How do you protect your livestock on the range from becoming instant highway hamburger?

[burroughs85]

Cattle Drive with Underpass in Rural Northwestern America in a Virtual Outdoor 1/10th Scale Model Railroad Layout

The underpass saves cattle and vehicles and trains and saves people in vehicles. Also a safe crossing for wild animals and human hikers and their dogs. You can probably guess what the pump house nearby is for. I wonder who pays for the construction and maintenance of such underpasses.



Here is a real-world underpass for cows:

 

[Rafter S]

It's not free range country, but my uncle owned land on both sides of Highway 6 (4 lane, divided). There was a mostly dry creek running through both and across the highway, and the cattle walked under the highway. There were fences keeping them in in the median.

 

[burroughs85]

It's not free range country, but my uncle owned land on both sides of Highway 6 (4 lane, divided). There was a mostly dry creek running through both and across the highway, and the cattle walked under the highway. There were fences keeping them in in the median.

In some places, cattle must cross a highway or a railroad line directly. What is done to prevent vehicles or trains from hitting cows at these crossings? The railroad line could be fast: maybe something like 50 to 70 MPH, with heavy freights barreling through. Let's say one is driving cows from an open range back to the ranch and must cross directly at a railroad level or grade crossing. Does the cattle driver on horseback know the railroad's schedule for trains crossing there? Does the cattle driver call the railroad up on the telephone, the sat phone, the CB walkie-talkie or the Motorola radio to inform them of their plans to move a herd of cow across the tracks at a certain time on a certain day? Motor vehicles, even trailer trucks, can stop much quicker than trains unless it is a very low-speed railroad line. On my model railroad, I have a low speed line (15 MPH zone) with direct cow crossings across the train tracks at certain parts of the layout. These are short and light excursion passenger trains, not heavy freights, that run this line. The slow-moving train should be able to stop safely upon spotting a herd crossing the track ahead.

 

[callmefence]

In some places, cattle must cross a highway or a railroad line directly. What is done to prevent vehicles or trains from hitting cows at these crossings? The railroad line could be fast: maybe something like 50 to 70 MPH, with heavy freights barreling through. Let's say one is driving cows from an open range back to the ranch and must cross directly at a railroad level or grade crossing. Does the cattle driver on horseback know the railroad's schedule for trains crossing there? Does the cattle driver call the railroad up on the telephone, the sat phone, the CB walkie-talkie or the Motorola radio to inform them of their plans to move a herd of cow across the tracks at a certain time on a certain day? Motor vehicles, even trailer trucks, can stop much quicker than trains unless it is a very low-speed railroad line. On my model railroad, I have a low speed line (15 MPH zone) with direct cow crossings across the train tracks at certain parts of the layout. These are short and light excursion passenger trains, not heavy freights, that run this line. The slow-moving train should be able to stop safely upon spotting a herd crossing the track ahead.

You lay down and put your ear to the track and listen for the train.

 

[burroughs85]

I have made improvements to my cattle underpass by reinforcing it with concrete under the road bridges to prevent erosion. I improved my road bridge with better-looking masonry wall. The road overpass is about 65 feet across. The clearance is enough for mounted horsemen and vehicles to pass under as ATV's and 4x4 trucks.

 

[burroughs85]

Finally, I settled for a steel girder road bridge with side plates and concrete abutments to match the railroad bridge. Prototypically, an American civil engineering design. Masonry bridges in modern times are more of a European thing.

 

[Brute 23]

We have these all over already for people who own property on both sides of the road. It's just big, square culverts with angle fences to the roads edge. Cattle go from one side to the other.

In many deeds the surface and minerals of the road are owned privately. The road is an easement, not owned by the govt entity.

 

[Dave]

There is a main line RR running through here. Ranchers here have to cross the tracks from time to time. There is a phone number they call and the railroad lets them know if there is a train passing that location any time soon. I have seen herds of cows being held in the road waiting for the train.
The Interstate also runs parallel to the RR tracks. The cows are herded down the county roads to under passes or over passes on the freeway. All of the freeway on ramps and off ramps have cattle guards. Even the ones coming out of town. The DOT does a pretty good job of maintaining real good fences on the freeway. Nobody gets excited about cows on the roads. Except the freeway. A report of cows on the freeway and people fly into action.

 

[Son of Butch]

The road is an easement, not owned by the govt entity.

Yes, here the government condemned our property to take it to build the highway and then later on, more land to widen it.

