SP had some places that had a weld strip on the ball of the rail. It was done at places that hardly ever saw a car and the xing was busy. There was also places where they just put in a key switch to start xing equipment and if you didn't get on the island circuit quick enough it would time out.

When we wanted to cross State St.in Santa Barbara to go to dinner and the traffic was busy, someone would put their key in, turn it and the gates would start and come down. Then 3 or 4 guys would cross the street where everyone thought a train was coming and the gates would go back up after a minute or so. No trains anywhere near the area. I know of 4 or 5 other places crews used this to cross a busy highway to go and eat or have a hit & a miss.


Nudge