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I am writing an article in my school newspaper about dangerous crossings, and I need a few pictures to go along with it. Does anyone know of any crossings in Northern Ohio that don't have gates? It would be nice if the train traffic was at least somewhat busy, but if not, I can deal with it. Thanks.

http://gradecrossings.puco.ohio.gov/ Is a tool that will give an inventory of crossings by county, and photos of them. Not sure how often it's updated though. (it does show the crossing that was next to my home as being closed, and judging by the pictures they were taken shortly after it was done). When you mean "without gates" are you limiting it to crossbucks only, or those with flashers? Keep in mind the level of crossing protection alone does not determine how "dangerous" a crossing is. For example the crossing that was closed next to my home had severe visibility issues, both from the rail and highway views. It was decided (along with 2 others in town) to close those 3 in exchange for improving the remaining crossings that did not have gates.

If you want to present an unique perpective on dangerouse crossings present in your report that most car/train accidents are NOT the fault of the railroad but the fault of the drivers. This will blow the average person away because most news stories that I hear/read make it sound like the trains are at fault.

McCord road in sylvania Ohio is considered very dangerous even with lights and gates. It is right next to a high school, I have heard of many kids being hit trying to beat the trains there. They are building an underpass there in a few years

MSchwiebert wrote: When you mean "without gates" are you limiting it to crossbucks only, or those with flashers? Keep in mind the level of crossing protection alone does not determine how "dangerous" a crossing is.

Considering that i can use only one picture, I am limiting it to crossbucks only. I understand that there are a lot of "dangerous crossings" due to visibility issues, but the senior editor specifically said that she wanted "a picture of a crossing with no lights, or gates." she also said she wanted a train in the picture. She gets so demanding sometimes.

And thanks for the web address btw.

AARR wrote:If you want to present an unique perpective on dangerouse crossings present in your report that most car/train accidents are NOT the fault of the railroad but the fault of the drivers. This will blow the average person away because most news stories that I hear/read make it sound like the trains are at fault.

Agreed. Write a crossing safety article instead of a "railroad crosssings are dangerous" article.

trainfan12 wrote:

MSchwiebert wrote: When you mean "without gates" are you limiting it to crossbucks only, or those with flashers? Keep in mind the level of crossing protection alone does not determine how "dangerous" a crossing is.

Considering that i can use only one picture, I am limiting it to crossbucks only. I understand that there are a lot of "dangerous crossings" due to visibility issues, but the senior editor specifically said that she wanted "a picture of a crossing with no lights, or gates." she also said she wanted a train in the picture. She gets so demanding sometimes.

Those crossings are becoming harder and harder to find, there is one in tontogany that is concealed by trees and has no gates or lights.

The crossbuck that's used at the top of every page on this site is one that's on the south side of Deshler...good enough amount of traffic. (of course it was photoshopped a bit)

You should be able to find some busier mainline with private farmers crossings on them which should have crossbucks to take a photo of, although it may also state "private crosssing" on it.

MQT3001 wrote:

AARR wrote:If you want to present an unique perpective on dangerouse crossings present in your report that most car/train accidents are NOT the fault of the railroad but the fault of the drivers. This will blow the average person away because most news stories that I hear/read make it sound like the trains are at fault.

Agreed. Write a crossing safety article instead of a "railroad crosssings are dangerous" article.

That was actually what i was going for. Not sure why I said it is a Dangerous Crossing article. I am going to ask local police about the importance of being safe at a crossing. I'm probably going include how many wrecks there were in previous years that happened on railroad crossings. I personally am with you guys 100% in the argument that most of these wrecks are due to idiot drivers.

~Z~ wrote:The crossbuck that's used at the top of every page on this site is one that's on the south side of Deshler...good enough amount of traffic. (of course it was photoshopped a bit)

You should be able to find some busier mainline with private farmers crossings on them which should have crossbucks to take a photo of, although it may also state "private crosssing" on it.

Thank you very much. I will check it out.

Contact the railroad police for the area you're in. All the Class 1's and amtrak, and some regional or shortline RR's, have their own police agencies. And, duh, as I type this I just remembered an obvious source with alot of great info, Operation Lifesaver. Their website is http://oli.org/ Definitely check that one out!

AARR wrote:If you want to present an unique perpective on dangerouse crossings present in your report that most car/train accidents are NOT the fault of the railroad but the fault of the drivers. This will blow the average person away because most news stories that I hear/read make it sound like the trains are at fault.

" And I was driving, minding my own business, and then this train came out of nowhere and hit me. I mean, can you believe that?! They really need to put gates up here, because I was far too busy changing my Pandora station, sipping my coke, and adjusting my route on the GPS to look both ways. That's what gates and lights are for...to warn me that a train is approaching. How are we supposed to know when trains are going to come through?"...or so it goes...

So, the article ended up taking a step in a different direction. Instead of it being a news story where I tell everyone the facts, it turned into an editorial, which is basically me ranting about how impatient people can be with a few facts sprinkled in here and there. Thanks everyone for the info though. I was able to get several shots north of Bellevue with a coal train blocking the crossings. I will post the pic my editor chose once I get home.

Here's the photo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77082493@N ... hotostream

trainfan12 wrote:Here's the photo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77082493@N ... hotostream

Is that at Bragg Rd?

Yeah.

Here's the power.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 877&nseq=0

trainfan12 wrote:I am writing an article in my school newspaper about dangerous crossings, and I need a few pictures to go along with it. Does anyone know of any crossings in Northern Ohio that don't have gates? It would be nice if the train traffic was at least somewhat busy, but if not, I can deal with it. Thanks.

There are no "Dangerous" crossings.....only ill-informed, unaware, unsafe, law-breaking drivers. As an Engineer, I see plenty of those who are foolish when it comes to obeying the law (as well as common sense) as a train is approaching a highway-rail crossing. As the old saying goes...."you can race a train and win, but if it's a tie, you lose (everytime)"

But most travelers obey the law, paying due attention to the warnings signs, whether they are crossbucks, lights only, or lights & gates. And some stay back as much as 100 ft from the crossing as we approach, further reducing any chance of being involved in an incident. Were all to follow their example, there would be fewer tragic incidents to comment on or learn from.

-barny

barnstormer wrote:

trainfan12 wrote:I am writing an article in my school newspaper about dangerous crossings, and I need a few pictures to go along with it. Does anyone know of any crossings in Northern Ohio that don't have gates? It would be nice if the train traffic was at least somewhat busy, but if not, I can deal with it. Thanks.

There are no "Dangerous" crossings.....only ill-informed, unaware, unsafe, law-breaking drivers. As an Engineer, I see plenty of those who are foolish when it comes to obeying the law (as well as common sense) as a train is approaching a highway-rail crossing. As the old saying goes...."you can race a train and win, but if it's a tie, you lose (everytime)"

But most travelers obey the law, paying due attention to the warnings signs, whether they are crossbucks, lights only, or lights & gates. And some stay back as much as 100 ft from the crossing as we approach, further reducing any chance of being involved in an incident. Were all to follow their example, there would be fewer tragic incidents to comment on or learn from.

-barny

Did you even read my last post? i realize this....