Talk of the Point

When the Point cried “save the wigwags,” I don’t think this is what they meant. The good news is that the wigwags will probably remain in place, said David Dohlberg, who represented the Point with Tom Butt in a recent mediation with the railroad. The bad news is that the familiar ding-ding will probably go silent and the old warning lights will be as dead as eyes in a stuffed moosehead.

The California Public Utilities Commission appears adamant, said Dohlberg: The wigwags’ “cone of vision” is too narrow to adequately warn all drivers on the two streets that converge at the crossing. Drivers are fine who approach on a path that’s perpendicular to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks, such as on Richmond Avenue. The trouble is that drivers may not be warned who approach at an angle, such as on Cutting.

The railroad wants to replace the wigwag warning with three gates and cantilevers. Crossing gates are the arms that swing down as a train approaches. Cantilevers are overhead structures fitted with lights and bells.

Also dead is a possible deal Dohlberg discussed at last week’s Point Richmond Neighborhood Council monthly meeting. He hoped that the city could make a deal to buy the railroad’s vacant triangle of land adjacent to the crossing in exchange for street realignments that would improve the railroad’s safety. However, the railroad has indicated that it prefers dealing with that land in a wider, more complex discussion, said Dohlberg.

RESOURCES

Tom Butt’s E-Forum

• September
  15, 2002 Includes good background in articles from the San Francisco
  Chronicle and the Contra Costa Times.
• May
  14, 2002
• E-Forum
  home

California Public Utility Commission’s
pages on the wigwag
process

Images of gates and cantilevers (Images
pop up in a new window. Close the window to return to this page.)

• Cantilever
• Gate

Burlington
Northern Santa Fe Railway

Columbia
Encyclopedia on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway

Microsoft’s
Train Simulator for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. Says
Microsoft, “Microsoft Train Simulator brings the power and excitement of some
of the world’s most famous trains to your PC, placing you in the role of engineer
with unprecedented realism, exciting real-world rail challenges, and the tools
to recreate almost any railroad experience in the world.” Even the Richmond
Avenue crossing?

Comments RSS