Amtrak and the Broken Gates
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2012
- Needless to say, this freaked me out. O_o Amtrak approaches the Taft-Vineland crossing, and as I wait for the gates to activate...they don't. Eventually, the crew has to de-train and flag their train across the road! I called this malfunction into the CFRC, and they said that repair crews were already on their way out. Apparently, this crossing has had problems for about a week... I hope CSX knows!! (This track is no longer owned by CSX; they sold it to the CFRC in preparation for SunRail operations.)
- Авто та транспорт
Crossing: I want to sleep.
I think he is the voice of player in gametoons
@DJ ENDIE09 - SAVE UKRAINE!!! Lol
He can’t sleep. WAKE UP I DONT LIKE THIS
lol
lol 😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I believe the crossing is now fixed and has been for some time now. This was a highly unusual video, but good. Very good.
that Big Truck on the other side was Smart and knew the Train was coming so it decided to wait even if the Gates didn't go down!
They didn’t wire the Trainz crossings correctly 😂
Lmao 😂😂😂
Relatable
Light a flare that will last 12 hours.
Train will be gone in 5 minutes.
Should have just flagged it through
These flares are last 15 or 20 minutes but as I believed it'll be in 15 minutes until out. Never heard 12 hours flare. Do you have 12 hours flare?
The flare was prob to let people know that the crossing is broken.
the train crew knew the gates were not working or the professional term of (activation failure) that's why the crew stopped the train. and flagged the train across. This actually happens in Downtown alot. I have a few videos on my channel showing this process. More common then you would think. Hard to catch on camera though Good Job!
It's interesting that the gates are up. Non-functioning, power outages, etc. should have gates down blocking the road. The lights and bell might not be on, but the gates should be horizontal to the ground. That's the way they are designed, fail safe mode . We had a situation here where I live where I found one of our crossing signals not functioning but the gates were down blocking the street. I notified BNSF immediately and notified the local police. BNSF got the word out quickly because the very next train that came through flagged the crossing. It's a busy line so every train for the next 3 hours had to do the same. Local police would not do anything. They couldn't tie up two cruisers at a railroad crossing for an indefinite amount of time. I could understand the logic of that. So, Me and another guy parked our vehicles in front of the open lane on opposite sides of the crossing. He had a light bar on his truck and I had an amber strobe on my SUV. We stayed there until they came and fixed the signals. The back-up batteries that kicks in if the power goes off, had died. It threw the singles into fail safe mode for some reason. The juice from the power line was not disrupted, it was a nice evening.
Different models of gate systems must work differently. With no electrical power, there is no motive force to lower the gate. It is also possible that it was another problem entirely, such as a faulty track shunt, causing the gate system to not detect the train's presence.
I investigate S.M.'s--24 years--over 300 crashes. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Signal Maintainers who are well trained. Consider the S.M. who left jumper cables on Track Circuit equipment in a shed in Illinois. He was doing some testing and left. Result-the active warning devices would never be activated by a train. Two young men in a car were killed--Amtrak train came out of a forest-79mph. The xing had 6 cameras operating. State Trooper caught him with the cables.
We had something happen like this to the Northbound Vermonter the other day on the Knowledge Corridor. I know someone who is good friends with PanAm (or NS) signal maintainer.
Apparently he forgot to change the crossings is District 3 from "Island" Mode to "Extended Mode" (The normal railroad crossing setting) So the Vermonter had to perform Stop & Protect several times, making them over an hour late.
Before 2012 the track was so bad that Stop & Protect was the norm for all trains that came through the Conn River Line.
Really cool video though!
Wow, this is a cool video! I don't see why it has so many thumbs down. Whats the deal with that
I think people are a bit hung up on my dramatics lol
@@SpeakerPolice or perhaps they don't know a good train video when they see it
Not sure I always wanted to hear the sounds from those gates
Or somepeopl hate you jaw tooth
Malfunctioning active warning devices at RR crossings happen every day! The Texas Dept. of Public Safety in Austin was getting over 200 calls a week from motorists reporting malfunctioning RR crossing warning devices. That was in 1993. The CBS reporter who uncovered the very serious RR crossing safety problems was Roberta Baskin. I called them in 1998 and the number had jumped to over 300. Imagine what it is now. It just keeps getting worse. ASK ER801 what Rail Grinder machines are for.
