"Purple Line: The two grade crossings on this line, in the suburb of Wilmette, have an elaborate protection system. When the crossing gates are up, sections of wire fencing block entry to the right of way. When the gates go down, the fence sections slide to one side to let the train pass. "
When was this installed, I had relations that lived near one of these when I was a kid, and my cousins and I played around on crossings. But I don't know if I remember these from back then, or from more recenet visits.
Either way our parents impressed on us the danger of the third rail when we went to cubs games so we knew not to mess around.
My favorite memory is when my cousin threw a baseball bat at the crossing gate control box and the lights started flashing and the gates just started going up and down.