Patent ID: 8485478

Claim:
A system, comprising: a crossing gate mount; a crossing gate actuator coupled to a vertical swing pivot that is coupled to the crossing gate mount, the crossing gate actuator rotable along a vertical swing path, around the vertical swing pivot, up and out of a path and down and into the path; a crossing gate release mechanism coupled to the crossing gate actuator; a crossing gate coupled to a horizontal swing pivot that is coupled to the crossing gate release mechanism, the crossing gate rotable along a horizontal swing path, around the horizontal swing pivot, into the path and out of the path while the crossing gate actuator is down; a spring assembly coupled to the crossing gate and the crossing gate release mechanism, the spring assembly configured to exert a spring bias to maintain the crossing gate in the path; and a bar segment coupled to the spring assembly and removably fastened to the crossing gate, wherein in a path blocking mode of operation the bar segment is fastened to the crossing gate and the spring assembly exerts a spring bias against the bar segment to hold the bar segment against a brace, with the bar segment fastened to the crossing gate and the crossing gate extended across the path, wherein in a break-away mode of operation the bar segment is fastened to the crossing gate and the spring bias of the spring assembly is overcome, with the crossing gate pivoted out of the path, and wherein in a maintenance mode of operation the crossing gate is unfastened from the bar segment, the spring assembly exerts the spring bias against the bar segment to maintain the bar segment against a brace and the crossing gate is free to swing around the horizontal pivot, free of the spring bias, to position the crossing gate out of the path.