There was a photo in Trains Magazine in the 1940s, of a crossing on the Boston & Maine, with a barrier such as you describe. However, I do not believe that there were many such installations. Barriers like that would be a nightmare for maintenance.
Electric crossing gates have proven to be very effective in giving a warning. They are counterbalanced so that it requires electric current to hold the gate in the "up" position. The current comes from batteries charged by commercial electric power. If the Commercial power fails, the batteries will still operate the gates and flashers for quite a while. If the batteries finally go dead, the gates lower themselves by gravity.
