As a railroader, I have always taken an interest in railroad grade crossing safety. I have been directly involved in two collisions myself and know the toll that those collisions take on railroad men and women. Naturally, I'm interested in anything that might improve railroad crossing safety. Everyone has seen railroad crossing signals, but none that are used today even compare to this crossing signal.This signal was built by Alonzo Billups who was an inventor down in Grenada, Mississippi and protected the crossing of the Illinois Central Railroad main line at Mississippi State Highway 7. The Highway 7 crossing was a particularly deadly crossing due to limited visibility and the high speeds that the passenger trains operated at-90+ miles an hour. The signal was put up in the late 1930s and used until 1970.The features of the Billups Neon Crossing Signal included neon outlining of the letters-red and white and illuminated skull and crossbones in the center. An arrow would light up, indicating the direction that the approaching train was coming from. If the flashing lights didn't get your attention, the audible warning certainly would. The audible warning was an air raid siren. In later years, standard 8 inch red flashing lights were added as an emergency signal-in the event that the main signal failed. Click on the following link to get some idea of what the Billups signal would have appeared like, but turn the volume on your speakers down first.You think it gets the point across?