Railroad crossing POI's

Are you using this POI and if so, do you find it accurate?

I have a file on all CSX, NS mile posts if that would help

I've just uploaded a new file, US Public Grade Crossings.csv which contains 176K Public Grade Crossings in the USA from the FRA database. There were about 46K entries in the FRA database that did not have latitude or longitude values that were omitted from the .csv. There may also be entries for crossings where the tracks have been removed. The file will display the Emergency Notification System Number of the crossing (useful to report problems to 911 or the railroad), Street, and City. Note: Each crossing is marked with an ENS tag or sign containing a phone number to call the railroad, the Crossing No. and location. A RR Xing icon is available from this sites icon library.
Look, Listen, and Live! Support Operation Lifesaver
www.oli.org www.oliofpa.org

Nice job! Thank you!

Eggs-celent! Thanks.

My original effort had a couple of problems. A test drive through town this morning generated crossing alerts where tracks used to be (no ghost trains, though). Back to the computer where I discovered a field value for abandoned crossings. Scratch those. The final product is about 3 MEG smaller and contains 129,407 records for all 50 states.
File name: US Public Grade Crossings.csv

Look, Listen, and Live! Support Operation Lifesaver
www.oli.org www.oliofpa.org

Have you thought about trying to contact the various rail companies, explaining what you are trying to do, and see if they can be of any assistance.

I know a guy who works (pretty high up)in railroad crossing safety and maintenance (not sure if this is its actual name) for Norfolk and Southern, and I can see if he can lead me in some direction.

Dan

If we ever switch to maglev monorails, the file would be half the size.

I don't see the file in the POI list; where is it located? Thanks.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/16524

Thanks. I had seen the file at the link you provided, which is called "All States RR Xings NoSignSignals.csv". What threw me was the OP called it "File name: US Public Grade Crossings.csv"

It's become quite ridiculous the way the government & police have gone overboard on photographers when it comes to taking photo's of trains and anything associated with them.

When are people going to realize that there's NOT a spy hiding behind every tree looking to take photo's.

Geeezzzzzz's give me a break will ya!

Nuvi1300WTGPS

I'm sure the government would feel such a listing would be a concern for security

So would a listing of governmental buildings, like court houses. Maybe we should turn the phone books over to Homeland security.

You've got people who spend the entire day looking for things to worry about. The very name, Homeland Security, conjures up images of jack-booted storm troupers demanding to see "your papers". What do you expect, long-haired girls in tie-dyed skirts handing out flowers and wishing you a happy day?

That would be nice! (Is there a smiley for 'leer')?

Nearly every month I read a story about a railfan being detained for taking pictures of trains, even though he is standing on a pubic sidewalk. So yeah, Homeland Security has ran amuck. And in Long Beach a photographer was arrested and charged for terrorist activities for taking a picture of a refinery. He was standing in the same location as the Google Street view. Storm troopers at work.

Perhaps your comment is totally accurate, but I would wonder if the Long Beach photographer was actually "charged" with "terrorist activities". And I would be surprised if the arresting officers were from Homeland Security.

Recall the Times Square 2010 car bomb incident that was noticed by two street vendors notifying a patrolman. As citizens, we need to be vigilent. I cannot help but believe that there will be more terrorist attempts here in the US.

Personally I want someone to be looking for suspicious activities.

In Washington DC, the train station, Union Station is a beautiful and historic building that serves not only as the Amtrack train station but also two commuter rail lines, the regions subway system and is a major bus terminal as well. There are about a million people that pass through the building on any given work day. The main hall, which has been the site of some Presidential Inaugural Balls has statues around the hall by August St, Gaudens. The private security firm hired by the company operating the station was taken to court for stopping people taking pictures of the building and its archetecture. The court told the company in no uncertain terms the building was public property and an historic structure for which many millions of dollars had been spent to restore the building and to bring people to the facility. The security guards were not to interfere with people expressing themselves by photgraphing the building, and the historic artifacts within.

