Those idiots. And no one even cares about the Griswolds, which are rarer, but A SAFETY ISSUE? Just add gates with lights or at least add signals but keep these there and operational! These can stay in the center and the gates could be added, and these still be a part of liuving history!
And I thought the people at my High school were stupid, but this takes the cake.
@Jumpybeaver It's a liability issue. If the wig-wags remain wired up for normal operation, then they have to remain registered as "official" warning devices at the crossing under Federal Railway Administration regulations. This creates a potential liability...
...If the wig-wags failed to operate for any reason when a train were present at the crossing, even though the crossing gates are in place and working perfectly, some moron could potentially sue BNSF Railway if an incident resulted at the crossing, and they would have a legal case against the railway (even though stupidity was the cause) because legally, not all of the official warning devices at the crossing were operating, and so the railroad would be liable under the law.
While you are right about that. They could still do the same if the gate crossings failed too. But then again like you said. Some moron could potentially sue BNSF Railway if an incident resulted at the crossing.
Yes, it's true that they could also sue if the gates failed, but that's just it - the gates are far less likely to fail than the wig-wags. Modern crossing gates have the latest technology and are designed to be fail safe, have backup power, and in the worst case, if the crossing loses all power, the gates are weighted to be pulled down naturally by gravity (electromagnetic charge is what keeps the gates in the 'up' position - 'down' would be the 'default' position otherwise).
It's basically the whole McDonald's 'Hot Coffee' Cup thing (where some guy was awarded damages for spilling hot coffee on himself because McDonald's didn't have a warning label on the cup). We unfortunately live in a world where an idiot can sue a corporation for injury/damages resulting from the person's own stupidity, and be awarded compensation in court. BNSF is just covering all their bases. That's why the city had to put up signs declaring the wig-wags out of operation.
I live near Hanford and Fresno, CA. I can't wait to check the remaining ones here.
PS. I like the ol' gal at 1:00 to 1:11. She seems to be a precious thing from the past. But I bet she was a great protester in the 60's ! Still has the fire in her, just picks her battle a bit more selectively now.
Rosie the Riveter, you say! She must have a lot of great stories.
I dig on the way she says, "save something precious, save something of our past." Gentle, yet with conviction. And how the woman puts the issue in perspective. Her words are like a well crafted song or poem in that a great deal is said in few words.
If you know her, let her know that some younger fella still thinks she is a 'rose'.
I don't know what special occasions would be needed for them. But at least they put up gates, red lights and bells instead of just leaving a crossbuck there.
They're still there, but they are deactivated. Only the gates, red lights and bells they installed in 2004 will come on whenever a train goes through that crossing nowadays.
Well I think that unfortunately, wigwags mounted on the ground like that are much easier to miss than modern gates, red lights and bells are. And the newer bells clang faster than the old wigwag bells did.
Most of these signals have unfortunately been removed and replaced with the standard red flashing lights. Theres still some wig wags that are still working though although how long they last is another question...
Many of the wigwags were removed. A few of them had nothing in their place (closed the railroad line), but others were usually replaced with newer gates, red lights and bells.
Originally major Railroad crossings were manned by a crossing guard who would, when a train approached, light a lantern and walk out into the street waving it back and forth. The Pacific Electric in Los Angeles wanted to eliminate this position so they designed and built "mechanical (and later magnetic) Flagmen" to replicate the motion of the flagman's lantern above the street when a train came through.
They proved popular amongst railroads wanting to cut the flagman position, and were heavily used in the early 1900s, but in the 1940s the Government mandated flashing lights and metal gates in all new installations. Thus as these magnetic flagmen break or are damaged they are replaced with modern gates and lights... Only a handful remain in service, most are on small spur lines which see maybe a couple of trains a week, if that.
excatly, just add gates and on the other side add some flashing lights, and keep the wig-wags in the center and let them operate, if they want safer, just add the other gates and leave both wigwags in the center!
yeah why can;t you add gates I fail to see the problem alot of gates are mounted separate from the light poll why can't they do that here. cause there stupid. it would save money
The reason why so many of theses citizens are fighting to keep the wig-wags is because one it is a part of there towns history and two it brings in tourism (rail-fans) to there town.
I say, if you see the train moving, you know it's time to stop and let it pass. :) We used to have Wig Wags in Australia too, only a handful survive on tourist railways here now.
