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- Newsgroups: sci.electronics
- Path: sparky!uunet!spool.mu.edu!umn.edu!csus.edu!netcom.com!nagle
- From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle)
- Subject: Re: Railroad crossing gates -the ups and downs???
- Message-ID: <1992Dec19.191317.15370@netcom.com>
- Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
- References: <BzGzsI.1u4@chinet.chi.il.us>
- Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 19:13:17 GMT
- Lines: 27
-
- drx@chinet.chi.il.us (Scott Whittle) writes:
- >Ok I'll bite. How does the railroad control the crossing gates? Here in
- >Illinois, Chicago and NorthWestern changed over the technology at the
- >crossings about 2 years ago and have had major problems ever since. Gates
- >come down and stay down without a coming locomotive. Once I watch the gates
- >come down when the train (albeit moving about 3mpg) was about 25 feet from the
- >intersection.
-
- >I've also noticed that commuter trains will cause the about 5 gates to come
- >down ahead, but a freighter will only bring down 3 ahead. Anybody will
- >any knowledge they would like to share???
-
- I've seen an ad for a "smart" gate controller that takes data from
- multiple points along the track, determines speed, and decides how far in
- advance to lower the gate on that basis. General Railroad Signal, I think.
- This is a big advantage on track which has both fast trains (requiring
- that the gates go down far in advance) and switching movements (where
- nearby trains may move around slowly for considerable periods without
- threatening the crossing).
-
- I've heard the saying "never buy signalling gear from somebody who's
- in a better climate than you are". Most of the old-line companies are in
- upstate NY or PA. Some of the newer stuff comes from places where ice,
- snow, salt, heavy plows, and switch heaters aren't part of everyday life.
- This creates problems.
-
- John Nagle
-