizontal position. Some circuits are simply left open and the bell will sound for the entire time the gates are active. Again, some systems will reactivate the bell when the gates start to move up. Thank you for watching.

[@jasongreen30183]

@@hnf1930 nowadays EVERY crossing I know has the bell silenced when the gate is down. There were some crossings in my area which used to have the bells ring all the way through, but when I went back to those places recently I noticed they only ring when the gate is descending. I have a strong doubt there's anymore crossings which don't have a "bell silencer" and keep the bell ringing until deactivation.

[@microbusss]

0:32 or have a hand held or 6-7" tall stop sign usually red or yellow round or octagonal size

[@jovetj]

Keep in mind the modern Stop sign wasn't invented until the 1950s.

[@itsyourboytrippy6201]

2:37 where is that located at what's the road name and the state

[@wsstevenson]

Where was this filmed?

[@PGHammer21A]

And the "bell preference" is ALL about the sound; I have heard strong bells (what I refer to as Serious Bell) and weak bells (Unserious Bell) of both sorts; the extremes, oddly enough, tend to be electronic (E bell).

[@hnf1930]

You are right. I have about four types of bells withing a few miles of me. Seems to me that some of the older bells have a better sound. Thank you for watching.

[@echogeko4684]

If there's detectors, then what causes malfunctions?

[@hnf1930]

Most of the time it will be a defect in the electrical system. Sometimes after a thunderstorm you will see gates in the down position with no train coming, caused by a short circuit in the system. Thank you for watching.

[@echogeko4684]

Saw that happen on Taylors Road in Taylors SC once before (idk if you know where that is)

[@hnf1930]

@@echogeko4684 I have been in that area a few times

[@jamesdavis5096]

all you need is a penny and you have to find the insulator about 50 feet up the track. you put the penny between the insulator and it makes the gates go down

[@josephbennett3482]

You realize it's a federal offense if you trespass on railroad tracks and mess with the equipment. The railroad company can tell if someone it tampering with the safety warning systems and they will contact law enforcement.

[@zodiac308]

Cool vid, thanks!

[@HinckleyBranchRailfan]

Have you ever thought that the lights make them look like flashing eyeballs?

[@josephrowe849]

Railway crossing is what they call them in Australia and New Zealand.

[@robbiewales3007]

I didn't think that they were called railway crossings in America. I know in Australia we use the term railway crossings

[@cellogirl11rw55]

I have heard that some gates are activated by vibration. Is that true?

[@jovetj]

That is not true.

[@skippy23418]

Hnf1930, can you tell me where the "power out indicator" is located? Pictures help.

[@jovetj]

The Power-Out Indicator is usually a white light located on the crossing equipment case housing. See c8.staticflickr.com/9/8513/28773069023_b645dcd554_c.jpg The white light above the door is the POI. Most of the time, it is steadily lit. If AC utility power is lost, the light will flash (from batteries) or be extinguished.

[@derekplant5629]

Can you tell me, are the island ckts a blind spot to block signaling?

[@jovetj]

No. They're all connected to the block signals.

[@RealMesaMike]

The island is generally on a separate circuit that doesn't care whether the train is moving or how fast. If a train is occupying the island, the crossing protection is activated.

[@TheMetGuy]

Great video man

[@spartamississippi]

what happens if the power goes out in the city are the crossing light able to work?

[@jovetj]

Yes. Every crossing has a battery backup, which should let it last a while, depending on how often the crossing is used. The crossing should operate completely normally on battery backup. If the batteries die, then the crossing will become completely non-functional. If gates are present, they will drop to horizontal as a warning.

[@stephenh.cummings2987]

They also use the generators sometimes

[@jovetj]

*@Stephen H. Cummings* No they don't.

[@nicholerichason9048]

Me and my friends in 1992 would put a lot of bricks on the Censors and the gates would go down and fast trains would run them over. Lmao-

[@hnf1930]

Glad no one was killed, you would be LMAO in prison.

[@tripjet999]

@2:02 - Stanford Research...what?

[@philipjones0630]

Instistute. Lol

[@jjcooler65]

OK, but I still dont know exactly how the train makes them come on.