Awesome Video! Out of all the railroad crossing I've been to, I have NEVER seen this happen! I'm glad the CFRC came out and fixed this problem. If it's been happening for a week then it may mean that the signals might need an upgrade.
Rest In Peace Broken Railroad Crossings
I believe this crossing mechanism has been repaired, yes.
Great video
Bro forgot to pin.
@@captainminecraft631 Didn't forget, just didn't think it was necessary. These things are never malfunctioning for more than a day or two, at most!
The problem, which our Signal Maintainer, Mr. ER801, isn't addressing, is "WHY has this crossing, with its bell, flashing lights and gates, been "broken"---not working--for a week?" AND, don't tell us that it can't be fixed relatively fast. If necessary, the RR Signal Dept. could bring out a new Track Circuit computer / replace the defective one. IMAGINE how this xing is delaying Amtrak trains! A CSX train killed a couple in Rochester, NY when the Engineer ignored a "stop and flag" order!
1:07 When U Said Houston We Have A Problem Had Me Dying!
When lights out no power signal not working
+Speakerpolice It looks like the batteries died, track fault, electrical circuit failure,Gates either had a coma or stroke. Or they just don't want to work.That's never happened here where I live
I agree! I do try to interact with the crew whenever it's safe to do so and won't interfere with operations. :3 Bonus if I'm actually helping them out!
It is entirely possible the train crew knew this crossing was not working properly. In this case the train crew would have been issued a "stop and protect" order where a crew member must walk off the train, and physically stand in the roadway until the train occupies the crossing so it can pass. It's common, actually.
The train had to know about this situation - he approached, prepared to stop and he did.
if this keeps happenin, they might as well put crossbucks up
+TNH//TheNerfHub// Gaming 'Crossbuck' is the proper name for the X-shaped railroad crossing sign.
They are probably some of the oldest crossing gates on that line. They have seniority over the newer ones and get cantankerous at times. Eligible for retirement they are "burnt out" and rally don't care if they get replaced.
Your guess is as good as mine. xP I have to be able to hear the bell to tell.
@@cjcompton9410 no
fine i did
SpeakerPolice nice video
Wow, never seen flares used before! Very interesting.
They are usually used for reverse moves where that side of the equipment is otherwise unprotected, especially at night or in inclement weather conditions.
The gates at Winter Park have also been known to malfunction as well. Usually when it rains.
Someone ought to have those Gates fixed because trains are coming and they need to be activated so people will know that they're coming I just hope CSX hears about this
These gates were repaired less than a half hour after I shot this video...six years ago.
Yes, the fusees (railroad flares) are left after the train departs. They burn out in a few minutes, and won't harm a car's tires if they get run over. :3
Yes, there is an E-Bell (speaker) on this crossing system.
I think the bell is a general signals E bell. Not sure if its type 1 or 2
Personally, I like your comments at the beginning, Patrick. Pretty funny. Also an interesting video. Never seen that before.
Thanks, I do try to add in a little humor sometimes. :P
The crossing will be fixed after we can get the proper paperwork through, six months from now.
