early antique american railroad heavy cast iron "crossing" sign once completing a crossbuck sign mounted near a train yard on the south side of chicago. the nicely worn and weathered single-sided sign contains deeply embossed letters with black paint finish largely intact. the sing fabricator is not known. a crossbuck is a sign composed of two slats of wood or metal of equal length, fastened together on a pole in a saltire formation (resembling the letter "x"). crossbucks are usually used as traffic signs to indicate level railway crossings, sometimes supplemented by electrical warnings of flashing lights, a bell, and/or a gate that descends to block the road and prevent traffic from crossing the tracks. the crossbuck carries the word "railroad" on one arm and "crossing" on the other, in black text on a white background. older variants simply used black and white paint, but newer installations use a reflective white material with non-reflective lettering. some of the earliest u.s. crossbucks were painted in other color schemes, and used glass "cat's eye" reflectors on the letters to make them stand out, especially in the night time. measures 48 x 9 inches.