[@BBT609]

sensors in the track

[@jovetj]

+Jay N The tracks act as a part of an electrical circuit. Just like the wires to lights in your house or the dome light in your car. When there is no train, a trickle of electricity runs all the way through the tracks to the other end of the circuit. There, the circuit is connected to a relay, which is a device that allows one circuit to switch on/off another. This relay is like the starter relay in your car: when you turn the key, a small current goes through the switch in the ignition to the starter relay, which then switches on the much larger current from your car battery to the starter. Thus, when no trains are present, the relay is turned on which keeps the signals off. When a train enters the track, the wheels across the rails cause a controlled short circuit of the electricity going through the tracks. The electricity stops flowing all the way to the relay at the other end. The relay is setup so that when it switches "off" the signals actually switch on. This provides a fail-safe method of train detection, where when the relay turns off for any reason, the signals are activated. This can cause frustration for drivers sometimes, but it's much safer than the signals not activating when they should be. The signals on the tracks that tell trains when it's safe to roll work along this very same principle. Older railroad crossings have three of these separate track circuits: one at the crossing itself (called the Island), and one on each direction of approach to the crossing island. These multiple circuits allow the equipment to detect which direction the train is approaching, so that the signals can be turned off as soon as the train clears the crossing. Newer crossings usually only have two special frequency-only circuits, and an electronic device called a Predictor. The predictor sends a specific frequency of pulses down the rails and "listens" to how they get shorted out. This lets the equipment know exactly how far a train is away from the crossing and how fast it is moving, allowing a constant warning time (ideally 20-30 seconds) no matter how fast it's going (as mentioned in the video). It can even detect a train stopping, or starting to move away, which will let it cancel the warning signals. Another advantage is the rails don't have to be sliced and diced a lot for tons of track circuits, especially where crossings are close together: each crossing can have its own frequency while ignoring all the others.

[@j-bird1778]

Jovetj what keeps the crossing systems from interfering with the train signals?

[@jovetj]

+Jeffrey T. Axsmith Well, that's a great question. The answer is it depends, and it's complicated (and I'm no expert). I'm sure at some point, a long time ago, for every crossing to be signaled, they simply kept dividing up the track into more circuits... all of these circuits which were monitored by the wayside signaling. But nowadays, as I mentioned above, the pulsed circuits easily overlay the regular big, long wayside signal circuit. There are several types of specific wayside signal wiring, depending on if the line is electrified, for example. But they all revolve around the track circuit holding a relay energized principle I described above. The most common answer I could give is that most common track circuits are direct current (DC) where electricity always flows in the same direction. A battery always puts out DC type electricity, and many track circuits have been run off of batteries. You can think of the pulsed crossing predictor circuits as a form of alternating current (AC) where, at a regular interval called the frequency, the polarity of the electricity changes direction. The frequency of this change creates the pulsing. So where the crossing circuit exists, the DC and AC circuits overlay one another. This happens because they share the same conductors (the rails) and because they can be electronically isolated from one another. When you tune a radio, you're doing the same kind of thing. The crossing circuits are bounded by what's called a _shunt,_ which is an electronic device that is able to short-out a specific frequency of AC current, but doesn't affect the DC circuit at all. It's very easy to spot "shunt boxes" along the tracks, especially at (wayside signaling) track circuit boundaries where different shunts are also used to extend the crossing circuit into the next isolated DC circuit for the next signal block. But, sometimes railroads just lay the weatherproofed "shunt bundles" on the ballast between the rails. The presence of a train's wheels on the rails causes both circuits to be shorted at the same time. In fact, there can be numerous pulsed circuits overlaying one another, when many crossings are close to each other. Each crossing only listens for its specific frequency, and doesn't "hear" the others, just like an AM radio only tunes to one frequency at a time.

[@MrUranium238]

GPS

[@ElectraProductions225]

Southerntrainfan is that you?

[@hnf1930]

Nope

[@ElectraProductions225]

SouthernRailFan ok Great Video

[@LSM_Lover]

Some interesting tags on this video......

[@hnf1930]

Not sure what you mean by tags.....

[@markgorney3325]

You said railroad crossing twice.

[@CMDRFandragon]

and "Dont sit on it when its flashing" crossing.

[@hnf1930]

Thank you for watching, I will be making another video showing the different ways the train trips the gate

[@88Petry]

I fucking hate these gates. They go down and stay down for over an hour, when there isn't even a train. They malfunction so frequently that they shouldn't even use these things. I have spent hours stuck behind these things due to frequent malfunctions and employees taking forever to come raise them back up.

[@toneyfamily1398]

Is Dale Jr. Narrating this?

[@hnf1930]

Yes, he is

[@SaSZombieAssault1021]

tayaxas

[@gardencitykansasusa1149]

Great Crossing??????? Not great Crossing

[@hnf1930]

It is grade crossing, the location at which a road crosses the railroad at grade. Sorry, it takes someone with intelligence to understand more than the dialect they speak.

[@gardencitykansasusa1149]

@@hnf1930 ????? I love RXR Crossing

[@hnf1930]

@@gardencitykansasusa1149 LOL, I thought you were making a joke about my southern draw. I was trying to joke back, but it sounded funnier in mt head.

[@gardencitykansasusa1149]

@@hnf1930 haaaaaahaaaaaa