(Lack of) RR traffic signs in Chicago

[faraway]

I did look after the street crossing and running tracks on Goose Island and the north end over the bridge in Chicago.

The intersections of N Cherry Ave/W Division St, N Cherry Ave/N Hickory Ave and the track crossing W. North Ave have all three none of any RR related traffic signs. Even no simple cross bars. That looks very different from the situation I did see in the LA area.
Do I understand it correctly that the City of Chicago completely relies on the red flags and flares of the switcher crew in that area? Did I pick by chance an exception or that in general how light used industry leads are done in Chicago?

[Charlie B]

Reinhard, the last times I was in Chicago I remember the lack of railroad crossings at grade.
I admit we were not in any industrial areas at these times, but I can't recall any when we were in these areas in 1980.
I am sure someone from the area can give you more information, but in very lightly used crossings a crossbuck and flagging are common.
Charlie

[jwb]

I think there are several questions here. One is that street trackage is always a special case. If the track goes down the center of a street from one end of the street to the other, does it ever cross the street? Where would you put the crossing sign?
   
Another question might be the age of the trackage. If it was laid in the 19th or early 20th century, the rules may have been different, and the whole thing may have been "grandfathered in". Before the whole business was removed, the River Station Yard area in Los Angeles was one of the very oldest parts of the city, and there was very little signage at crossings:
   
   
Even where there are signals, they aren't necessarily where you'd expect: