Railroad Crossing with a Train Coloring Page

Railroad Crossing with a Train Coloring Page draws the whole signal assembly, not just the striped arms. A crossbuck sits at the top, a bell hangs under it, two round lamps sit side by side below that, and a diamond warning sign hangs at the front, all on one post with both gates down across the track. If you searched for a railroad crossing coloring page and kept getting a plain barrier, this is the complete piece of equipment. Ages 5 to 11. Free letter size PDF.

How we made this coloring page

We entered this concept on Colorin AI: "A railroad crossing with striped gates down and a warning sign standing tall at the front of the page, with a train passing behind them." The printable came back in seconds.

"At the front of the page" is what stacked the crossing over the train instead of beside it. Asked for a crossing with a train, the generator puts the two things next to each other and both come out small. Placing the sign in front made the signal the subject and pushed the train into the background, which is also how a crossing actually looks when you stop at one.

What's in this railroad crossing coloring page

This page has more real lettering on it than anything else in the collection. The diamond sign carries a clear two line warning, and the crossed boards above it are lettered along both arms, so a child who is learning to read has something to sound out.

Worth knowing before you print: the letters on the crossed boards are broken where the two arms overlap, so they do not spell out cleanly the way the diamond sign does. It reads as a crossbuck at a glance and it will not survive close inspection by an adult who knows what one says.

The count: the crossbuck is two boards crossed at the center with a small round lamp above the joint. Beneath it hangs a dome shaped bell, then two round signal lamps side by side, each drawn as three rings. The diamond sign below is a square turned on its point with a double border. Two gate arms lower to the left and the right, each ruled with about nine diagonal stripes and hinged to its own box on the post. The post stands on a stepped base with two grass tufts. Behind, a streamlined locomotive with a rounded nose sits on the left and two passenger cars run to the right, one showing five windows and the other four. Two rails cross the page with about twenty ties, four clouds float above, and two low hills close the distance.

Coloring Ideas and Techniques

Alternate the nine stripes on each gate arm in two colors and keep both arms identical. Crossing gates are the most recognizable striped object on a road, and the pattern only works if it repeats without variation.

Color the two lamps differently from each other. On a real crossing they flash in turn, and giving one a strong tone and the other a pale one is the closest a still drawing gets to showing that.

Leave the diamond sign white behind its lettering. Warning signs are legible because the letters sit on an unbroken field, and filling the background is the fastest way to make the one readable object on the page unreadable.