Wow, Joe nailed it, a holdover from a century ago need to look out for trains. This is what good writing is... finding something that we've been putting up with for too damn long, and pointing out how stupid it is that something hasn't been done about it

 A small railroad runs one lone train per week and the train travels at 5-10 miles-per-hour. Several years ago, every one of the three crossings had drop gates installed to meet a newly-enacted federal requirement

Yet every #%&* school bus still stops at every #%&* crossing because of some stupid-ass law passed in 1912 or thereabouts. 

And, empty or not, they remain stopped for 20-50 seconds as traffic piles up and frustrations mount.

It is a colossal waste of time and it is not saving any lives or doing any good whatsoever. It just pisses off the poor souls stuck behind those huge yellow diesel smoke-spewing tortoises.

Read the entire astute rant at http://www.joesherlock.com/blog-2011-03.html#RR-Cross