Buses, trains, and automobiles
This was one weird day, capped off by a weird ride home.
Things were uneventful until I hit the main east-west road in my town. There's a train track just east of an intersection--good job, civil engineers--that rarely has trains come through it, at least during daylight hours. Today was one of the few exceptions. I could see the lights flashing from a few blocks away, goody. Now, since this is a low-volume crossing, there's no gates there. It also happens to be a place where cars regularly stop on the tracks while waiting to cross the adjacent intersection, but that's neither here nor there, just something that sticks in my craw on a near-daily basis. See? Proof that trains *do* go through here and you shouldn't stop on the tracks! Anyway.
As I get closer to the tracks, I can hear what sounds like a train, and soon I can even see the train--going maybe five miles an hour. It then comes to a complete stop maybe 50 yards from the crossing. It's clear this train isn't going anywhere. It's just one track, so any trains from the other direction can't go anywhere, either. Translation: It's safe to cross. Now, this isn't something I condone doing, but considering the situation, I'll make an exception. Except the vehicle at the front of my line? Is a school bus. It is NOT ALLOWED to cross the tracks if there's a train there or if the lights are flashing. Several cars in front of me start doing three-point turns and going back the other way, while a few others are opting to go around the bus and continue on through the intersection. Because, as luck would have it, there is another bus heading eastbound, and because of the train it's stuck at the stop sign--there's so little clearance between the tracks and the intersection that it can't even move from where it is. Short buses are okay; regular ones hang out and block the cross street. Now, it's about 4:00, so we're right in the middle of rush hour, and this is on the one street that crosses the river through my town. Translation: There were a lot of people going nowhere fast.
Once I finally get around the bus and continue on my way, I discover that there's police activity just east of the river. Route 25 does a funky jog through my town--it shifts over about a block, necessitating a right turn and then a quick left. The left-turn lane was blocked by a police car with its lights on, and there were several orange cones set up in the lane as well. One cop was standing in front of the car and appearing to talk to another one standing on a corner across the way. Hmm, what was going on? I wonder if there was something happening with the train tracks farther south, where they cross Route 25. I have no idea at this point in time, but I do know there were probably a whole lot of frustrated people trying to get across town. The backup stretched all the way back to past the old library, over eight blocks. That is not at all common in my town.
Things were uneventful until I hit the main east-west road in my town. There's a train track just east of an intersection--good job, civil engineers--that rarely has trains come through it, at least during daylight hours. Today was one of the few exceptions. I could see the lights flashing from a few blocks away, goody. Now, since this is a low-volume crossing, there's no gates there. It also happens to be a place where cars regularly stop on the tracks while waiting to cross the adjacent intersection, but that's neither here nor there, just something that sticks in my craw on a near-daily basis. See? Proof that trains *do* go through here and you shouldn't stop on the tracks! Anyway.
As I get closer to the tracks, I can hear what sounds like a train, and soon I can even see the train--going maybe five miles an hour. It then comes to a complete stop maybe 50 yards from the crossing. It's clear this train isn't going anywhere. It's just one track, so any trains from the other direction can't go anywhere, either. Translation: It's safe to cross. Now, this isn't something I condone doing, but considering the situation, I'll make an exception. Except the vehicle at the front of my line? Is a school bus. It is NOT ALLOWED to cross the tracks if there's a train there or if the lights are flashing. Several cars in front of me start doing three-point turns and going back the other way, while a few others are opting to go around the bus and continue on through the intersection. Because, as luck would have it, there is another bus heading eastbound, and because of the train it's stuck at the stop sign--there's so little clearance between the tracks and the intersection that it can't even move from where it is. Short buses are okay; regular ones hang out and block the cross street. Now, it's about 4:00, so we're right in the middle of rush hour, and this is on the one street that crosses the river through my town. Translation: There were a lot of people going nowhere fast.
Once I finally get around the bus and continue on my way, I discover that there's police activity just east of the river. Route 25 does a funky jog through my town--it shifts over about a block, necessitating a right turn and then a quick left. The left-turn lane was blocked by a police car with its lights on, and there were several orange cones set up in the lane as well. One cop was standing in front of the car and appearing to talk to another one standing on a corner across the way. Hmm, what was going on? I wonder if there was something happening with the train tracks farther south, where they cross Route 25. I have no idea at this point in time, but I do know there were probably a whole lot of frustrated people trying to get across town. The backup stretched all the way back to past the old library, over eight blocks. That is not at all common in my town.