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I'm wondering who is going to pay for and maintain all these rail crossings with all these tracks every mile..........Maintaining a rail "diamond" is very difficult and labor intensive............also the parts are very expensive.
So long as there is no means to move between main tracks -- only a "diamond" or multiples of them -- protection at a crossing at grade can be provided by what's called an automatic interlocking. Sensors are placed a suitable distance away from the intersection and the first movement to "hit the plant" gets a "clear / proceed" signal while the other has to stop until the intersection is open again; two moves in opposite directions on double track obviously can proceed without interruption and presumably, a pre-selected arrangement would apply in the rare event of simultaneous arrivals.
A similar system has been in use at Rochelle, IL, where heavily used double track freight lines of Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific (former Chicago and North Western) cross, since the Sixties, and there are many more at less-heavily-used junctions.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 04-30-2017 at 11:06 PM..
So long as there is no means to move between main tracks -- only a "diamond" or multiples of them -- protection at a crossing at grade can be provided by what's called an automatic interlocking. Sensors are placed a suitable distance away from the intersection and the first movement to "hit the plant" gets a "clear / proceed" signal while the other has to stop until the intersection is open again; two moves in opposite directions on double track obviously can proceed without interruption and presumably, a pre-selected arrangement would apply in the rare event of simultaneous arrivals.
A similar system has been in use at Rochelle, IL, where heavily used double track freight lines of Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific (former Chicago and North Western) cross, since the Sixties, and there are many more at less-heavily-used junctions.
Many have been eliminated, but too many persist. They cause excessive delays. Sometimes delays tie up road traffic as well, as long trains stretch onto road crossings.
OK then try it this way,
Seattle times is a socialist rag, socialism has been rejected.
Get over it.
You need to "get over it" those responses are still 'lame'.
It's long overdue to reduce the 'rubber meets asphalt' mode of transportation. It's been more than proven it's bad for the environment and just inefficient and costs tons of money to maintain, not that all of it would ever be properly maintained.
Since the highway system is federally (and state) funded, then it would only be fair for them to pick up the tab. After all, you do want to be fair and have all modes of transportation on a level playing field??
Of course we can always eliminate federal funding of the highway system along with airports and let the user pay directly when they actually use either.
BTW, diamonds are mostly a thing of the past. Great lengths go to avoiding them with any new or rebuild. Chicago is the best example with the number of projects going on there..
You do know if there is a desire for multiple tracks in a congested area and they interconnect or cross each other, at the very least there are two switches involved, and or a diamond to allow the crossing over another track. the other option would be multiple over/under passes..........any of these options involve many man hours of maintenance and costly replacement parts{switch points/frogs/guardrails etc}.
Another thing to note........in a derailment situation you are talking a lot longer amount of time to open than a simple car accident or auto breakdown.
So long as there is no means to move between main tracks -- only a "diamond" or multiples of them -- protection at a crossing at grade can be provided by what's called an automatic interlocking. Sensors are placed a suitable distance away from the intersection and the first movement to "hit the plant" gets a "clear / proceed" signal while the other has to stop until the intersection is open again; two moves in opposite directions on double track obviously can proceed without interruption and presumably, a pre-selected arrangement would apply in the rare event of simultaneous arrivals.
A similar system has been in use at Rochelle, IL, where heavily used double track freight lines of Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific (former Chicago and North Western) cross, since the Sixties, and there are many more at less-heavily-used junctions.
I know. I was section Foreman for the BNSF at the Rochelle section back in the early 80's. I spent many hours working on those exact diamonds. Also our welders were almost constantly rebuilding the broken and worn running surfaces.
Many have been eliminated, but too many persist. They cause excessive delays. Sometimes delays tie up road traffic as well, as long trains stretch onto road crossings.
He is talking about a rail crossing only. Not one involving vehicular traffic. That is a different animal. A supervisor from our signal department told me almost 30 years ago that the electronics alone for one crossing was over 100K. That did not include the actual gates and houses to contain the electronics. The government requirements for inspection and maintenance of those crossings is also very expensive.
There is a hell of a lot of other facts they are completely clueless about.
My point was 95% out there have little idea what the discussion is about.
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