These Warning Devices Will Save Your Life!

1.4K followers

7 years ago

A few weeks someone asked me on my profile page what kind of job I had that allowed me to work a schedule of 8 days on and 6 days off. I thought I'd share this information on my blog today because of the frequent avoidable tragedies that are unfortunately a part of my primary job.

For the past 20 years I have built and tested railroad signal systems and crossing warning devices all over the West Coast of the United States. This job involves extensive travel away from my home, and I have actually spent more time living in hotels than I have living in my own house.

My normal work days are 10 hours long, that's when things are going as planned. When circumstances dictate, our day will be 12 hours or longer. One reason that our work day might be extended is because someone tried to go around the warning gates and ends up getting hit by the train and destroying the gates in the process.

This is a gate we had to move because of a road widening project in East Los Angeles this month. As a Signalman, I know that we will have to replace this gate if it is destroyed in an accident, but we can't replace the limbs or the lives that are lost when someone actually thinks they are "train proof". Yes, some people have survived a vehicle collision with a train, but it's very rare, so please remember that you should NEVER be in such a rush that you think you have to go around a warning gate. These devices are designed with "fail-safe" circuitry, that means if there is a malfunction anywhere from the track wires to the grade crossing predictor in the control cabin, the gates will drop even if there is no train immediately approaching. In this case, you still have to be patient and not be in a hurry to go around the gate. Wait until you are given permission by a qualified rail employee or by a law enforcement officer.

Even with 6 days off it's been challenging trying to submit interesting and relevant posts here at WA. My days off are usually spent doing the things I can't do when I am away, such as devote more time to my WA website.

REMEMBER-DON'T GO AROUND THE WARNING GATES.

Thanks for reading, TomasB.