[Gansan]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Don't know about other places, but in Kerala, even at manned rail-crossings, it is in your own interest to look both sides before crossing the tracks. Numerous instances of the gate being open, even when a train is to pass by, couple of them experienced by wifey while travelling in private bus. I experience this once last month. I am driving to Kayankulam and just as I am about to cross the track (manned crossing with gate open), the driver of a WagonR coming from opposite side says something to me, which I cannot hear since the windows are up. Anyway, I can sense something is amiss and as I cautiously cross the tracks, I can see a train chugging in slowly at a distance.

How is this possible? If the gate of a manned level-crossing is open, the train will have a red signal and will have to stop before the LC. Then the driver will get down, make an entry in the log at the gate-man's cabin and he will be taken to task.

I have seen this many times in the Chennai suburban section many years ago, when there were a lot of LCs. The gate can't be closed because it will be choc-a-bloc with traffic and the gate man will plead with us, stating the above reason.

[mannubhai]

Originally Posted by Gansan

How is this possible? If the gate of a manned level-crossing is open, the train will have a red signal and will have to stop before the LC. Then the driver will get down, make an entry in the log at the gate-man's cabin and he will be taken to task.

I have seen this many times in the Chennai suburban section many years ago, when there were a lot of LCs. The gate can't be closed because it will be choc-a-bloc with traffic and the gate man will plead with us, stating the above reason.

I agree. ALso when the gate is closing, there is a warning bell. What people do is to squeeze in through before the gate closes. Then you have all possibilities of seeing a train approach you. But otherwise, when gate is open, the train driver gets the red signal.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by mannubhai

I agree. ALso when the gate is closing, there is a warning bell. What people do is to squeeze in through before the gate closes. Then you have all possibilities of seeing a train approach you. But otherwise, when gate is open, the train driver gets the red signal.

Reminds me of an incident that I'd witnessed when I was in school. There's this Meter Gauge railway track running inside Palakkad town (Shakuntala junction - hope you know the place, mannubhai), crossing one of the busiest roads. We'd gone shopping, and were getting out from a shop near this place. The level cross gates were closing down (the gates were like those found in check-posts). A biker on a Samurai or AX100 was trying to make his way through the gate - yes, through the gate, in between the grills. He spent over 2 minutes wriggling himself and the bike. There were people too, who were hell bent on crossing the track at that very moment. As he was in the middle, pushing the bike, the train came chugging along. Luckily for him, a few other impatient yet concerned people lifted his bike and pushed it to the other side. Had they been a fraction of a second late, all those 2-3 men and the biker would have gone under the train. The biker neither saved those few minutes, nor would he have got the elation of having crossed the track before the train came. Instead, he learnt a lesson.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Gansan

How is this possible? If the gate of a manned level-crossing is open, the train will have a red signal and will have to stop before the LC.

No idea if the gate being open/close is tied to the signal for the train, but this has indeed happened - I experienced this myself.

Originally Posted by mannubhai

I agree. ALso when the gate is closing, there is a warning bell.

I would think the warning-bell would be sounded when the gateman kick-starts the process of closing the gates. If he does not initiate the process (say he is absent or sleeping or drunk), what bell ?

[mannubhai]

Originally Posted by silversteed

Reminds me of an incident that I'd witnessed when I was in school. There's this Meter Gauge railway track running inside Palakkad town (Shakuntala junction - hope you know the place, mannubhai), crossing one of the busiest roads. We'd gone shopping, and were getting out from a shop near this place. The level cross gates were closing down (the gates were like those found in check-posts). A biker on a Samurai or AX100 was trying to make his way through the gate - yes, through the gate, in between the grills. He spent over 2 minutes wriggling himself and the bike. There were people too, who were hell bent on crossing the track at that very moment. As he was in the middle, pushing the bike, the train came chugging along. Luckily for him, a few other impatient yet concerned people lifted his bike and pushed it to the other side. Had they been a fraction of a second late, all those 2-3 men and the biker would have gone under the train. The biker neither saved those few minutes, nor would he have got the elation of having crossed the track before the train came. Instead, he learnt a lesson.

