Maintaining Highway/Rail Safety

            Did you know that in America a vehicle or pedestrian is struck by a train every two hours!  Did you know that a person is 20 times more likely to die in a crash involving a train than in a collision involving another motor vehicle?  Did you know that when a twelve million pound train hits a 3,000 pound car, it is the same force as a 3,000 pound car hitting a 12-ounce soda can?

            The management and train crews of the Buckingham Branch Railroad live with these realities every day.  And it was these realities that led the company to improve the crossing at Slate Hill in Buckingham County.   The crossing is located where Route 610 (Slate Hill Road) crosses the Buckingham Division tracks near Gold Hill.  There is a high volume of vehicular traffic on this road including school buses.  The improvements to the crossing include the installation of railroad crossing gates which automatically lower when a train is approaching.  There are also flashing lights and a clanging bell to warn of a train’s approach.

            Funding for the project was 90% from the Federal Highway Administration, administered by the Virginia Department of Transportation and 10% using a combination of funds from the Rail Preservation Fund administered by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and matching funds from Buckingham Branch Railroad.  This project is part of Buckingham Branch Railroad’s participation in Operation Lifesaver, a non-profit, international, continuing public education program first established in 1972 to end collisions, deaths and injuries at places where roadways cross train tracks, and on railroad rights-of-way.

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