No Habla

Thats a good point Packrat. I have been thinking about this post
and looked at the poster's profile. He seems to run through
the desert at night. I have come up to rail crossings that
malfuctioned myself. If you are in the desert like this guy
aparently runs and can see for miles down the track both
ways how many hours are you supposed to wait?
Now I am not saying it was safe to cross and neither
did he but when I drove state to state in my daycab
pulling doubles, backing up was not an option.
I am not saying I would ever break the law
just somthing to think about.

 

maybe you were lucky that (or those times). what if, and i mean, what if, the lights on the train were malfunctioning............?? you know, the "headlight" on the front of the train......?? it could happen, as its electrical. the train will (could) be still barreling down those tracks. you would have no preception of the nearness or farness of the train, not even when the trains horns blow.

just because your out in a desert area, and can see for miles and miles in either direction, crossing a RR track(s) when those arms (or signals) are down is down right dangerous. don't forget, by the time you do stop, look, listen, then start rolling again, you still cannot get up enough speed as say a 4 wheeler can. in the moments it takes to get up to speed and cross, that train can and will be there........................... there will even be a time of "deafness" to the outside as your rig goes through the gears, as you rev up the engine.


hey, do as you wish, but you too put yourself on the "proverbial chopping block" by admitting you cross RR tracks when the signals are in use............

 

i've pulled doubles myself, many years ago. you're right, we can't really back them up. there is nothing to think about when it comes to crossing RR tracks that have warnings going off.

 

It's was the middle of the day. I could see well over 3/4 of a mile in either direction of the tracks with NO obstructions (buildings, trees, etc.). There was no train in sight. In fact the train was parked at the Phelps Dodge lot.

It would have been one thing if I had seen any train...but there WAS NO TRAIN. If you can see clearly down each direction of the track with no obstructions that there is no train there...buddy, there's no train there.

 

3/4 (3 quarters?) of a mile in either direction isn't much distance at all for a speeding train to cover in a few seconds..............

ok, but what do you do if per some chance a DOT cop, or any cop for that matter pulls up behind you as you start to cross the tracks.........??

again, do as you wish.............leave your valuables to me, i'm poor and can't afford valuables..................

 

Both of you make a good point. A few years ago
several idiot truck drivers tried to beat trains across
the tracks and lost. The knee jerk liberal reaction
was to put new laws in place. Now if a train
signal malfuctions and you know it is malfunctioning
and you know there is no train you are still risking
your career by going across those tracks. We truck
drivers have the most stringent tests for CDL in history,
with a very intensive background test, and yet
the federal government will not trust us to
have the common sence of a first grader.
Stop look and listen remember?
This is why I am a libertarian, we need less
laws. We need to return the power to the people.
Once again I am not advocating breaking the laws
we have.

 

Having had experience with this particular train, they don't exceed 40-45 mph. It's not a regularly used line, it's a railway owned by Phelps Dodge. Again, if a train is speeding along and is close enough to trigger the crossing signal, it's going to be visible. This wasn't the case. I'm not stupid enough to try to beat a train. I wasn't beating a train in this case because THERE WAS NO TRAIN.

As for the cops, I'd think any logical thinking LEO would side with me that the signal was clearly malfunctioning as there was no train in sight, therefore going around was prudent, since traffic was backing up. It's completely unreasonable to expect someone to sit there for God knows how long until somebody decides to show up to fix the signal when there is no train.

The irony is that if the officer was behind you, he's going to be able to testify to the fact that there WAS no train and that the signal was malfunctioning, since he was able to go around himself. He'd be your best witness.

 

I have to admit something. I found myself out in the middle of nowhere in Texas one early morning, around 3:00am and came across a railroad crossing that was flashing with the wooden arms down. I sat there for 45 minutes, and nothing came along, the lights kept flashing, the arms stayed down, and I couldn't wait any longer.

I had no choice. I had no idea how long I would sit there before ANYONE or ANYTHING would come around. This was long before cell phones were in the picture too.

I drove on through and busted the arms with the bumper of my truck.

 

Even with cellphones there's no guarantee somebody is going to show up in a reasonable amount of time. We are dealing with the RAILROAD after all.