Nytimer Wrote:
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> Possibly. There was an accident on the main road
> and traffic was detouring across tracks onto a
> side road. Traffic could have been crawling
> through the crossing and the driver made a big
> mistake entering the crossing without being able
> to get out and obviously got caught.

You've got that right....

> But who hasn't crossed an intersection in traffic
> only to get caught in the middle on a red light?

....but not this. You're talking apples and oranges here. You've equated an intersecting street with an intersecting railroad track and I surely hope that was not your intention. But if it was, your condoning the act of entering a railroad crossing without knowing that you will be able to clear it on the other side without stopping is not only a clear indication of a lack of common sense but a repudiation of your State Motor Vehicle Drivers Manual.

In four decades of running a locomotive for pay and many additional years as a volunteer I've observed hundreds of drivers doing exactly that and, sadly, some of them paid dearly and some of them paid the ultimate price for their stupid act as the train I was running hit them.

One example that nearly became a disaster which will forever be in my mind occurred on the afternoon of March 16, 1999. Only about 17 hours had elapsed since the driver of a truck pulling a flatbed load of steel had pulled across the track in front of Amtrak's southbound City of New Orleans in Bourbonnais, Illinois resulting in death to 11 people and injuries to another 122 people. From the nightly news immediately following the collision to the instant time nearly all of the news media were focused on the horrific accident. I was at the throttle of Amtrak's Coast Starlight northbound from Klamath Falls, Oregon and was nearly home when, entering the metro Portland area, I came around a right-hand curve at 60 MPH to find in my view a crew-cab fire truck stopped with the cab directly over the center of the track. They were waiting for the traffic signal at the adjacent road intersection. Well aware of what had occurred in Illinois the previous evening you can imagine my thoughts!

It quickly became apparent that they were not going to move (vehicles were stopped ahead of and behind them) so the big hole was employed. As vehicles behind them eventually made room, one of the firemen jumped out of the driver's side of the crew-cab and took the time to run around to the other side of the cab (which was facing me) to lift up the crossing gate (which was laying across the top of the truck body) so that they wouldn't scratch the paint on the fire truck as they backed up. Unbelievable!!! Several firemen were about to get blown to smithereens (not to mention that their action could likely cause a passenger train derailment with potential injuries and deaths to those aboard) and they were worried about the paint on the truck! The emergency brake application was able to slow my train from 60 MPH to 45 MPH as we entered the crossing and we came to stop about eight or so cars beyond it. It was less than two seconds from the time they cleared us that we entered the crossing.

Nytimer, perhaps this illustrates why it's not a good idea to equate road/road intersections and road/rail intersections as you appeared to do.