THIS SHOULD be SHOWN at all drivers licence offices,,,( ,,, in the lobby while PEOPLE are waiting to see HOW a proper stop and protect the crossing is conducted per DOT of department of transportation,,, ALL STOP AT RAILROAD CROSSINGS,,, BE PREPARED,,, STOP,,, LOOK,,, AND LISTEN,,, WHEN IN DOUBT,,, TRAINS HAVE TOP PRIORITY⚠🚨
See? now THIS is how you flag a crossing!!!... I know of a lady in Amtrak's employ that needs to watch this vid... (she was featured on another vid XD )
What happened on June 24, 2012, near Goodwell, Oklahoma, is the perfect example of how our RR industry is in the Dark Ages of technology AND the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) let's them get away with it. Two Union Pacific freight trains were on the same track and hit head-on at a combined speed of over 100 mph. Three of the crew members were killed; one jumped and lived (amazing.) The NTSB accident report said that one of the Engineers was "color-blind" and Union Pacific knew it! Yet, they let him drive a train. He couldn't tell a red signal from a yellow signal from a green signal. But the Conductor, sitting to the Engineer's left, was not color-blind. So, how did that freight train go by a yellow light to slow down and a red light to stop? The NTSB says the Conductor was apparently asleep! BUT, wait a minute---even if the Engineer was color-blind and the Conductor was asleep, why didn't the Dispatcher know where these 2 trains were? ANSWER: The U.S. trucking industry has had GPS Tracking for over 20 years, but almost no U.S. trains have it! Imagine that! NO GPS TRACKING! What's the RR industry excuse? "Why, it costs a lot of money so we can't afford it." What a complete and total load of B.S. that is. They can afford to pay their top management mega-millions, but they can't afford a vital safety device that IS NOT that expensive and could be saving lives. The FRA could have forced the RR's to install GPS Tracking 20 years ago to stop head-on collisions and many other preventable crashes, BUT NEVER DID. What does that tell you about the FRA? Plenty---in the pockets of the RR owners, period.
Robert Comer You talk but all I hear is Blah blah blah....you're going to hurt your arm patting yourself on the back. If you're so fregging smart, why didn't you work for the railroad? GPS wouldn't stop a head on. If someone leaves a switch lined improperly, how in the hell would GPS know that? It can see the trains but it can't detect human error for shit. So go back to Blah blah blah...
Juan Dia Apparently, you know nothing about PTC and how it uses GPS to stop train collisions. I think you need to get educated before making stupid comments. AND, YES, PTC using GPS WOULD STOP A HEAD-ON! Look it up!!!!
So in dark territory PTC will stop a head on? You think you're so smart. You're just another educated idiot. Read what I wrote you moron. I said GPS won't prevent a head on if someone left a switch lined the wrong way. I stand by that statement. I've forgotten more than you'll ever know about railroading. Go back to playing with your radio shack walkie talkies. You don't know shit.
Robert Comer We installed PTC on my territory Einstein. I bet you didn't know the software for it doesn't even exist. It's all theory at this point in time. So for not knowing much about it, I know a hell of a lot more than you Robert Comer. Yeah, I make stupid comments, but just to stupid people.
Juan Dia Guess you have been away from railroading too long. One of my best friends was an Engineer for UP for 31 years. Bet he knows tons more than you! GPS works in "dark territory" where there are no track circuits / block switching /train signals. If you don't know that, you are still in K-Garten. The whole idea for PTC is getting off track circuits and using GPS to know EXACTLY where every locomotive is. What about that don't you get? The trucking industry has been using GPS Tracking for over 25 years! AND, there is some PTC installed AND WORKING on some eastern trains. Go to the FRA website, Office of Safety Analysis, and see the info! I think this is the last reply I'm going to make to you since you think you know more than anyone, even someone who worked in military intelligence and has had an FCC (NOT CB!) license for over 50 years. Do you even know a watt from an ohm from an amp? Do you even know how Track Circuits work or how they can fail to detect trains? DO YOU??? Do you even know what the XR is? "Failure to shunt?" "Motion detection?" IMPEDANCE--know what that is? GOODBYE---go take a million year break at McDonalds. OH, and if, as you claim, the software for PTC doesn't exist, how are they actually using it on some east coast trains?
No Houston doesn't have a problem lol
As is turns out 26 Aug 2017 Houston does have a problem. Look it up.
Perfect timing for Amtrack for Emergency stop
Oh he knew ahead of time to stop lol
R.I.P crossing gate and light. 2012- 2012
Classic GE chug. Love that sound
I'm quite familiar with the CFR. Are you aware that the FRA has a database of Total Activation Failures that is accessible on their website? I have worked with some FRA inspectors. Yes, a T.A.F. must be flagged, BUT it also must be reported as such. It doesn't matter if the RR puts a flagger on the crossing or issues "stop and flag" orders, the T.A.F. MUST be reported. ACTUAL EXAMPLE: "3/4/2013 10:00:00 PM CSX N Hialeah MIAMI-DADE FL 628350F 02 Failure of Relay" Aware of that?
