SALT LAKE CITY — Two Utah cities are considering employing 24-hour-a-day flaggers at grade crossings to restore a quiet zone on a stretch of Union Pacific track also used by Utah Transit Authority commuter trains.
Two quiet zones, stretching from Ogden to Provo and in place for up to 16 years, were suspended last Sept. 30 by the Federal Railroad Administration, which found deficiencies at some crossings. The portion from Provo to Salt Lake City has been restored following an FRA inspection last week, but the northern portion remains suspended, to the dismay of those living near the tracks.
KMYU-TV reports that one crossing in Salt Lake City and one in North Salt Lake will require crossing gates to correct the issues, but those repairs could take 18 months or longer. As interim solutions, the FRA has suggested closing the roads or hiring flaggers. Salt Lake City and North Salt Lake are currently assessing the latter option, which could cost up to $300,000 annually. They have also asked the FRA to issue a waiver that would require trains to sound their horns only at those two crossings, rather than throughout the entire quiet zone; that request is pending.
“luap reko”, or is it Paul Oker; mind your manners, you are being disrespectful.
“… regarding 10s of thousands of families that bought homes on a quiet zone that can no longer sleep. just die…”
No need to be rude and abrasive. This matter could be resolved possibly with interim construction period low level horns, a slow train speed restriction, and maybe more (strobe) X-ing lights. Grade X-ing elimination with over/underpass construction could be another possibility, with lots of highway and UPRR $$$. I’d be more concerned about the “10s of thousands of families” burned out of their homes in LA, possibly due to arson.
I’m trying to figure out how they got a quiet zone without the right warning equipment.
The article says “…one crossing in Salt Lake City and one in North Salt Lake will require crossing gates to correct the issues, but those repairs could take 18 months or longer.”
Is it additional/new equipment or is it a repair of existing equipment??
I’m going to guess and suggest that it’s an existing grade X-ing with just flashing X-bucks and a bell, and no gates.
From my past brief experience, these gateless grade X-ings are particularly dangerous because if there is an extended electrical power failure with expired dead storage batteries, especially in less populated areas, the flashing light and bell won’t work, thereby giving drivers and pedestrians the false illusion of a working grade X-ing protection.
Whereas if the grade crossing protection includes gates with the flashing lights and bell, a trip release solenoid will automatically drop the gates in the event of a power failure with expired dead backup batteries, thereby protecting the grade X-ing to at least some extent.
I might add that if there is a rural, unprotected grade X-ing with just X-bucks, or a simple sign, the RR co. might be better off just adding a highway compliant “STOP” sign to the rural crossing encouraging the motor vehicle driver to stop and look both ways before proceeding, (stop, look, and listen on older X-bucks), as opposed to installing a potentially dangerous only flashing light and bell, instead of funding an expensive gate X-ing protection in a lightly traveled rural farm area, thereby avoiding a false protection, as I described above. On a rural branch line, a stop sign or slow speed restriction for the train could be yet another or additional option.
There is “NO cure ALL” for grade crossing accidents. However, does anyone know of the following: In Branson, MO. there is a crossing that when trains approach besides flashing lights, there is an audio “horn” sounding AT THE Crossing. I suppose it is a quiet city. Trains approaching however are not a surprise. At the crossing there is an audible warning w/o loco using air horn. endmrw0111251538
Wayside horns like that one are becoming increasingly common to cut down on noise; the horns can be pointed in the direction of car traffic as opposed to everywhere in front of the train. Sound Transit uses them on almost every crossing between Tacoma and DuPont, though there’s a couple of crossings without them.
Told to me by an OLD retired lawyer. One class he had was about questioning witnesses. A car crashed into a train. Car owner sued the RR. After the RR shanty flagman got off the stand he breathed a sigh of relief. He was asked, why relieved? He said no one asked me if I had lit my lantern. Of course he had not. endmrw0111251411
“..on a stretch of Union Pacific track also used by Utah Transit Authority commuter trains.”
It’s not clear to me if those UPRR operations are high speed through-freights or just local branch line freight distribution.
If it involves mixing high speed freight trains with stop-n-go commuter trains, then I can see the need for flaggers during an interim period, until such time as motion sensing predictor gates can be installed to accommodate the combination of high speed freight with stop-n-go commuter conditions.
Positioning the passenger station platforms close to the grade crossings, with the commuter train blocking the grade crossing when (un)loading commuters (sort of like a stopped school bus), could help prevent accidents with impatient motorists who might see a distant stopped commuter train (un)loading as not being a safety threat and be tempted to drive through the grade crossing protection erroneously.
Growing up in the 50s-60s in Bergen County, NJ, I recall numerous grade crossing guards on the NJ-NY RR commuter line, from Hackensack to Pearl River, NY. Some of them were flagged while others manually operated crossing gates.
And all the X-ing guards had to work a split 8 hour shift to sync with morning and late afternoon commuter trains and some local freight. Electric crossing gates eventually eliminated all of them.
In my brief 2 year tenure in the E-L Rwy PD 1968-70, I recall the E-L – Penn Central interchange on State St., Jersey City, next to the American Can Co., where the gates were operated manually over 24 hours; 3, 8 hour shifts for interchange traffic. It was important to timely check the seals on the box cars upon arrival so we could properly place any theft blame on PC. I would spend some time waiting in the crossing gate tower for the interchange freight, while bull-shitting with the X-ing guard, and keeping warm in the winter over the coal fed pot belly caboose tower stove that E-L used so abundantly at that time. 🙂
I should add the my brief one year tenure in 1982, with Deleware-Otsego’s NYSW signal dept taught me a lot about grade X-ing protection logistics.
They are mainline freights but are entering the yard limits and are therefore traveling at a lower speed limit…
After more than 150 years of the use of whistles and horns on trains, they have recently become an issue.
Engineers nowadays have become tone deaf in sounding the horn or whistle of their trains. Apparently, they are no longer taught the melodious etiquette of communicating with horns or whistles like their predecessors. Especially, the most popular sound when approaching crossings, curves, and stations: — — – —
It’s not just a matter of adding 2 gates. The whole crossing equipment has to be redesigned and the new design has to be approved by the FRA before the work can be scheduled and the new parts and equipment can be ordered. You also have to factor in lead time for the new equipment to be built.
As far as flaggers, if they work them 12 hour shifts with 2 per crossing you are looking at minimum 16 people. that doesn’t include a supervisor who could cover for sicknesses. that would be at least another 2 people. So now you have 18 people on the payroll. $300,000 is cheap for that.
this was in reply to Jay Burns
And why is the new installation of crossing gates referred to as “repairs”? Assume that quiet crossings normally require four gates, not just two. Or is two OK if there are road center barriers?
My understanding is that center barriers are OK in most circumstances. As these are currently crossings without barriers, that would imply that the crossings are not particularly high-traffic. So a 4-gate solution would be overkill.
(And I apologize to Mr. LANDEY for mis-typing his name in my previous post below…)
$300K for 24-hr flaggers at two crossings? Sounds like a lot; sees to me that crossing gates at those locations would be cheaper.
And what’s with taking 18 months to install 2 sets of gates?!? I’m not from there, but someone’s gonna have to explain that one. Mr. Landry?
Oh, my name came up? I actually happen to like train horns. It’s the rail fan in me.
I don’t believe that human flaggers are a good idea.