But a very fair process as we have the privilege of paying the property tax each year on the condemned land to the center of the highway and the neighbor on the westside of the highway has the same privilege. lol

 

[Son of Butch]

I have made improvements to my cattle underpass by reinforcing it with concrete under the road bridges to prevent erosion. I improved my road bridge with better-looking masonry wall. The road overpass is about 65 feet across. The clearance is enough for mounted horsemen and vehicles to pass under as ATV's and 4x4 trucks.

View attachment 16831

Pretty spendy for a private land owner. How many calves to pay for the improvements?

I'd consider a less expensive option of triangulated crossfire on traffic when moving cattle, between the overpass, the fence on the grassy knoll and book depository.

 

[Nesikep]

Put your cows in a trailer and bring them over that way if need be

 

[Lucky]

Just let the cars hit the cows. Eventually people will learn to start paying attention.

 

[Son of Butch]

Just let the cars hit the cows. Eventually people will learn to start paying attention.

Hey that's right. We had one hit by a truck once (only injury was the cow) and insurance paid us market top - no trucking or commissions.

 

[burroughs85]

In the model underpass as I have shown, it's a question of who owns, constructs, operates and maintains this infrastructure. In my example, there has to be enough bridge clearance for mounted horsemen and off-road vehicles. My example has 12 feet of head room. In my fictitious, example, it's pretended county property that that trail with the underpass runs through. Migrating wild animals and recreational trail users also benefit from this underpass. Each one of those 65'-long steel bridges in the real world might cost over $100K each to build. The underpass trail had to be excavated below ground level and reinforced with concrete in the bridge area. My example also has a pump house nearby to keep the underpass from flooding during heavy rains and snow melt-off from the nearby mountains. The model railroad county (Squatch County, Mondaho, United States of America) fictitiously maintains the sump pump for flood control. There is a sump and a grate where waters collects below the floor of the underpass at its lowest elevation. The pump gets its electricity from the nearby power lines running on telephone poles along the railroad line.

 

[burroughs85]

Hey that's right. We had one hit by a truck once (only injury was the cow) and insurance paid us market top - no trucking or commissions.

Cattle brokers get paid on commission?

 

[burroughs85]

Pretty spendy for a private land owner. How many calves to pay for the improvements?

I'd consider a less expensive option of triangulated crossfire on traffic when moving cattle, between the overpass, the fence on the grassy knoll and book depository.

Will gunfire stop those bigger and heavier trains? On my model RR layout, the fictitious "Squatch County" maintains that underpass and it's funded by fictitious tax dollars. The local taxpayers get something to boot for their money: it's not only for livestock on the drive (cows and sheep) but also for recreational trail users, hunters and wild animal migration. Many people and animals can cross under the roads and no living things or vehicles ever get damaged.

 

[burroughs85]

The local taxpayers get something to boot for their money: it's not only for livestock on the drive (cows and sheep) but also for recreational trail users, hunters and wild animal migration. Many people and animals can cross under the roads and no living things or vehicles ever get damaged. I'm not sure if American railroad companies in the real world contribute funding to the construction of such underpass projects. It will disrupt rail service in that area for the time it takes to construct such a RR bridge. The county may have to compensate the RR for lost revenues for the construction period. Most of these underpasses were probably constructed when the railroads were originally being built and when the American motor roadway system was in diapers. To construct such an underpass in modern times will disrupt both motor and rail traffic for a certain amount of time. It may take a week or more to excavate the underpass and construct the two short bridges. Where motor traffic could be detoured might be anybody's guess. Extra freight trucks may have to be contracted where local rail freight service is down.

 

[simme]

Years ago, I drove west from Calgary on the Trans Canada Highway. There were these bridges over the highway, but no road to the bridge. These were bridges for the wildlife to keep them off the highway. Covered with dirt with trees and grass.

 

[burroughs85]

Years ago, I drove west from Calgary on the Trans Canada Highway. There were these bridges over the highway, but no road to the bridge. These were bridges for the wildlife to keep them off the highway. Covered with dirt with trees and grass.View attachment 16866

Probably more costly to construct and maintain than the model I have pictured. That is a wildlife overpass. They probably still had to shut the highway down to construct that.

 

[backhoeboogie]

You have 300 acres. They decide to run their highway through it. You lose that ground. But you ask for an underpass as part of the deal. Its actually quite simple. The original question was, "Who pays for it ?" The people who screw up your land are the ones who pay.

Now you get trash thrown out and blown into your pastures from said road. People run off the road and into your fence and then just drive off. Now your cows get out and the whole world blames you. The jerk who ran through the fence is at fault.

It is a really bad deal, but the landowner gets the bad end of it. The underpass is part of the buy out and you never get enough to cover the hassle.