This is really good information.

My grandfather was section foreman for Missouri-Pacific RR for 43 years.I suppose it was drummed into us,secondary from being drummed into my MOM about trains and train crossings.I've always been alert and viligant at crossings,save for one time when I drove through crossing gates that had been down for some time for a train that was stopped some distance away filling grain cars.A cop was behind me (that I could not see) and he pulled me over and gave me a warning.He also told me that sometimes they are stopped at a distance but they are waiting on another train that is coming from the opposite direction or alongside them on another set of tracks.

It amazes me that people will cross a RR crossing even when lights are on,and you can see the train coming no matter how slowly.There are many unmarked crossings in Arkansas (no lights or gates) and there are many deaths every year even at marked crossings.