+SpeakerPolice That sucks :(
They need to do something about these crossings
interstatejohnny81 LOL they were fixed 5 years ago
No problem. Train stopped at defective gate. Traffic stopped with flairs. Very cool!
Yes, all went well on this day. :)
@@SpeakerPolice what do they use flares for?😕
@@juanmatos6796 Warning to motorists of the presence of the train.
@@SpeakerPolice that's great they're very useful are they?😃
I remember watching this
On TV? Haha
It seems very foolish that the crewman had to drop those flares on the road. The traffic on the road had clearly stopped, so why bother?
Dan Schwartz FRA safety regulations require the use of flares in the absence of a functioning crossing, especially at night. There is no danger to vehicles or pedestrians.
Yeah, I figured it was that kind of "rules are rules" business. The rules should be amended to say that, if the crew has ascertained that traffic on the road has come to a stop, and that, if there is no traffic present in a given direction, none is approaching, the train should be allowed to proceed.
Dan Schwartz You're putting too much faith in humanity. Under no circumstances would I trust my crew to allow a train to roll without someone on the ground to prevent automobiles crossing my track!
SpeakerPolice l
@@bxdanny In the Netherlands, a malfunction like this would mean the train has to come to a full stop before the crossing and then very slowly enter the mid-section of the crossing. This will activate the crossing no matter what. (in case of a power cut, the gates will have been lowered already, so that's not an issue)
In all other cases, a person has to hold a red flag on the crossing so motorists know a train is passing.
Did they get the gates working properly
I saw that happen just last week! Cool video
Rail Faner Thank you!
SpeakerPolice No problem!
Nice work
Thank you!
If I heard a train while I was driving a school bus I would turn on my red lights and put my stop arm out until the train goes through the crossing and then I would turned them off
+SpeakerPolice What are the possibilities of a freight train passing through here? Would it be a slim chance?
And if it is, just film just one Amtrak going through here. If you have spare time cause I don't want you to feel over burdened. That's the last thing I want
I was on a Wilmington and western train and this happened just the same way. only the crossings were gateless
We don't have many gateless crossings here that have lights. Too many stupid motorists, I guess.
SpeakerPolice yeah.
R.I.P Crossing LOL
Wow I've never seen that happen with railroad crossing signal gates before some and alot of those can do that and not work properly
So.........Who besides me noticed traffic across the tracks.....''already'' stopped? Anyone?,,,,,,,,,,,,,Anyone?...........Hello? Buler? Bul;er?
+chaosdemonwolf1 I do see that, but...it is good practice to flag the train, just to make sure everyone stays safe and doesn't try anything stupid.
Good point
Thanks for the reply. I wonder what happened to the battery back-up? The equipment bungalows have a bank of batteries in case commercial power goes off. Some have a concrete battery box. Here's the thing I am concerned about. If the crossing owner was aware of the power outage and the devices not capable of activating, why didn't they send a Signal Maintainer out to the crossing to manually control it? There is a federal rule mandating that.
I wonder what it sound like
But if the rail line is active, why would the crossing be taken out of service? That only happens when the whole line is abandoned!
Surprisingly, the traffic isn’t moving at all when the train was coming up by the crossing. These drivers are smart to wait for the train to move
I have never seen a crossing malfunction in my hole entire lifr
I have
ygg
Juan Urena I've seen it in ye olden dayes when the train would blast through because no one on the train knew the signals weren't working until it was too late.
+KC9UDX kkkkkkk
I have plenty of times.
Houston we have a problem! LOL
+SpeakerPolice that's rather odd isn't it? Did they get them working? And also, can you make another video at this crossing again and at the same time when you recorded this video? That'd be amazing.
Thanks man
This crossing was made operational again approximately 2 hours after I called it in.
Dang it the crossing overslept again!!
Smart motorists didn't take a chance malfunction railroad crossing when is coming
Crossing said: middle_finger_tone1 😩😴💀
I guess something was said about them, and now their feelings got hurt. Lol!
