Most extreme/bizarre railroad crossings

[pderocco]

The largest crossing in general is this 19-track crossing in Galveston, TX, though it ain't signed at all:
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.302914,-94.8104366,3a,41.2y,336.6h,90.07t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sxyTJb1r9fk-nkrRY5EEGwg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-0.06794657550481986%26panoid%3DxyTJb1r9fk-nkrRY5EEGwg%26yaw%3D336.6043381835804!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDEyNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Given that the cracks are full of dirt, it doesn't look like any trains have actually gone over most of those in a long, long time.

[kphoger]

Given that the cracks are full of dirt, it doesn't look like any trains have actually gone over most of those in a long, long time.

As I had mentioned, only one of those tracks is actually the mainline.  The rest are siding spurs, so of course their use is infrequent.

Anything stored to the east of 37th Street has to have crossed 37th Street in order to get there.  And, if you scroll through the timeline in GSV, then it's obvious they do use it for storage.

Going from most recent to oldest, only one of these shows an empty yard there:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/hJqPJoMzHxaP9YYm9
https://maps.app.goo.gl/F752bu6MfhDBsNqz8
https://maps.app.goo.gl/AyNMi63zVSg5nHdp7
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ey7Cx7nsBnKvKLCP9
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cjupFuigE3qToL7L8
https://maps.app.goo.gl/nGTg8i6QwNLEKMgS7

[freebrickproductions]

Given that the cracks are full of dirt, it doesn't look like any trains have actually gone over most of those in a long, long time.

As I had mentioned, only one of those tracks is actually the mainline.  The rest are siding spurs, so of course their use is infrequent.

Anything stored to the east of 37th Street has to have crossed 37th Street in order to get there.  And, if you scroll through the timeline in GSV, then it's obvious they do use it for storage.

Going from most recent to oldest, only one of these shows an empty yard there:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/hJqPJoMzHxaP9YYm9
https://maps.app.goo.gl/F752bu6MfhDBsNqz8
https://maps.app.goo.gl/AyNMi63zVSg5nHdp7
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ey7Cx7nsBnKvKLCP9
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cjupFuigE3qToL7L8
https://maps.app.goo.gl/nGTg8i6QwNLEKMgS7

It appears that BNSF is also currently using the yard as a deadline to store retired locomotives, and I doubt too many of those would be getting pulled back out and reactivated anytime soon, especially given the very cheap way BNSF renumbered a few of those Dash-8s (just changing the numberboards and striking-out the old number on the sides of the cabs).

[kphoger]

It appears that BNSF is also currently using the yard as a deadline to store retired locomotives, and I doubt too many of those would be getting pulled back out and reactivated anytime soon, especially given the very cheap way BNSF renumbered a few of those Dash-8s (just changing the numberboards and striking-out the old number on the sides of the cabs).

I'm seeing plenty of locomotives having been moved out of there between the 2022, 2023, and 2024 GSV shots.

SEP 2022
JUN 2023
APR 2024

[pderocco]

Given that the cracks are full of dirt, it doesn't look like any trains have actually gone over most of those in a long, long time.

As I had mentioned, only one of those tracks is actually the mainline.  The rest are siding spurs, so of course their use is infrequent.

Anything stored to the east of 37th Street has to have crossed 37th Street in order to get there.  And, if you scroll through the timeline in GSV, then it's obvious they do use it for storage.

Going from most recent to oldest, only one of these shows an empty yard there:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/hJqPJoMzHxaP9YYm9
https://maps.app.goo.gl/F752bu6MfhDBsNqz8
https://maps.app.goo.gl/AyNMi63zVSg5nHdp7
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ey7Cx7nsBnKvKLCP9
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cjupFuigE3qToL7L8
https://maps.app.goo.gl/nGTg8i6QwNLEKMgS7

I guess rolling a rail car across a road may squeeze the sand out of the cracks, but they fill back up faster than I thought.

[RobbieL2415]

This is the highest number of tracks I've seen for a grade crossing in New England, and in every railfanning video I've seen of it in operation, drivers end up partially blocking the tracks.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/wPvLTzvao5Zvr1zP7

[mgk920]

This is the highest number of tracks I've seen for a grade crossing in New England, and in every railfanning video I've seen of it in operation, drivers end up partially blocking the tracks.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/wPvLTzvao5Zvr1zP7

And you cannot bridge the street over the rails there due to the airport runway threshold that it is under.

Mike

Mike

[US 89]

I think the most extreme crossing in Utah is this 7-track crossing in Salt Lake City, consisting of 2 FrontRunner commuter rail tracks and 5 Union Pacific freight tracks.

[SEWIGuy]

This is from the Beltline in Madison. When I was growing up, the trail on the bridge was an active, at-grade crossing.

Every morning, the school bus I was riding on pulled off to the side and stopped with cars zipping past at highway speeds. The bus even opened its door! Then it had to renter traffic. Obviously all for safety sake! 

[mgk920]

This is from the Beltline in Madison. When I was growing up, the trail on the bridge was an active, at-grade crossing.

Every morning, the school bus I was riding on pulled off to the side and stopped with cars zipping past at highway speeds. The bus even opened its door! Then it had to renter traffic. Obviously all for safety sake! 

There are still three active railroad crossings on freeways/expressways here in Wisconsin (One on US 141 just south of WI 64 and the other two on US 151, one in Beaver Dam and the other just south of Waupun).  A few decades ago there were many more, including five(!) on US 41 between Milwaukee and Appleton, one being on a six-lane freeway segment in the northwest suburbs.  A sign before every one says/said "USE RIGHT LANE IF REQUIRED TO STOP AT RAILROAD" and pull off lanes are/were provided.  There once were two active railroad crossings on the Madison Beltline.

Mike

[US 89]

Reminds me of this former crossing on Paseo del Norte in Albuquerque, where a rail line crossed the freeway at grade. It was closed off sometime around 2014, but the tracks are still there.

[michiganguy123]

This one in Ohio seems pretty bizarre

Main road has red and yellow lights for the crossing, while the side road has a stop sign for main road and has to yield to the tracks. Additionally, there's no stop arms for the tracks

[RobbieL2415]

This one in Ohio seems pretty bizarre

Main road has red and yellow lights for the crossing, while the side road has a stop sign for main road and has to yield to the tracks. Additionally, there's no stop arms for the tracks

The level of grade crossing control is dependent on track class. I would bed that's probably Class 1 or 2 trackage, no more than 25mph.