Yes , I know the place too well . Have seen so many risking their lives/limbs for that few seconds of time. The only benefit was that the metre gauge train used to start from Palakkad town station, which was just few hundred mts away, and would not have picked speed. I remember a father son duo getting stuck between the closed gates on the track, in their bajaj chetak and panicking, as the scooter went off and had to be tilted to start. Others managed to push them away. Remember the looks on his face, as he froze on the seat, and could not get down.

[Anand123]

This Alto took a small jump and landed on its roof!

[normally_crazy]

In Powai today morning

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

I would think the warning-bell would be sounded when the gateman kick-starts the process of closing the gates. If he does not initiate the process (say he is absent or sleeping or drunk), what bell ?

For the gate to close, the gateman receives a call from the nearest railway station. If the gateman for some reason does not pick up the call, the station master would not clear the train in the first instant. A police party would be sent to the spot to find what went wrong.

Once the gateman receives a call, he has to close the gate within a specified period. Unless and until the gate completely closes (and gets locked), the signal would not turn clear for the train. If the signal is 'ON' i.e., Red, the train would stop. The Assistant Loco Pilot gets off the train and walks into the gateman's hut. He gets a written order to proceed if the gate is kept open due to technical reasons - otherwise, the ALP reports that the gateman in incapacitated and continues.

Therefore, it is highly unlikely to see a train chugging in at a manned level crossing, if the gate is open.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

In Powai today morning

Saw the aftermath. The way the bike was tangled under the dumper, it was obvious that it was fatal. Really unfortunate. May the departed RIP.

Apparently an auto was also involved. Saw a damaged auto on the other side of the road.

[alstonlobo]

Ouch! Do I see blood in the scorpio?



Mangalore: Four Injured in Bus-Car Collision at Mukka

[mav2000]

One accident on the new airport road on the way back from Devanhalli last night. There was a taxi and some sort of tractor involved. It also looked like the tractor was on the wrong side of the road, in the construction area near Jakkur....Looked quite bad, but the main passenger cabin seemed to be in good shape.

If they are working on the road, and that too extensively like it is going on now, I think it makes sense to have proper sings and barriers..we seem to not value the life of our citizens..

BTW, this accident caused a 1-2 km traffic jam and when I reached there I could see the cops hanging around, doing nothing to improve the traffic situation.

[rohanjf]

The railway level crossing discussion reminds me of an incident about 5 - 6 years ago. Three of us were returning to Bangalore after a bike trip. Just as we reached the Kadugodi railway crossing (where the flyover was under construction), the gates started coming down. We stopped, but the local bikers around us kept tilting their bikes and pushing them from under the gates to the other side of the gate.

So we got close to the gate and we stopped next to each other, put our bikes on main stand and sat. Then one biker came from the opposite side and found us, with some truck on our right. So he had no place to push his bike through. He asked me to move my bike. My friend Gurunandan told me that he'll punch me if I did (he is a Salman fan, and has muscles like Salman) and told the biker in a commanding voice: "Who told you to break the rules and come this side? Now wait till the train passes. We will not move our bikes an inch until the gates open".

Luckily that biker did not start an argument, but just stood there like a fool until the gates opened.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Anand123

This Alto took a small jump and landed on its roof!

Straight into a rubber plantation !!!

Originally Posted by binaiks

Therefore, it is highly unlikely to see a train chugging in at a manned level crossing, if the gate is open.

Unlikely yes, given the procedure you described which seems to cover all loop-holes. But not impossible as I experienced. Anyway, I now look both ways before crossing a track even at manned crossings. Better be safe than sorry.

[A350XWB]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Unlikely yes, given the procedure you described which seems to cover all loop-holes. But not impossible as I experienced. Anyway, I now look both ways before crossing a track even at manned crossings. Better be safe than sorry.

supremeBaleno, you are right. Better safe than sorry. Actually, my brother went through a real life horror incident at a manned railway crossing when he was studying at TKMCE, Kollam. He was in an autorickshaw and waiting at a level crossing which had very little traffic and the train track was curved at that point. A train passed and the gate keeper opened the gate. The auto driver proceeded cautiously and as they passed the first track (it had parallel tracks), the gate keeper started shouting and closed the gate again in panic. As luck would have it, the driver stopped the auto in the space between the tracks and an express train sped past them through the track they were facing. Both my brother and the driver were stunned. The gate keeper came running afterwards and apologized. But they were happy to get their life back and went away. This was way back in 1993.

[Anand123]

The power of Yamaha