Date:         Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:00:30 -0400
Reply-To:     Ed Lloyd <elloyd10@COMCAST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ed Lloyd <elloyd10@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Railroad Crossing Gate Coming Down!
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Mishaps seem to happen just as you are getting back from a trip.  30 days and 4,981 miles in Old Blue, 87 Vanagon with NO problems.

Then close to home, in old downtown section of York, Pa, a built up and industrial area, 2-3 story buildings, narrow streets, congested traffic, limited sight lines, the light had just turned green and we moved a few feet when:

Ding!, Ding!, Ding!  Red light flashing!, the unmistakable sign of a train coming, but from where?  I saw nothing, and just stopped where I was, trying to look around the corner of a close building.

My wife suddenly yelled "The gate is coming down!", and I looked over at her, and out the passenger window was this HUGE arm coming down right on top of the passenger compartment.

Too late to back up.  Cars behind me anyhow.  What to do?
What happens when the gate comes in contact with a fiberglass roof?  Does it stop and go back up like a garage door?  Does it come down hard?

Any railroad people out there know what you should do?

I think I was not on the tracks, but was very close, as the rails were embedded in the pavement and not clearly identifiable like at a regular crossing.

I looked straight ahead, with the tunnel vision you get during an emergency, saw nothing big, and just gunned the engine and crossed the track, just getting out from under the falling arm and getting a glimpse of light green gondola car in the rear view mirror a moment or so later.  It was moving slowly, but was right there with not more than 10-15 seconds from the first Ding!  I did not stop, but kept going.

What would you do?  Any ideas on how to  respond to something like this?