Problem with the last argument in your statement above concerning Mike Arnold is that thru the mid 80's, NWP ran two trains a day into San Rafael with lumber, rock, sand and gravel with over 20 cars (loads and empties) traversing the very same crossings.....Having lived in Marin County for over 20 years, I can tell you traffic isn't ANY worse in the downtown area and NO one complained about it back than. Trains went across Fourth St. at 10 mph and probably took 45 sec. to a minute to clear the crossing and longer for the gates to go up and down whereas three DMU's could pass with 15 sec. Its a weak excuse at best!