Railroad Spur Track Crossing Technique for Bicyclists.

Most bicyclists grow up in suburbs, far from railroads, so they are unaware of the danger of crashing when crossing a railroad spur track improperly. These crashes can be prevented by observing the drawings and real life crossings in this video, shot from a Rans Tailwind recumbent bike.

Spur tracks leave a main rail line, and often cross an adjacent road at a shallow angle before going to a factory or warehouse. To cross safely, a bicyclist needs to check for bike and motor vehicle traffic ahead and behind, and they need to make sure no train is preparing to use the spur track. If the way is clear, the bicyclist should give a "slowing" signal, and then maneuver in such a way to cross each rail at a 90 degree angle, or as close to a 90 degree angle as possible. If there are other motor vehicles or bicyclists approaching, it may be necessary to stay near the curb, give a "slowing" signal, straddle the bike and walk over the crossing. If you try to ride over the rails at a shallow angle, the rails can zing your wheels out from under you, causing a severe crash. This is most likely if the rails ar wet, but it can happen with dry rails too, especially if the rails are higher than the surrounding pavement.

I crossed these same crossings for over 10 years as my main commute route between East Point and Morrow, Georgia, USA. I still use this route for other purposes. Some of it is part of the historic Dixie Highway System that connected the midwest with Florida, before the US Highway route numbering system was adopted. The raillroad is the historic Central of Georgia route between Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia. It is now part of the Norfolk Southern system. Triple Crown Service trains are serviced in East Point, Georgia, and they use this line quite often now. The videos were taken in Forest Park and Hapeville, Georgia.

Thanks again to Chick-Fil-A for sponsoring the Bike Ride Across Georgia and the BRAG Dream Team, whose jersey I'm wearing at the end of the video. I couldn't help but show their very first location, the Hapeville Dwarf House. It's 3/4 mile west of the I-75 and Central Avenue exit. I enjoy eating there. Like all Chick-Fil-A locations, they are closed on Sunday.
Also, thanks to REI for providing the Dream Team jerseys and for all their awesome support of the BRAG Dream Team.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Bicycle
• Ride
• Across
• Georgia
• BRAG
• railroad
• crossing
• safety
• spur
• track
• railfan
• triple
• crown
• service
• rans
• recumbent
• crash-free
• Chick-Fil-A
• Dwarf
• House
• Hapeville
• Forest
• Park

[szml]

I really hate non-perpendicular rails. Very dangerous. Bike lanes should be installed in such places to be able to cross the rails perpendicularly without having to do dangerous maneuvers across the road.

[kjfitzgerald593]

@szml Yes, I wish there was more paved room to the sides of these crossings, It would be quite helpful, and would reduce the number of times where a rider has to straddle the bike and walk while crossing the rails. In many cases, the roads are much busier than the one shown, and trying to get a gap in the traffic for a 90 degree crossing takes so long, that the straddle and walk maneuver takes less time than waiting for a gap.

[semiballpenman]

Thank you for this video.

[kjfitzgerald593]

@semiballpenman You are welcome. If it saves one cyclist from crashing, then making and posting this video was worthwhile.

[robertgift]

Well done!

Thank you also for showing the train and riding with it and showing the unusual way the trailers were carried on the railroad wheel trucks.

[kjfitzgerald593]

@robertgift Thanks! I was lucky that the train just happened to be coming while I was taping my video. I felt it would be fun to include the train.

Triple Crown Service trains use this railroad quite frequently now.

There was a bit more video footage of this train on the original tape, and you can find it on my channel by searching for "Norfolk Southern Triple Crown Train Hapeville, GA, USA June 2009."

[MegaZsolti]

erm 6:00 train :P

[kjfitzgerald593]

@crlaw75 I'm sorry that happened to you!

[crlaw75]

One time, I crossed an angle crossing and the wheel of the bike grabbed the rail and I went forward off the bike. Learned my lesson there.

[kjfitzgerald593]

Thanks! That's good that you've never had trouble crossing the tracks in your area. If the rails are dry and match up well with the adjacent pavement, the danger is less, so you may be more fortunate than riders who use the worst crossings shown in my video.

When I was 16, I saw a 47 year old rider have his bike zinged out from under him when he didn't get a proper angle to a wet spur track surrounded by asphalt. He ended up running down the road instead of falling! Good luck with your videos!