Sad case of backwards priorities. I suspect the guy shooting the video had time to drag the signal off to the side. If that is true and I found out he worked for me I would fire his ass in an instant. Had an accident occurred he might be facing jail time. Helping someone is a whole lot more rewarding than posting a video or at least it should be.
Watching the video, I saw at least one of the lights is still flashing. How do you know you will not get shocked if you try and move that signal? How much does that signal weight? You could injure yourself trying to move that signal. The best course of action is to call the 800 number on the signal and let someone from the railroad who is trained in handling those signals take care of the situation. Believe me, that signal is no match for a 200 ton locomotive. If there was an accident, the guy shooting the video would not be responsible, it would be the truck driver who knocked the signal down. From the radio chatter, I'm guessing MOW people were already on the scene and taking care of protecting that crossing.
Attempting to "save" that signal would have incurred more risk of injury to life and limb. And as Rich pointed out, from the chatter on the radio, it seemed that the RR folks were "all over it" and had things under control.
What I found most interesting were the flat car loads that followed the engines ... how long before somebody models them? ;)
If the video guy had moved the signal, he would have been in trouble with the railroad union . . .
Not likely. It's not as if he could be time-slipped by the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalman (I'm a member).
Rich S. is right. You'd tear muscles trying to move the mast all alone without mechanical assistance. The gate mechanism alone weighs about couple hundred pounds, and that's without the counterbalance weights attached to the gate arm. The mast weighs a few hundreds pounds as well. The light sets are approaching 100 pounds or so.
As for suffering electrical shock, depends on if the gate mechanism's internal heater circuit has current comng from the bungalow and if those wires are in contact with parts of the gate mech that they shouldn't be. That's a straight 110 volts. Otherwise, it's a nominal 14VDC for the rest of the light and gate control circuits.
Had an accident occurred he might be facing jail time.
I seriously doubt that, Jackh. Whoever knocked the mast down might be financially liable. That's who the railroad attorneys would go after.
I'm hoping the owner of the video got the money from MRH, and not some other random person who decided to submit the video to MRH. If that is the case I could have submitted the video when I saw it months ago!
Comments
Video
Sad case of backwards priorities. I suspect the guy shooting the video had time to drag the signal off to the side. If that is true and I found out he worked for me I would fire his ass in an instant. Had an accident occurred he might be facing jail time. Helping someone is a whole lot more rewarding than posting a video or at least it should be.
Jack
Don't be too quick to judge...
Watching the video, I saw at least one of the lights is still flashing. How do you know you will not get shocked if you try and move that signal? How much does that signal weight? You could injure yourself trying to move that signal. The best course of action is to call the 800 number on the signal and let someone from the railroad who is trained in handling those signals take care of the situation. Believe me, that signal is no match for a 200 ton locomotive. If there was an accident, the guy shooting the video would not be responsible, it would be the truck driver who knocked the signal down. From the radio chatter, I'm guessing MOW people were already on the scene and taking care of protecting that crossing.
Cheers,
Rich S.
Agree ...
Attempting to "save" that signal would have incurred more risk of injury to life and limb. And as Rich pointed out, from the chatter on the radio, it seemed that the RR folks were "all over it" and had things under control.
What I found most interesting were the flat car loads that followed the engines ... how long before somebody models them? ;)
Union Work
If the video guy had moved the signal, he would have been in trouble with the railroad union(s).
On my first day at a new construction site, I got written up for emptying my trash can because that was laborers work. No kidding.
Jim Dixon MRM 1040
A great pleasure in life is doing what others said you were not capable of doing!
Union work?
Not likely. It's not as if he could be time-slipped by the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalman (I'm a member).
Rich S. is right. You'd tear muscles trying to move the mast all alone without mechanical assistance. The gate mechanism alone weighs about couple hundred pounds, and that's without the counterbalance weights attached to the gate arm. The mast weighs a few hundreds pounds as well. The light sets are approaching 100 pounds or so.
As for suffering electrical shock, depends on if the gate mechanism's internal heater circuit has current comng from the bungalow and if those wires are in contact with parts of the gate mech that they shouldn't be. That's a straight 110 volts. Otherwise, it's a nominal 14VDC for the rest of the light and gate control circuits.
I seriously doubt that, Jackh. Whoever knocked the mast down might be financially liable. That's who the railroad attorneys would go after.
Well....
Ok so much for the law of irrational assumption on my part. I stand corrected and enlightened.
Jack
Video owner get the money?
I'm hoping the owner of the video got the money from MRH, and not some other random person who decided to submit the video to MRH. If that is the case I could have submitted the video when I saw it months ago!
Since you never know.......
Since you never know that a train is approaching that crossing,all the "bystander" can do is,
call 911 and get the local PD/Sheriff involved,and if you can safely read the ID plate,
call the RR's toll free number and report the problem and give the crossing ID # to them.
Whom ever hit that crossing signal,before the train destroyed it will get the replacement/
repair bill from the RR.