Western Railroad Discussion > UP Kearney NE Flashing X signal question?????

On VR new Kearney NE cam there are 2 flashing X signals on the Kearney west cam at the street crossing. What is the purpose of these signals. They flash some times then are off then back on.

gmojim

Those look like crossing activation signals. In "no horn" areas, these are used as indicators to train crews that the crossing protection devices are working. If they are not blinking 'X', the crews are to act accordingly and blow for a standard crossing.

Ken

I live in Kearney.  At the two main crossings in town, the horns are at the crossings themselves, hence the flashing X's.  Thru trains do not sound there whistles...the trackside horns do.  What is odd is that the trackside horns will continue to sound even when the front of the train is beyond the crossing.  I cross Central Avenue numerous times a day and the gates will come down, the horns will sound, the train will come, and before the train is clear, the crossing horns will sound several more times.  You think another train is coming but no, the train clears, and the gates go up.  

Another thing I have noticed is that, the UP seems to do more daytime mainline switching than they used to.  There is a local based in Kearney and it will gather cars togethor, and during the day a freight will come through and pick up a large cut of cars.  Maybe it is my imagination but this practice seems to have coincided with the advent of PSR on the UP.  Very interesting.

Great question and answer fellas... Was wondering the same thing. I've been watching that camera the past couple days; very cool!

Andy
Metamora, Il

There are other locations with this type of set-up.   I have no idea where they all are, but I've seen them on UP in Scottsbluff, NE, NS in Vermilion, OH, and BNSF in Flagstaff, AZ.   Probably many other locations as well.

-Tom

I think the crickets are the best part :)

fulham Wrote:
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> What is
> odd is that the trackside horns will continue to
> sound even when the front of the train is beyond
> the crossing. 

The one that I know about, the trackside horn is simply triggered. It is not aware of speed of the train and such, so it is designed to operate a set sequence. So if a train is still on the approach circuit (the track before the crossing) but has not yet reached the actual crossing circuit (limited to the actual crossing itself) it will start another sequence. At least IIRC that is how it was explained to me a couple years ago.

zchcsse Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are other locations with this type of
> set-up.   I have no idea where they all are, but
> I've seen them on UP in Scottsbluff, NE, NS in
> Vermilion, OH, and BNSF in Flagstaff, AZ.  
> Probably many other locations as well.
>
> -Tom

Downtown Branson, MO

BB

 fulham, thanks for the answer. I thought I heard a strange horn and suspected that maybe the crossing had horns,  Never seen this before.

gmojim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/19 08:59 by gmojim.

bmarti7 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> zchcsse Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > There are other locations with this type of
> > set-up.   I have no idea where they all are,
> but
> > I've seen them on UP in Scottsbluff, NE, NS in
> > Vermilion, OH, and BNSF in Flagstaff, AZ.  
> > Probably many other locations as well.
> >
> > -Tom
>
> Downtown Branson, MO
>
> BB

Also Ames, Iowa.

I will say this about that Kearney, crossing--it sure seems to have a lot of False Activations!   I've had the cam on for a couple of hours today and there have been more False Activations than there have been trains.  

zchcsse Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I will say this about that Kearney, crossing--it
> sure seems to have a lot of False Activations!  
> I've had the cam on for a couple of hours today
> and there have been more False Activations than
> there have been trains.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I agree, that really had me wondering what was going on.

gmojim

 

Very pleased to have this new VR cam at Kearney. Had hoped to have one somewhere between OFallons and Gibbon NE.

gmojim

zchcsse Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I will say this about that Kearney, crossing--it
> sure seems to have a lot of False Activations!  
> I've had the cam on for a couple of hours today
> and there have been more False Activations than
> there have been trains.  

As in the crossing protection (gates) going down or the red 'x' continuously flashing? If it's the red 'x', it is supposed to flash all the time, not just when a train approaches. This is simply an indication that the system is working and not that the crossing protection has been activated.

BTW, the red 'x' (or something similar) can be found wherever there is a system with a horn mounted on the crossing protection and the engineer does not need to blow for the crossing.

Ken