Gates: *whiney voice* you call us stupid? @#$% you, uh!
Gates: I'm not going down because of that
@@levelcrossingspotter-lcsra3368 Lol! That woyld definitely be something a crossings would say.
Amtrak: get your gates down crossing
Crossing: I can't my gates are stuck
Amtrak: uh oh
Wow it looks like they need to replace those gated crossings with new ones they must be pretty old to not want to work like that constantly
That is indeed odd, never seen a crossing do that before, you have any idea as to what caused this absurd malfunction?
Thunderturbine88 I'm not sure. I arrived after the problem was known, and traffic was aware.
+SpeakerPolice could you do a video at this crossing? if it's working that is
I don't often film here, as it's quite out of my way when on my usual runs, and due to a lack of freight traffic these days there is no incentive to go there anymore. I can assure you however that the crossing is working fine.
Okay This Is Ridiculous
Not enough Signal Maintainers or Maintenance-of-Way workers and the bottom-line RR's just let track maintenance suffer. "Run those trains!" Posted in locomotives and cabooses long ago: UPHILL SLOW, DOWNHILL FAST, TONNAGE FIRST, SAFETY LAST. Those RR workers knew what the real RR culture was all about ---money and to hell with safety---it wasn't the Big Shots, smoking cigars in their plush offices, getting killed daily--it was train crews and passengers. Amtrak now = average a crash a day.
are these railroad crossing old ones is still there because if they are can you record them? and where is this at?
I think no bell
As Adam Savage would say, "Well, there's your problem!"
Josh's Train Videos finally, another nerd like me! Mythbusters for life!
Tyson'sTrains yay! Mythbusters=awesome
Josh's Train Videos0
This is my worst nightmare that the crossing gates don't work when a train arrives..
I don't know how it may differ with Amtrak down south there, however up here, if CSX has an activation failure they know about, the conductor will flag the crossing, but will not use flares. He'll just use the red flag like this guy had and stop any cross traffic. What was the point in setting up the flares for just one train to pass by? Was it because of the high traffic on the road?
High traffic is likely, yes. However, every time I've ever seen a train cross a crossing here without protection, even just a reverse move, the crews have always used fusees. Maybe it's a Taft thing...
I'm not sure if it is this crossing or another, but I believe this crossing still is not working as they stop before this crossing every time I ride the SunRail.
Man CSX really doesn't like to do proper maintenance.
gates- i sleepy, dont feel like working today.
Did they fix them?
The crossing said, Not today I’m on vacation, you can do it yourself.
OK, so you say the Track Circuit computer had a defective card. So, that's why the active warning devices didn't activate for that Amtrak train. Fortunately for the motoring public, Amtrak was notified of the crossing warning device problem. BUT, YOU knew the warning devices wouldn't activate and, WOULD YOU please tell me why the crossing wasn't being controlled by (1) a police department or (2) someone from your railroad? I have actually assisted a police officer who was sent to a very busy RR crossing because the warning devices were malfunctioning. He told me that Norfolk Southern said it would be at least 3 hours before a Signal Maintainer could get there. OK, so why wasn't a police department notified of this crossing situation so they could get an officer there FAST to make sure traffic was stopped if a train approached? For example, a New York state man and his wife were killed by a CSX freight at a crossing near Rochester that had a Track Circuit equipment problem. No warning devices were working when the freight hit their car at 45 MPH. AND, the investigation revealed that the train crew had a Stop-and-Flag order for the crossing, but they apparently forgot about it. The same thing could have happened at that Florida crossing.
Robert Comer The train-crew knew that the crossing protection wasn't working properly. That is why they stopped short of the crossing, flagged it and proceeded. This is how it's done. Don't get all excited about it.
+Robert Comer Yeah...really not that big a deal. It probably caused all of a 2-minute delay to the Amtrak train and all vehicles involved, if that. This is common railroad procedure during outages, and unless this is an extremely busy crossing, posting someone to stay and signal it during the outage would probably not be cost-effective or practical.
