this is kind of a second posting, but not exactly.....?

my current posting tells a short story, and asks a few questions. in one of the engineers responses, "Andy's" particularly, he mentions waving a flag (or other ornament) is a signal to the engineer to stop. i didnt know this. i have seen video from 100 years ago where track crews would step aside when a train approached, pull out a white rag (presumably their hankys) and wave them fervently until the engineer of said approaching train sounded his whistle in recognition of "seeing" the crew on the ground. very smart and sound idea!

now, in my other posting my intent was not to stop the train, yet have them proceed at a caution. there was no emminant danger as the deputy and I had the crossing protected (trying to keep Amtrak and CSX happy too here). i didnt wave my towel, yet displayed it broadfaced towards the train. my intent was for the engineer to see a "yellow". i had no idea if he had been prewarned by radio and had to go under the premise he hadnt!

Andy says wave it, they stop. can we have some clarification here as to should we wave or not? does color mean anything in this type of situation or any other situation? i would hope anything red would instantly trigger the " i gotta stop" response from the engineer. and you have to know if i needed that train to stop because of danger, i would have done way more than displayed a yellow towel. id be kicking screaming yelling throwing ballast at the car body. heck id get the officer to fire a few rounds in the air if i thought something bad was definately gonna happen.

though, like my other posting, this wasnt the case. only a cautionary proceed was needed. it worked out that way anyways. i agree, there should be contingency plans already inplace between railroads, crews, and local authorities. but what of the common man? certainly we could instill a universal guidline for simple emergency communication from the ground to the crew. SOS seems to have worked well over the years.

not being a member of a railcrew it is had to imagine what would trigger an instant response if danger was present to alert an unknowing crew. especially one with passengers. im not giving any lesser creedence to a train carrying propane or styrene lol. and not just serius emergencys, what of just "hey i was just railfanning up the tracks and saw some deer on them.", you know just a simple keeps your eyes peeled theres something on the tracks ahead.

any ideas?