What is this equipment?

They could be modern defect detectors that look for load shifts in freight trains.

Line of sight antennas for communication\train control or detectors. Lot of electronics in the boxes, especially the new, shiny big one.

 

perhaps...UTCS

 

Edit: Not antennas, they are probably at the lower left out of sight in this picture.

BNSF has been installing the large, shiny, magic boxes around here, similar to the one on the ground in the lower right of the picture. Haven't noticed any of the poles or items on them, but haven't really been looking for them either. Not that I would know what they are, but will look closer next time I see one of the recently installed big boxes.

 

When first seeing them installing the big boxes around here, I was wondering if that could be part of the PTC system they are all supposed to be going to? However, I don't know a lot about the real railroads or their equipment.

If you look on google about a mile east of this pic.  These poles are there again but a red X is lit in the box.

I would assume that the Red X lit signals the engineer to sound crossing warnings.

 

Quote from another member:

"Quiet Zone" no-crossing-whistling indicators. They tell the engineer if the lights, gates, and special warning devices (fixed horn etc) are operating properly or not. If the crossing devices are not operating properly he has to sound the normal crossing whistle signal despite the "Quiet Zone".

Wouldn't either a crossing to blow at or a silent no horn crossing be something permanent that the engineer knows about without the need for expensive equipment that turns on and off?

Thanks.  Sounds cool but whats wrong with a real train horn???? Its music to my hears granted my house is 2 miles from the track.  If you live across the street from a railroad...why would you move there then complain about the railroad.  I hope the towns have to pay for this stuff and do not hold the RR liable if they hit someone who is running around the end of a train on double track only to get hit by a passing train.  (This crossing would not protect for that)  I assume train can blow in these area if someone is standing in the track oblivious.

 

I just listened to one of these on Youtube.  Its absured.  The crossing blows this ugly sounding horn for almost 3 mins..starting when the gates are triggered.   The total blows of a real horn combined are under 20 seconds for a train.  

 

Can trains operate at full track speed through a quiet zone?  Of not the town should also be charged with lost time and business...or its even against the interstate commerce clause.

Ahhhh yes. Stated like a true railfan, who doesn't live with 1000 feet, or less, from a busy main line railroad, with commuter traffic. Our town is located on the busy BNSF (original CB&Q RR) three track main line, westward of Chicago. The entire three track main is a "quiet zone" from down town, i.e. Union Station, all the way to Aurora. There are more than 100 trains a day, including the VERY busy METRA commute service. Our town has three grade crossings within the 1/2 mile long downtown area, which is surrounded by pretty expensive residential houses, some exceeding 3 million dollars each. The entire line has been a "quiet zone" since the steam days, well prior to WWII. The other VERY busy Chicago suburban commuter lines, such as the former C&NW, Milwaukee Road, and the Rock Island, are also ALL "quiet zones".

 

Our house is about 2 miles from the downtown area, and even though it is a "quiet zone" for the railroad, whenever some idiot tries to beet the train across the crossing, with the gates DOWN, they have to blow the darned horn, and it still wakes us up in the middle of the night.

 

The real-estate values of all these homes would plummet, were it NOT for these "quiet zones"! 

People should realize that a busy railroad symbolizes a healthy economy.  And the building blocks of the country.

I'm not sure about a requirement for 4-quadrant gates. I was in Sugar Land, TX a couple of months ago and they had standard gates on the quiet zone crossings. The "horn" they use is horrible, by the way. Sounds like an amplified "buzzer" horn from a toy train.

Thanks WYHOG!!!  Great video and explanation.

Wonder if anyone living near an expanded airport knows about these special "quiet" zones?

I lived a few years near Frisco's Lindenwood yard.  They didn't blow the horn at the Weil Ave. crossing but still made a lot of noise.  The northbound trains would often stop short of the crossing with a loud cascading crash as all the coupler slack slammed together!  All hours too.  Some guys hated the railroad for waking them up in the middle of the night.  Being the irrational railfan, I smiled and slept better. 

 

Nathan