This was another little "adventure" we had on this trip. I swear I've never experienced a RR crossing as rough as this one was.
This was on Hwy-361 south of Pocahontas, AR. The speed limit was 45, and we were approaching a pair of BNSF RR tracks crossing the road. I saw the crossing sign and then a "Rough Crossing" sign, and started slowing. I got down to about 30 mph when we went over the tracks. I'm sorry, but the video just doesn't do justice to what we experienced. It's probably a good thing I keep the mic muted on the dashcam. I'd have to delete the audio track in order to post it here.
I'm sure the suspension compressed all the way to the snubbers, I thought I could hear wood cracking, the boss said she saw something fall off the top of the camper (I think it was a tree branch), the camper was thrown up and forward in the bed so hard that it threw our food out of the pantry, most of the clothes came off the closet rod, and the rear tiedowns were now loose.
We stopped and pulled off the road as best I could, and walked back to the crossing to see if we left any parts behind. There was plenty of junk on the road, but none of it was mine. I was walking in the road looking at everything laying there, and saying "That's not mine.........that's not mine.........that's not mine" as I would kick it off the road. Pieces of broken ratchet straps, metal plates, a half of a shock absorber.
When I opened the camper door, I couldn't believe how much stuff was on the floor! I've NEVER had our cabinet doors forced open like that before. Fortunately, none of the food that hit the floor was liquid, but it was still a mess. We got it cleaned up and resumed our trip.
Watch out for those RR crossings!
Rough Crossing:):)
