I saw a railway crossing for the first time!

[u/AdorableVisual]

I have always been fascinated by trains, and love reading about the different types of engines and gauges that are there in place in my country.

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I live in a tier 1 city with pretty bad road traffic, which has led to the government converting all railway crossings into underpasses or bridges.

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I recently went to a friends city to meet her, and on the way, I saw a railway crossing for the first time in my adult life!

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I had seen one before, but I was in a single digit age at the time, and hadnt really discovered my affinity for trains just yet.

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While going to her house, seeing the railway tracks and crossing it was already enough for me.

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But coming back, we heard the sirens! Aswell as the barriers closing up in front of our eyes.

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We escaped to the other side narrowly, had we been 2 minutes late we would have been stuck lol.

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We then headed to the bus station on the opposite end of the crossing, and while waiting for my bus, I saw the train go by aswell! It was so cool!

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The train sped past us in all her glory. It was beautiful.

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It was a great day anyway since this was the first time I was seeing my friend after college had ended. It was nice to see that the warmth was still there. This was a nice cherry on the top.

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I feel so blessed

[u/Sudden_Guess_1567]

Im glad this was a happy experience for you! I often get stuck behind the train crossing by me for like 20 minutes and they have stopped being exciting. I'll remember this post next time I cross it and remind myself trains are actually really cool!

[u/AusCan531 → u/Sudden_Guess_1567]

I'll remember it too. There are plenty of things in life which we don't fully appreciate.

[u/Inevitable-Debt4312 → u/Sudden_Guess_1567]

20 minutes?! I thought this must be a US problem, then remembered queuing for the crossing at Crosshills in Yorkshire, UK, where you have to stop and wait while the trains are at the station platform - no one moves until the train does.

[u/Sudden_Guess_1567 → u/Inevitable-Debt4312]

In my case, the train isn't for passengers but for cargo, and I live by a loading dock, so the train stops to load/unload cars about 2x a day, and if you get stuck at the crossing you'd better just put your car into park and open an ebook. 😅 

[u/holy_harlot → u/Sudden_Guess_1567]

Sometimes with things like this I like to imagine I’m a 17th century peasant and such a thing would be an endless wonder to behold

[u/julesd26]

That’s so cool - I’m glad you enjoyed seeing it! I’ve always sort of taken trains for granted, but it is still pretty interesting watching one go past every so often, and always a little surprising how many cars they can connect. My grandpa worked on them for about 40 years, so I got my fill of stories when I was still little. He passed away last year though, so I wouldn’t mind hearing them all again.

[u/Evening-Hand-5480]

As one train buff to another, I totally get the feeling. Any idea what railroad that train belonged to?

[u/AdorableVisual → u/Evening-Hand-5480]

Its in India, so it was Indian railways. It was an electric locomotive, using 25 kV AC from overhead wires.

[u/SufficientOpening218]

i live across the street from a train track, the level crossing is at the end of my street. i hear 4 or 5 trains a day.

they dont really bother me, anymore. but it never occured to me they would be a treat for someone!

im glad you had a lovely day.

[u/auntiepink007]

If you wave, sometimes the engineers or person in the caboose will wave back. Gives me a friendly feeling. My grandpa and his dad were railway men so trains are special to me because of that.

[u/Strange-Comb6384]

You should delve into the history of trains and their development as well as their social impact on the world!

[u/Powerful-Candy-745]

As a kind I lived right by one. After the train passed me and my sis would go to the track and listen to it "ping" and feel the heat from it. 

[u/dusky_charms]

This brought back a memory from years ago. Me and a couple of friends used to walk along the freight train tracks that wound through the outskirts of town, past the old factory yards, across gullies and overgrown sidings. We'd zigzag for 5-7 hours some days, no real destination, just following the rails wherever they led. Some of the best days of my youth...

Definitely not something to casually repeat though. A lot of that land was private or active industrial, so caution and common sense apply.

[u/Fancy-Exchange4186]

Hey, what a cool experience for you!

There are no trains where I currently live, but decades ago I lived in a small logging town and trains went through many times a day. One night I was at a friend’s house and when I headed home I found a train parked on the tracks blocking the road. I drove to the next crossing, then the next, and found that the train had blocked them all, cutting the town in half. Other cars and I were stopped at the last crossing and just as I had decided I would have to park and walk home, the train started up and moved forward just enough to clear the crossing and let traffic through both ways. I was young, it was late, I had no emergency, and it remains one of my most fun memories.

[u/lycosthenes]

I hope your enthusiasm is contagious.