USA Pics
- Thread starter Dermmy
- Start date
coreycoen12345
Member
WCL you amaze me with your shots
Nope.....Means its not being used as much as it used to be and a train comes now and then, as stated here below:
It designates an industrial track that's infrequently used and/or is used at very low speed, often with a "pushing cars ahead of the engine" movement. As such it may also be flagged by the crew.
The "Exempt" sign is for benefit of vehicles with hazardous materials (most especially schoolchildren). Without the "Exempt" sign, you may notice there's quite a ritual: stop short of the crossing, open windows and listen. Passenger buses will throw their front door open, all the better to see and hear. They do this even if there are crossing gates and flashers.
This whole ritual is based on two very wrong notions: First, that crossing gates/flashers are unreliable.
And second, that a train moving at very slow speed is harmless, as if slow speed will prevent accidents by making it easier to stop. Untrue, since the reason for the slow speed is often that it's *harder* to stop -- say, when they're shoving a string of cars into a siding. I studied some Federal accident statistics, and I noticed that about half of all fatal accidents happen BELOW train speed of 5 mph, often on this kind of "exempt" track.
A 5 MPH train is only moving 8 feet per second, but the mass is huge, so it has more impact force than a Hummer moving at 80 mph. Can it stop? Sure, with enough time, and time is distance, 8 feet per second at 5 mph, about the speed of racewalking. You figure pushing a car, the brakeman riding the front needs time to figure out what's happening (is that guy really not gonna stop?) and then time to get on the radio, time for the engineer to react, time for the brakes to grab. You can eat up a bunch of "8 feet's" in those few seconds.
PS....We have them all over here in Wisconsin and trains are on them daily
coreycoen12345
Member
WCL is right my step dad drives a School bus he has to stop at every crossing and open his doors put the bus in neutral and pull the parking brake look then shut every thing and go. In his rule book it confirms the same for Exempt Crossings.
That seems like a bad exemption to me then, if there's ANY possibility that a train may be using the tracks, I believe a school bus should have to go through the whole ritual.
I live not too far from a site of a terrible train/school bus accident, and still get a lump in my throat when I pass the memorial to those children who died in terror on that day.
I live not too far from a site of a terrible train/school bus accident, and still get a lump in my throat when I pass the memorial to those children who died in terror on that day.
coreycoen12345
Member
Drivers still have to look but they don't have to stop I meant to clarify that sorry!
AndrewLummis_99
Member
coreycoen12345
Member
Anyone know of some good freeware cars I can use for my new route?
coreycoen12345
Member
oh no I meant like some "cars" like the chevy, ford... etc kind sorry!
