" "GiveMe Liberty" is apparently one of those folks who doesn't do their homework. I didn't see the term "Track Circuit" anywhere in his comments, so I have to assume he doesn't know what a Track Circuit is OR how it operates / malfunctions. The train detection device used throughout America by all RR's is called the Track Circuit and it dates back to 1872. It was invented by Dr. William Robinson. It is OBSOLETE and DANGEROUS, PLUS it is NOT "fail-safe." The biggest enemy of the Track Circuit is rust (iron oxide), which can, and does, often prevent wheel-rail electrical contact. The Track Circuit can only detect a train if both wheels contact both rails! Rust on one rail can prevent that rail from electrically contacting that wheel. So, the train is on the circuit, but is NOT DETECTED. The other malfunction seen every day is "false activation." There are a number of factors that can cause it. 1. stuck relay, 2. "tail ring", 3. water mixed with salt---shorts out the track just as a train does. Northern states that use salt to melt ice and snow see "false activation" at crossings quite often. Southern states close to salt water also have problems. Just ask the people in Rochester, NY, where lots of road salt on crossings causes havoc. The railroads NEVER mention the term "track circuit" because they don't want the average person knowing what it is or how it does, or doesn't, work. The FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) continues to allow all U.S. railroads to use the Track Circuit even though there is plenty of evidence that it is NOT "fail-safe" as the manufacturers claim and that it is prone to "false activation", as you have seen many times in your town. So, the public should be demanding that the government stop coddling the railroad industry and force them to start installing high-tech. train detection, such as loop detectors or magnetometers. But, the public doesn't know!!! I investigated a double-fatal crossing crash in Michigan in 2004 and there were many witnesses who stated to the police that no warning devices were working at the instant of impact. That's "failure to detect." That crash killed a mother and her 15 year-old daughter. The RR claimed the warning devices were working, but ran a Rail Grinder up the track the day after the crash to clean off the rust that had prevented the train detection. Ever the honest people they are (???), the RR failed to inform the police or the FRA that they had cleaned the track of the rust! So, the more you know, the more you will be VERY AFRAID when approaching a RR crossing with flashing light assemblies or lights / gates. They MAY not be working! As for "false activation", the RR's should be fined every time it happens, but, of course, they are not! My suggestion: Call your person(s) in Congress and complain! "

" Random,

I am going to have to go ahead and assume that the gates are designed to "fail safe". That is, when they sense a malfunction. they go down, blocking traffic in case a train is coming.

In fact, that's the only type of malfunction we have seen here.

I'd be willing to bet that the default position of the gates is down, and that the train sensors keep the gate up as long as they feel no trains, instead of putting the gates down when they do feel a train. "

" So, if it's not uncommon for the gates on North Street, State Street and York Street to malfunction every three to four months - then it would have been no big deal if the gates decided not to come down as a train approached and say,... hit a car or pedestrian.??

And that's just par for what they do - malfunction. Suck it up? Deal with it? S_ _ t happens?

What a simplistic and placating response from the police department.

"