Automobile Crossing Tracks Behind a Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Freight Car, April 1927

The driver of a Ford Model T waits for a loaded hopper car to clear a railroad crossing in this 1927 photograph. The brakeman, riding on the hopper, is blowing a whistle to warn the motorist. Lightly used spur tracks like this often lacked railroad crossing signs, lights or gates. Railroad crews and drivers both had to be cautious.