Western Railroad Discussion > Bad railroad crossings

These days I have been paying more attention to grade level crossings since I became aware of their intricacies as I work with the California PUC to get our crossing approved in Marina on the Monterey Branch. This week I was passing over a crossing in Santa Clarita when it felt like my car jumped a curb. I turned the car around and got a good look at. Wow what a mess.

It looks like the crossing pad became dislodged and then got clobbered by the Saugus local that passes over this industrial track next to the Metrolink line.  

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

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That crossing definitely has seen better days.  A crossing in my town, on a Union Pacific industrial lead crossing a four lane road with heavy truck traffic looked even worse once.  The concrete was all broken up and the steel frame bend to hell and back.  After several months of it getting worse and worse, UP finally came along and replaced all the panels.  I guess those panels don't live easy lives.

Most cities and counties have a pothole reporting web page and hotline.  I would report it there, with the assumption that they can push the railroad to fix it.  That looks bad enough to do damage to vehicles.

There's a 1-800 number, ownership info and crossing # info on a sign at each crossing.  You should call that one in.  

Ted in OR

LOL. that is nothing, remember the crossings with shifted and rotten timbers and pot holes.

Bob

Years ago heading eastward on a coal train with a particulary bouncey lead motor....we bounced onto one pariticular crossing so hard that the plow caught it and ripped it completely out....asphalt chunks flying every direction. We called the dispatcher to report the rough crossing...and come to find out, that road had be shut down all of sudden to replace the crossing!

SCAX3401 Wrote:
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> That crossing definitely has seen better days.  A
> crossing in my town, on a Union Pacific industrial
> lead crossing a four lane road with heavy truck
> traffic looked even worse once.  The concrete was
> all broken up and the steel frame bend to hell and
> back.  After several months of it getting worse
> and worse, UP finally came along and replaced all
> the panels.  I guess those panels don't live easy
> lives.

Think of what those crossings would be like if they were the old wooden timber crossings.  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

That looks like one inch and when its up to 4 inches the track must be put out of service, but from dirt in flangeway it is a dead track now.  Call the Division Engineer of the line who owns the track.  Track get inspected once or twice a week so the local track supervisor in surely knowledge of if.  Notice the long metal plate on the edge has broken off earlier.  The party who answers the phone number posted on the crossing can give you the DE number to talk to.   

PlyWoody Wrote:
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> That looks like one inch and when its up to 4
> inches the track must be put out of service, but
> from dirt in flangeway it is a dead track now. 
> Call the Division Engineer of the line who owns
> the track.  Track get inspected once or twice a
> week so the local track supervisor in surely
> knowledge of if.  Notice the long metal plate on
> the edge has broken off earlier.  The party who
> answers the phone number posted on the crossing
> can give you the DE number to talk to.   

Like he said in the first post of the thread, this is a Metrolink Line. Matter of fact it's the Antelope Valley Line.

That's nowhere near as bad as a crossing in Louisville, Ky. that just got fixed last month.  It was at the north end of the Paducah and Louisville yard and it had 9 tracks.  Everyone was in need of repair.  I would not go any faster than 3 MPH when I crossed them.  

John

webmaster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> These days I have been paying more attention to
> grade level crossings since I became aware of
> their intricacies as I work with the California
> PUC to get our crossing approved in Marina on the
> Monterey Branch. This week I was passing over a
> crossing in Santa Clarita when it felt like my car
> jumped a curb. I turned the car around and got a
> good look at. Wow what a mess.
>
> It looks like the crossing pad became dislodged
> and then got clobbered by the Saugus local that
> passes over this industrial track next to the
> Metrolink line.  


Looks like Drayton Street.

Posted from Android

The ever changing weather conditions/extremes and crossing usage are very hard on crossings.

ns1000 Wrote:
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> The ever changing weather conditions/extremes and
> crossing usage are very hard on crossings.

Often overlooked (generally overlooked, actually) is that highway vehicles damage crossing surfaces, not trains.

TAW