In the United States, the crossbuck carries the words "rail" and "road" on one arm and "crossing" on the other ("rail" and "road" are separated by the "crossing" arm), in black text on a white background. Older variants simply used black and white paint; newer installations use a reflective white material with non-reflective lettering. Some antique U.S. crossbucks were painted in other color schemes, and used glass "
cat's eye" reflectors on the letters to make them stand out. Other countries, such as China, also use this layout, but with appropriately localized terms. Often, a supplemental sign below the crossbuck indicates the number of tracks at the crossing. In the 1990s, the state of
Ohio experimented with the modified
Buckeye Crossbuck, which had a specialized accompanying plate. In Canada, crossbucks have a red border and no lettering. These were installed in the 1980s shortly after English-French
bilingualism was made official, replacing signs of a style similar to those used in the U.S., except the word "railway" was used instead of "railroad" and in certain areas the words "traverse de chemin de fer" were used. In Mexico, the crossbucks read "cruces ferrocarril", a literal translation of its U.S. counterpart. Older designs read "cuidado con el tren", meaning "beware of the train". In Argentina, the most common legend is "peligro ferrocarril" ("danger: railroad"). Other crosses also read "cuidado con los trends – pare mire escuche ("beware of the trains – stop, look, listen") for the
Ferrocarril Belgrano, "paso a nivel – ferro carril" for the
Ferrocarril Mitre and "cuiado con los trenes" ("beware of the trains") for the
Ferrocarril Roca. In parts of Europe, the cross is white with red trimmings or ends, sometimes on a rectangular background; in
Finland and
Greece the cross is yellow, trimmed with red. Taiwan uses two crossbucks: a version with a yellow and black cross, and one with the cross in white with a red border. A special symbol in the center indicates an electric railroad crossing, cautioning road users about excessive height cargo that may contact the electric wires. In Australia, the crossbuck is a St Andrews Cross as in Europe, but uses words and the same color as the American crossbuck. In contrast to the American "railroad crossing", Australian signs say "railway crossing" or "tramway crossing". (Most cases where a tram in its own right-of-way crosses a road do not use a crossbuck and so are regular intersections rather than level crossings.) Different countries may classify the sign differently. For example, in Australia it is considered a
regulatory sign, while in close neighbour New Zealand it is considered a
warning sign. Some countries, such as Australia, France, New Zealand, Slovakia and Slovenia may place the crossbuck design on a "target board", while other countries quite often do not. In the United Kingdom, it is only used for crossings with no barriers or signal lights.
Crossbucks of the world File:Australia R6-25.svg|Australia (variant) File:Gefahrenzeichen 6d liegend.svg|Austria File:Gefahrenzeichen 6d.svg|Austria (vertical) File:Gefahrenzeichen 6d Tafel.svg|Austria (variant) File:Belgian traffic sign A45.svg|Belgium File:Brasil A-41a.svg|Brazil File:BG road sign А34.1.svg|Bulgaria File:Canadian Railroad Crossing Sign.svg|Canada File:Canadian Railway Crossbuck (with red backing board).png|Canada (former) File:Canadian Railway Crossing Sign (English) (old).svg|Canada (former) File:Canadian_Crossbuck_(Old).svg|Canada (former) File:1950's_Ontario_warning_traffic_sign,_railroad_crossing.svg|Canada (used in Ontario in the 1950s) File:Canadian Railway Crossing Sign (French) (old).svg|Canada (formerly used in Quebec) File:SIECA road sign R-1-6.svg|
Central American Integration System Member States File:Chile road sign PI-2a.svg|Chile File:Colombia road sign SP-54 (old).svg|Colombia (former) File:Denmark road sign A74.1.svg|Denmark File:Zeichen 201-50 – Andreaskreuz - Dem Schienenverkehr Vorrang gewähren! StVO 1992.svg|Germany File:Zeichen 201-51 - Andreaskreuz (stehend) mit Blitzpfeil, StVO 1992.svg|Germany (Level Crossings on Electrified Lines) File:Italian traffic signs - croce di S.Andrea.svg|Italy File:MX road sign SIR-9.svg|Mexico File:Nederlands verkeersbord J12.svg|Netherlands File:New Zealand road sign W15-3.1.svg|New Zealand (variant) File:NO road sign 138.1.svg|Norway File:Panama crossbuck.svg|Panama File:Peru road sign P-44.svg|Peru File:PL road sign G-3.svg|Poland File:RO road sign A51.svg|Romania File:RO road sign A49.svg|Romania (variant used for railway crossings without gates and lights) File:Singapore road sign - Warning - Level crossing - Historic.svg|Singapore File:South Korea Railway Crossbuck.svg|South Korea File:Sweden road sign A39-1.svg|Sweden File:Taiwan Railway Crossbuck (black and yellow).svg|Taiwan File:Thai Railroad Crossing Sign.svg|Thailand File:MUTCD R15-1.svg|United States File:Inverted Railroad Crossbuck.png|United States (inverted variant) File:MUTCD R15-1 (Buckeye Crossbuck).svg|United States (experimental version used in Ohio for a time) File:United States Black Railroad Crossbuck.png|United States (variant, former) File:Venezuela road sign P3-16.svg|Venezuela File:Vietnam road sign W242a.svg|Vietnam ==Multiple tracks==