Railroad crossing signs — Colorado Permit Test

Railroad crossing signs on the Colorado permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

Railroad crossing signs show information about railroad crossings and can be a variety of shapes.

No other family of signs changes shape like this. Learning the whole group matters more than learning one silhouette.

These signs show information about railroad crossings and can be a variety of shapes

Colorado Driver Handbook, p.8

Where there is more than one track, a sign below the crossbuck says how many tracks are at the crossing.

One train passing does not mean the crossing is clear, and a second can be hidden behind the first. The count is the warning to wait and look again.

If there is more than one track, a sign below the Crossbuck indicates the number of tracks at this crossing

Colorado Driver Handbook, p.21

Railroad Emergency Notification System signs are blue, sit at every highway-rail grade crossing, and carry a telephone number for reporting problems or emergencies at the crossing.

A car stuck on the tracks needs the trains stopped, not the police called. That number reaches the dispatcher who can do it.

These blue signs are at every highway-rail grade crossing and provide the public with a telephone number to report problems or emergencies at these railroad locations

Colorado Driver Handbook, p.8

Below the dispatch number on an Emergency Notification System sign is a Department of Transportation number identifying the exact location of that crossing.

Every crossing in the country has its own number, so the dispatcher knows which one you mean without you describing the road.

Directly below the dispatch number on the ENS sign is a Department of Transportation number that identifies the exact location of the crossing in question

Colorado Driver Handbook, p.8

Crossings in designated quiet zones have a No Train Horn sign posted below the advance warning sign, and train horns do not blow there.

Without a horn the flashing lights and gates are the only warning, and people who live nearby have stopped expecting noise at all.

Train horns do not blow at these crossings

Colorado Driver Handbook, p.21

On the test

What is true of railroad crossing signs?

They come in a variety of shapes. No other family of signs changes shape like this. Learning the whole group matters more than learning one silhouette. Colorado Driver Handbook, p.8: “These signs show information about railroad crossings and can be a variety of shapes”

How this works

Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.

You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.

Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Colorado Driver Handbook, published by the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-16.