Use Caution in Mississippi

I may be mistaken but I seem to remember there is a sign warning on that crossing.

More of the bigger rail companies are doing more for safety needs than was done in the past. It is good publicity for them to do so. Most of the improvements are more to upgrade their equipment and trackage for the railroads benefit rather that the public. But improvements that enhance safety are important, maily to keep equipment rolling and on time. Collisions with anything are very costly, and can impact traffic for many. People in this country just do not understand that tracks are for trains.

Johno02 wrote:
Railroads are responsible for their train tracks, and mot for any roads crossing them. If you want to build a crossing, go right ahead, but the grade yo to it and off the other side is your problem. And when the railroad adds bassast and raised the tracks, they have no responsibility to raise your road to match. Their track, your road. Guess who loses?

While this may be true for some railroads, it is not true for all railroads. Here in Colorado, and specifically Fort Collins CO, there has been a continual improvement project, since the city has many railroad crossings. One in particular, on the south end of the city, had a notorious "dip" in the road approach to the track from one direction. This was improved and smoothed out by the railroad, in this case, Burlington Northern. They closed the road for several days and improved the approaches to the crossing, approximately 10 feet on either side of the actual tracks. They, and other railroads (Union Pacific and Great Western) have also done improvements to crossings with similar issues. In all cases, it's been approximately 10 feet on either side of the actual rails. In these cases the railroads were fully responsible for the improvements to the crossings.

The railroads were here before the city was. There's been an on-going dialogue about what to do about the railroads here for as long as I can remember. However, for whatever reason, there seems to be a cooperation between the city(ies) and railroads in this region.

There are tracks here in Long Beach MS in this same area that are the same way. They do have signs that state "no trucks" on the roads with these crossings. There are only a couple we can cross with our motorhome.

If you get hit by a train, it is driver error, not train problem. They own the track, and if you get on it, its at your risk.

Railroads are responsible for their train tracks, and mot for any roads crossing them. If you want to build a crossing, go right ahead, but the grade yo to it and off the other side is your problem. And when the railroad adds bassast and raised the tracks, they have no responsibility to raise your road to match. Their track, your road. Guess who loses?

johnhicks wrote:
Yes take Lakeshore Rd., NOT Clearmont Rd.

A little over a year ago I watched a brand new FW leave Buccaneer. A little while later I heard a crash. He followed his GPS and got hung up at the Clearmont crossing. He punched it hard and broke the TV loose just before the train hit. Nothing left of the FW but a pile of kindling.

No problem at all if you use Lakeshore.

The railroad in that part of Mississippi was re-built after Katrina, to better withstand storm surge. That's why it's higher than the road surfaces.

My understanding is that people were getting off the bus as fast as they could but not everyone could get off before the train hit. (One reason I sit close to an exit door on planes & buses, whenever possible.)

The bus driver should have known better than to attempt crossing at that point, after he saw the steep slope. He was probably blindly following a GPS.

This is a tragic situation. And it is NOT limited to or unique to Mississippi. There are thousands of crossings around the country that are similar. These are infrastructure projects that should get a highest priority to resolve these issues.

Tragic. Can you imagine, though, telling 50 old people to quickly get off the bus? I've notieably aged waiting in line behind women just closing their purses.