So up I get and head up to Marion for my teeth cleaning and x rays.
I leave 20 minutes early (it's a 10 minute trip at most)...no problem, I thought.
I get to the RR crossing on East Main Street, just above the old RR station, and the gates come down. I'm the second car behind in the right lane.
There is no train coming BUT there are 4 Norfolk & Southern maintenance cars sitting there doing nothing, about 150' from the crossing.
We sit there for 15 minutes and still nothing. Traffic is backing up a looooooooong ways. Smyth County Schools are running 2 hours late today. This is the only way to get to a couple of schools in Marion.
The guy in the car next to me gets my attention and I roll down my window. He tells me he called 911 and they tell him they're aware of the problem but N&S hasn't responded. A couple of minutes later a Marion Town cop pulls up to the side road next to the tracks and talks to the "workers" (I use that term loosely). He then leaves...after several seconds the arms raise.
I have no idea what N&S was doing and there is no way in hell they couldn't see what was going on. When I came back thru an hour later the maintenance cars are still there.