+ckildegaard "Not a big deal", you say? So, on April 27, 2004, in Charlotte, Michigan, an Amtrak train traveling at about 45 MPH, struck a car and killed a mother and her 15 year-old daughter. She was in her proper lane when struck. Eight eye-witnesses stated that the bell, lights and gates were not working (OFF) when the train hit the car. The big question: DID the Amtrak Engineer know--was told in any way, that the crossing warning devices were not working? IS IT A BIG DEAL TO YOU that 2 people were killed? The approaching Amtrak train was hidden to the driver by a huge warehouse on the corner of the crossing. Witnesses also said that the Engineer only blew the horn once and only when close to the crossing, NOT starting at 1,320 feet. The Amtrak Engineer in this UA-cam video was obviously warned that the crossing warning devices were not working, that's why he stopped and the Conductor stopped traffic / flagged the crossing / set down flares. He did the right things. The Michigan incident is just one of a long list of Total Activation Failures of warning devices at RR crossings I have investigated over the last 26 years. The day after that 2004 crash, the railroad showed up with a Rail Grinder to clean off the very heavy rust on both rails. That rust inhibited the Track Circuit shunt that is necessary for a train to be detected and the warning devices activated. That's why the Amtrak train wasn't detected and why the warning devices were OFF. Are you aware of that type of serious problem---failure of shunt? What would have happened if the Engineer in this UA-cam video had NOT been informed of the crossing devices not working? What if he had reached the crossing at 50, 60, 70, 80 MPH?
What happened to the railroad crossing?
NON FUNCTIONAL!!!
I'm a railroad crossing enthusiast myself if I work for a company that deals with railroad crossings and they get broken I'll fix them right away
thats why i put "LOL" at the end.
And the railroads call that an Upgrade!!!! Something like this is happening WAY too often!!! Made in China?????
Pat,
You are probably aware that the FRA, the 2 Track Circuit manufacturers and the RR's claim that the Track Circuit is "fail-safe", but this video you shot proves otherwise. So, it's a VERY important video. This is TOTAL ACTIVATION FAILURE and, if that Amtrak train hadn't stopped, there could have been a terrible crash at the crossing. At least, this time, the train was able to stop in time. RR industry = Money first--safety last--scary and disgusting!
Did they fix them yet?
Oh yes, they were working again within an hour or two after I shot this video.
*Railroad Crossing Has Left The Chat*
Hahahaha
Thanks for stopping cars the railroad crossing gates were having problems
I read through a bunch of these comments. Pure comedy! OhioInvestigator, why are you asking a Signal Maintainer what a rail grinding machine is for? What do YOU think they are used for would be my question. They aren't used for the Signal System, I can tell you that much! They are used to shape and clean up the rail head to prolong the life of the rail, PERIOD! Not a damn thing to do with the Signal department at all! I railroaded for 40 years, 24 years in Management in the Maintenance of Way Department- Track Engineering Department of a Class 1 railroad. This video shows the proper way a train operates over a grade crossing when there is a signal problem. Nothing more.
Train: WAKE UP
did they ever fix the m?
Oh yeah, they were working again before I got the video uploaded xP
I mean life
It is def a GS E bell
Did you call the number plate underneath the crossing? Usually that helps.
Indeed!
The crossing must be drunk
What amazes me is, having worked the railroad & flagged crossings, is how fast so many use words like defect and malfunction, when they do not know why the crossing protection signals are inoperative. Inoperative is the correct classification for these signals. It should be understood this is electrical equipment, used in all types of weather, outdoors and on a daily basis, signals are not perfect nor without fault. Of course yelling at inoperative signals upon the approach of a train in the hopes it will hear you is not effective . The politics of railroad companies are to consume as many defunct lines into one and always that costs shall never exceed the maximum cheap thinking IE : Unless we are caught and fined by the F.R.A for that signal being inoperative or the NTSB is investigating a fatality accident at that crossing then who cares.
Wow
Great👍👍
Cameraman, YOU need to call either the police or the railroad about this problem, as it is a tragedy waiting to happen. There is a small blue sign either on the gates or on the control box for the gates with the number to the railroad and the crossing information.