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Related: About this forumVideo Shows Mokena, Illinois, Cop Avoid Collision With Metra Train
This video was on the TV news this morning. That's a signal maintainer's truck in the background. After the train has passed, you can see the signal maintainer working at the control shed.
Video Shows Mokena Cop Avoid Collision With Metra Train
A Mokena police dash cam video shows the moment a speeding Metra train passed a 191st Street crossing with malfunctioning gates.
By Tim Moran, Patch Staff | Dec 26, 2018 11:25 pm ET | Updated Dec 27, 2018 8:50 am ET
MOKENA, IL - A police dash cam video shows just how close drivers on 191st Street in Mokena last month came to getting hit by a Metra train. Mokena police officer Peter Stanglewicz posted a video on Facebook recently that had been viewed more than 600,000 times as of Wednesday afternoon.
It shows the police car he was driving westbound on 191st come within a short distance of colliding with a northbound Metra train on the Rock Island Line. Stanglewicz had to make a last-second hard left turn into the eastbound lanes to avoid collision. At least one other car on the road also came close to colliding with the train. ... The gates at the rail crossing did not come down until after the train had passed.
Neither Stanglewicz nor any of the other motorists who were in vehicles near the train were injured, according to multiple media reports. ... Officer Stanglewicz was recently recognized for 25 years of service with the village of Mokena.
POSTED 2:56 PM, DECEMBER 26, 2018, BY WGN WEB DESK, UPDATED AT 07:53 PM, DECEMBER 26, 2018
MOKENA, Ill. A Mokena police officers quick thinking helped him avoid getting struck by a Metra train.
Officer Peter Stanglewicz recently shared dashcam footage of the November incident on Facebook, and it has been viewed over 500,000 times.
Police say Stanglewicz was traveling westbound on 191st Street in Mokena when he observed an inbound train approaching the rail lines crossing. The gates and lights at the crossing had not activated.
Stanglewicz turned a hard left to avoid colliding with the train, causing his squad car to cross the median and rest in the eastbound lanes of 191st Street. just as the train cleared the crossing.
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December 27, 2018, 11:58 AM
A dashcam in a Mokena police cruiser captured a frightening moment when a Metra commuter train narrowly missed colliding with three vehicles after gates and warning lights failed to activate at a crossing.
The incident happened at 8:45 a.m. Nov. 9 at 191st Street and the Rock Island District line, according to a Metra spokeswoman. Inbound train No. 506 was headed to Chicagos LaSalle Street Station after picking up passengers in Joliet and New Lenox.
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IronLionZion
(45,601 posts)That blue honda just barely made it
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,695 posts)If there's no train detected in the circuit, the gates stay up. Only when a train is detected approaching do the gates go down and the lights start flashing.
You can see the signal maintainer working in the control shed.
Metra
That's an old Rock Island line. The Rock Island is now part of Union Pacific. I suspect UP is responsible for the maintenance of the signals and tracks, but I'm not sure how the responsibilities are divided up.
I'm sure the FRA signals and switches inspectors in the Chicago office took an interest in this incident.
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(2,481 posts)I've always been very curious as to how these operate
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,695 posts)Last edited Sat Dec 29, 2018, 03:21 PM - Edit history (1)
Look up "track circuit." I'm on a slow connection. I'll get back to you tomorrow.
ETA: here's a start:
https://ggwash.org/view/4412/how-track-circuits-detect-and-protect-trains
http://www.railsystem.net/track-circuit/
Girard442
(6,087 posts)LiberalArkie
(15,731 posts)cspanlovr
(1,470 posts)denbot
(9,901 posts)It seems any other choice would likely have ended badly.