I would have to do research, but I wonder why railroads were not made responsible for grade crossings and the like, if that was part of the deal with getting railroads built. I suspect some of this came up because when the railroads were built you didn't have all that many grade crossings given how wide open the spaces the railroads operated it. I would hazard a complete guess that since roads in large part came about later, it was felt it would be unfair for the railroads to help pay to protect a road that wasn't there before. Plus doesn't the railroad still technically own an easement on either side of the tracks, so allowing a road to be built across the tracks was the state/city building on their property?
Just interesting thinking about the origins of this. Often with 'attractive nuisances' like a railroad track, due to liability issues, property owners will either be forced by code or their insurance company to protect their property...again makes me wonder why the insurance company for the railroads doesn't make them put up warnings at crossings, unless maybe they have been indemnified?
