Western Railroad Discussion > Rail sign at grade crossing in Hedgesville, MT

In an August 2019 trip along BNSF's Laurel Subdivision I came across this sign where the railroad crosses Montana Hwy 297.  The main line is on the right, the siding is in the middle, and the stub track is on the left.  The sign is only on the left side of the siding, and there is an identical sign on the other side of the highway facing the other way.  There is no similar sign near the main line.

I'm guessing that the gates are activated only by the main line and not the siding and hence anything moving on the siding has to be more careful.  But that's just a wild guess.

I've never seen anything like this anywhere else.  Can anybody shed some light on what it means?  And why twenty-ONE seconds?  Do they really expect crews to be that precise?

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21 seconds. Yes, railroad operating employees are still required to carry a functioning watch with that sort of accuracy.

My thought is when the crew stops for the grade crossing signal it will stay dark for 21 seconds or the RR wants 21 seconds of warning before the train could the crossing.

The grade crossing signals have to be activated for 20 seconds before a train crosses.  Probably in this case, there is no advance circuit to activate the gates when the train is still some distance from the crossing.  The signals activate when the train gets to the sign.  If the train waits for 21 seconds, the 20 second rule will be statisfied with a bit of insurance.

Stan Praisewater

For the spur/industry track, the signal actuation circuit is closer to the crossing to allow the crews to switch/operate on the track further without activating the signal all the time.
Once crews get to the crossing, they have to wait the allotted time to ensure the cross vehicle traffic had enough warning and is clear..

These are common, the siding only has a island circuit and the train needs to stop short of the crossing but in the island to activate the gates. Real fun with a 116 car loaded grain train and the space to stop in is only 1 car length long.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

funnelfan Wrote:
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> These are common, the siding only has a island
> circuit and the train needs to stop short of the
> crossing but in the island to activate the gates.
> Real fun with a 116 car loaded grain train and the
> space to stop in is only 1 car length long.

Aircraft carrier landing skills required.

On the UP/OPR siding in Canby there is a short "island circuit" with the insulated joints about a rail length each side of the crossing. A time delay relay inserts a 20 second time delay in the signal activation circuit to allow traffic signls to go into a restrictive.permissive mode to clear the crossing or bring th gates down to prevent from entering the crossing.

The main line however is equipped with "predictors" which judge the speed of the approaching train and respond accordingly.

Dick Samuels OPR

Kinda reminds me of a trailer park where I used to pick up a "Babe" and take her back to my parent's house where she would accompany our family to church. I'm not so sure how that all came about but she was hot, well endowed, and I thought I was in love. Then she, the "Babe", suddenly moved to her grandparent's home clean across the state.I come to find out that she had gotten pregnant out of wedlock and...
Off topic? Maybe a little, but that trailer park had a speed limit sign of "3 MPH", realistic? Not so much, I don't think Dad's car could go that slow without stalling!
I ran across the "Babe" 45 years later, not so much a "Babe" anymore.
Gonut

Good story. There's more than one highway sign out there with a speed limit such as 37 mph. Seeing a number that's not a multiple of 5 gets drivers' attention and hopefully inspires obedience. Not allowed on federal aid roads, I'm sure.

Gonut1 Wrote:
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> Kinda reminds me of a trailer park where I used to
> pick up a "Babe" and take her back to my parent's
> house where she would accompany our family to
> church. I'm not so sure how that all came about
> but she was hot, well endowed, and I thought I was
> in love. Then she, the "Babe", suddenly moved to
> her grandparent's home clean across the state.I
> come to find out that she had gotten pregnant out
> of wedlock and...
> Off topic? Maybe a little, but that trailer park
> had a speed limit sign of "3 MPH", realistic? Not
> so much, I don't think Dad's car could go that
> slow without stalling!
> I ran across the "Babe" 45 years later, not so
> much a "Babe" anymore.
> Gonut

From my collection of railroadiana...
 

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