KEEP THEM ACTIVE YOU ASSHOLE YOU CPUC
inels100 2 months ago
Why not put the gates in, but leave the wigwags there AND connected, so that they start when the gates go down?
dickcheney6 5 months ago
...answer to problem: Tie the lawyers and politicians to the tracks
SittingMooseShaman 5 months ago
i like the bells on the wig wags. and when i was younger i liked the challenge of beating the gates,and going around them
tryby12 6 months ago
if its not broken dont fix it..I shure can use $250k.and shure can others
tryby12 6 months ago
lol
SuperNJTRANSIT 9 months ago
Comment removed
TodayHi1953 1 year ago
@TodayHi1953 It's a piece of history. And the bell does not swing that is the counter-weight.
metraF40PH163 1 year ago
@TodayHi1953 you have no idea how historic those are..
southern4501isawesom 6 months ago
Those idiots. And no one even cares about the Griswolds, which are rarer, but A SAFETY ISSUE? Just add gates with lights or at least add signals but keep these there and operational! These can stay in the center and the gates could be added, and these still be a part of liuving history!
And I thought the people at my High school were stupid, but this takes the cake.
NewProfile001 1 year ago
Save the wigwags and keep them in opperation!
ac124278 1 year ago
Why can't they just let them work together? God, everything is always out with the old and in with the new.
Jumpybeaver 2 years ago 9
@Jumpybeaver It's a liability issue. If the wig-wags remain wired up for normal operation, then they have to remain registered as "official" warning devices at the crossing under Federal Railway Administration regulations. This creates a potential liability...
theup3985 2 years ago
@Jumpybeaver
...If the wig-wags failed to operate for any reason when a train were present at the crossing, even though the crossing gates are in place and working perfectly, some moron could potentially sue BNSF Railway if an incident resulted at the crossing, and they would have a legal case against the railway (even though stupidity was the cause) because legally, not all of the official warning devices at the crossing were operating, and so the railroad would be liable under the law.
theup3985 2 years ago
While you are right about that. They could still do the same if the gate crossings failed too. But then again like you said. Some moron could potentially sue BNSF Railway if an incident resulted at the crossing.
Jumpybeaver 2 years ago
@Jumpybeaver
Yes, it's true that they could also sue if the gates failed, but that's just it - the gates are far less likely to fail than the wig-wags. Modern crossing gates have the latest technology and are designed to be fail safe, have backup power, and in the worst case, if the crossing loses all power, the gates are weighted to be pulled down naturally by gravity (electromagnetic charge is what keeps the gates in the 'up' position - 'down' would be the 'default' position otherwise).
theup3985 2 years ago
@Jumpybeaver
It's basically the whole McDonald's 'Hot Coffee' Cup thing (where some guy was awarded damages for spilling hot coffee on himself because McDonald's didn't have a warning label on the cup). We unfortunately live in a world where an idiot can sue a corporation for injury/damages resulting from the person's own stupidity, and be awarded compensation in court. BNSF is just covering all their bases. That's why the city had to put up signs declaring the wig-wags out of operation.
theup3985 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
haha wigwags are the part of our identity... some werdo, someones gonna crash into one of them one time!
Nathanb6424 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
☻/
/▌
/ \ This is bob. copy and paste bob and he will soon take over youtube.
epiCnIGraRiNSeOUt 2 years ago
I live near Hanford and Fresno, CA. I can't wait to check the remaining ones here.
PS. I like the ol' gal at 1:00 to 1:11. She seems to be a precious thing from the past. But I bet she was a great protester in the 60's ! Still has the fire in her, just picks her battle a bit more selectively now.
hdfatboy2k 3 years ago
She was a "Rosie the Riveter" during WWII.
wonderglory 3 years ago
Rosie the Riveter, you say! She must have a lot of great stories.
I dig on the way she says, "save something precious, save something of our past." Gentle, yet with conviction. And how the woman puts the issue in perspective. Her words are like a well crafted song or poem in that a great deal is said in few words.
If you know her, let her know that some younger fella still thinks she is a 'rose'.
hdfatboy2k 3 years ago
new or vintage systems, a lot of americans still tries to beat the train.
gronko86 3 years ago 3
We don't have any wig-wags here at all in
England,Scotland and Wales.
cindy1000000 3 years ago
aww that sucks worse they could do is put the gates up on either side of tracks
microbusss 3 years ago
did they keep or remove them since this vid was posted?
microbusss 3 years ago
Still there - but de-activated (except for special occasions - whatever that means).
danosf 3 years ago
I don't know what special occasions would be needed for them. But at least they put up gates, red lights and bells instead of just leaving a crossbuck there.
wiley207 3 years ago
Is it possible to see, how it looks there now?