What people are dealing with in these instances are others with a sense of responsibility of enforcing laws they have little concept of understanding. The best defense in this instance is to politely ask the restraining officer to call their supervisor before proceeding.

Who decides what is a "suspicious activity"? And whatever happened to being able to do anything you want as long as you don't break a law or hurt someone?

Nazi Germany used "Concerned Citizens" to report suspicious activity. One of the results was over 6 million citizens killed. Do you want the same thing to happen here? And don't tell me it can't happen here, all we need is more people willing to give up their personal freedoms in exchange for some perceived security.

That's why no one reported the men who took flying lessons but told instructors that they did not need to learn to land.

Why was this not a red flag to someone. In my opinion, it should have raised concern.

my 2 cents.

And thus with this post, this discussion should come to an end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

Someone invariably does it.

HA! Knew it always happens. Didn't know it had a name.

Thanks MM!

In most cases, I believe the police can use "reasonable judgement". Taking pictures of a rail crossing could be for nefarious purposes. It's probably just a railroad enthusiast though. If someone calls the cops, it's usually just an inconvenience for the police. If an officer uses that "reasonable judgement", they can tell in just a few seconds if someone is a rail fan. The enthusiasm about trains just come through. It would then just turn into a friendly conversation about trains between two people. I suspect the problem is that the reasonable part is frequently left out.
(Wow. This has come a long way from making alerts for crossings without signals.)

Thanks to mikeymike for making the POI.

What are you saying, Motorcycle Mama, that the comparison isn't valid? Or are you saying that they didn't use informers or concerned citizens to gather inelegance? Maybe you think it is proper for someone else to decide what you can do, say or wear, I don't. I hope you like your gilded cage and never realize that it is nothing more than a cage.

th

Maybe your time has come

http://www.poi-
factory.com/node/44807

http://venturebeat.com/2015/06/29/google-maps-to-get-u-s-rai...

That's a really big project - while I don't have use for it I'm sure someone will and will be very grateful for your efforts. You may want to see if Garmin would build it in as a feature on their maps. Would be an interesting add-in.

That's exactly what I'm afraid of... Considering how long it's taking to get a simple map update, the question one has to ask is, "Just exactly what in the BLOODY !%:!:%;€*! is taking them so long?"

Such a major undertaking. Maybe add airhorns when your getting close..

This might be helpful: https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0703

I think the RR xings and Red light camera alerts is a great idea. I have just downloaded the "All States RR Xings No Signs No Signals and am imstalling it as we speak.

Does it have a sound alert available?
Is there a similar POI for Canada? Where can I download this?

Doe you also know how the Red Light Camera POI works and where the link is to download it? Does it need a subscription to function? Or, is the subscription I read about merely to keep the database up to date?

Thanks
PussNBoots

Thanks very much for making these available.
I did notice that the Idaho file actually has the Washington data in it. Would you be able to redo the Idaho one at some point?
Thanks again.

FWIW, the FRA has a free app called "Rail Crossing Locator" that's pretty good.

Are you sure about Excel having a limit of 65,536 lines max?
I'm pretty sure the limit is more than that,
When you mean "lines" you mean Excel Rows being 65,536 max?

The maximum number of rows in Excel is 1,048,576. For example, see (among others):

https://www.quora.com/What-would-be-the-maximum-number-of-ro...

Maybe a much older version of Excel had a maximum number of rows of 64K.

Phil

Good idea. There's times when a crossing at Figueroa in Carson, was seen to involuntarily activate and descend during traffic flow. Maybe it's being repaired. Knowing ahead could lead to being more aware.

Are you referring to this one?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.dot.fra.Ra...

Yes. There's also an iOS version.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/pennsylvania-woman-claims-she-dro...

THIS is going to be a BIG file.

Your efforts are appreciated.

That seems weird, my maps have
rail crossings built in, Australia,
not built in, Canada,
guess data supplied is different

My Smartdrive 50 LMT HD has some very accurate RR X built in. Works very well.