Manual Railroad crossing

I didn’t think these things still existed until the other day we were driving in the country and came upon it: a little house adjacent to the railroad tracks. The gates were closed in anticipation of an oncoming train. We seemed to be waiting quite a while for the train to arrive

“They trigger the gates a good few miles back,” explained the bean.

After the train passed we dutifully waited for the gates to lift on their own when a woman emerged from the house with a nonchalant attitude as if she did this several times a day. She walked over to the gates, unlocked them and proceded to swing them back and lock them securely in place herself – no automatic devices involved in this railroad crossing!

It’s the terrestrial equivalent of the Irish lock-keeper’s house: the manual railroad crossing keeper’s house.