Railroad
Gallatin is on the main line of the CSX railroad between Louisville, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee. Of course, in earlier days, the railroad was known as the Louisville & Nashville or simply the L&N.
Today, the track serves several industries in Gallatin with rail sidings that enable large quantities of heavy materials to be quickly delivered. In addition to the main line, there is a spur line which crosses U.S. 31E and serves several industries in the Steam Plant Road area. At one time, coal was delivered to the TVA Fossil Fuels plant via this spur; however, coal is now delivered on barges via the Cumberland River.
When crossing a railroad track, please use extreme caution.
Don't
enter the crossing unless you know there is room for you on the
other side.
Newer
railroad crossing signals are required by Federal and Tennessee law
to give you a minimum of 20 seconds between the time the lights
start to flash and the train enters the crossing.
Newer
railroad crossing signals are required by Federal and Tennessee law
to give you a minimum of 5 seconds from the time the gates are fully
down and the time the train enters the crossing.
Do not
try to drive around the crossing gates that are down or going down.
Keep in
mind that it can take a train a mile or more to stop.
If your
vehicle or another vehicle stalls on a CSX track, use your cell
phone to call CSX's Emergency Department at 1-800-232-0144. If
possible, walk over to the pole that holds the flashing lights (or
the railroad crossing sign) and tell the dispatcher the crossing ID
number that's on a sign on the pole.
As you
approach a railroad crossing, turn off your radio so you can hear
the train's horn.
As you
approach a railroad crossing, lower your window a little so you can
hear the train's horn.
Two Kinds of Crossing Signals
Did you know you may only have 20 seconds from the time the
lights start flashing until the train enters the crossing?
Did you know, you may only have 5 seconds
from the time the gates are fully down until the train is in the
crossing? Both facts are true. These are the
new minimum times set by law.
Please be aware, that if you've got a train barreling down on you, that's not a lot of time!
You will find two types of railroad crossing signals in this area:
Motion Detectors
This is the "old style" of railroad crossing signal. The
signals detect that there is a train somewhere in the
vicinity, but they have no idea how fast the train is going nor when
it will reach the crossing.
Because of this, the signals have to activate earlier. Depending on how fast the train is actually going, it could take a relatively long time for the train to reach the crossing. When people have to wait a long time, they tend to drive around the gates.
Constant Warning
Signals
These signals detect how fast a train is moving, and they adjust the
gates so you have the exact same amount of warning whether the train
is going 10 mph or 30 mph or 60 mph. The minimum warning times
are: 20 seconds from the time the lights start flashing until the
train enters the crossing; 5 seconds from the time the gates are
down until the train enters the crossing.
These times are set by the Federal government and have been approved by Tennessee. The theory is people will know a train will be in the crossing soon, so they won't attempt to outrun the train.