Springlicht 3 years ago
They're still there, but they are deactivated. Only the gates, red lights and bells they installed in 2004 will come on whenever a train goes through that crossing nowadays.
wiley207 3 years ago
Thank you!
What a pity that they don't work at least together with the new installation. :-(
Springlicht 3 years ago
Well I think that unfortunately, wigwags mounted on the ground like that are much easier to miss than modern gates, red lights and bells are. And the newer bells clang faster than the old wigwag bells did.
wiley207 3 years ago
The wigwags were retired, but left in place on display... Only the modern gates activate when a train comes through.
Jaanfo 3 years ago
They said they'd activate the Wig Wags for "ceremonial purposes" only, but all other times they use the new gates, red lights and bells.
wiley207 3 years ago
Did they keep the wigwags?
bunnyjoke 4 years ago
I hope so.
wonderglory 3 years ago
You americans have interesting little train signals all over huh?
SHNOOKY0206 4 years ago
Most of these signals have unfortunately been removed and replaced with the standard red flashing lights. Theres still some wig wags that are still working though although how long they last is another question...
ESRRX 4 years ago
oh, I see then.
SHNOOKY0206 4 years ago
Many of the wigwags were removed. A few of them had nothing in their place (closed the railroad line), but others were usually replaced with newer gates, red lights and bells.
wiley207 3 years ago
Originally major Railroad crossings were manned by a crossing guard who would, when a train approached, light a lantern and walk out into the street waving it back and forth. The Pacific Electric in Los Angeles wanted to eliminate this position so they designed and built "mechanical (and later magnetic) Flagmen" to replicate the motion of the flagman's lantern above the street when a train came through.
Jaanfo 3 years ago
They proved popular amongst railroads wanting to cut the flagman position, and were heavily used in the early 1900s, but in the 1940s the Government mandated flashing lights and metal gates in all new installations. Thus as these magnetic flagmen break or are damaged they are replaced with modern gates and lights... Only a handful remain in service, most are on small spur lines which see maybe a couple of trains a week, if that.
Jaanfo 3 years ago
wig-wags look so cool.I've never seen a real one though.
cindy1000000 4 years ago
they should keep the wig wags. they're so cool looking! right?
Jimmy146 4 years ago 2
incase you still don't know what a wig-wag is,
it's something that keeps swinging when trains
are coming.
sophieoftipton 4 years ago
Thats funny. Here in massachusetts, they'd be protesting to get rid of the trains all together and pave the tracks over to make a bike route.
l008comm 4 years ago 2
So who won ??? All over now??
natezemanek 4 years ago
compromise. there still there but there no longer active
lexmarks567 4 years ago
Its wig-wag discrimination! I'll sue on behalf of all wig wags in california. Its not their fault they were born that way!
neomrdo 5 years ago
why can't they just add gates to the wigwag and let them work and save money
lexmarks567 5 years ago 3
Ask the CPUC that. Apperantly you can't have the old signals with the new. It's all about liability.
danosf 5 years ago
excatly, just add gates and on the other side add some flashing lights, and keep the wig-wags in the center and let them operate, if they want safer, just add the other gates and leave both wigwags in the center!
Bellwestern80 4 years ago
yeah why can;t you add gates I fail to see the problem alot of gates are mounted separate from the light poll why can't they do that here. cause there stupid. it would save money
lexmarks567 4 years ago
The reason why so many of theses citizens are fighting to keep the wig-wags is because one it is a part of there towns history and two it brings in tourism (rail-fans) to there town.
qnuts 5 years ago
How is it a safety issue? If you see the wig-wag moving, you know that it's time to stop to let the train pass.
cc10266 5 years ago
Maybe because they are mounted rather low? People might not see them, but in that area everyone knows how safe they are.
wiley207 4 years ago
I say, if you see the train moving, you know it's time to stop and let it pass. :) We used to have Wig Wags in Australia too, only a handful survive on tourist railways here now.
emdB67 4 years ago
Only one set in SA - Mt BArker
mt14l 4 years ago
what should be done is add a set of gates behind the wig-wags and then it will be safe i think there cool looking
crapper1 5 years ago
ya they should keep the wig-wags, but if they want to replace it don't add the extra lights and bell. They should just add the gates only.
Bigyomann 5 years ago