Amtrak is not quieter than freight trains outside what’s called the Northeast Corridor (former Pennsylvania and New Haven railroads between Boston and Washington DC), being diesel-powered; the General Electric Genesis locos on this train have four-stroke diesels, which are generally louder than the former two-stroke diesels Amtrak used twenty years ago or so. And they’re only slightly faster than freight trains thanks to government regulation (top speed 79 mph generally, with some exceptions).
The Amtrak train on this route hasn’t been known as the Super Chief since 1974, when it was renamed the Southwest Limited. It became the Southwest Chief in 1984.
The grade crossing where the dumptruck was is on a dirt road with only crossbucks indicating where the rails are. All road vehicles are required to stop, look both directions and listen for train horns before attempting to cross the tracks. And the rails are railroad property.
No, no, we need to spend many billions of dollars to put up lights and automated gates every place a vehicle might cross a railroad track, whether it’s a county road, a farm lane, a desert track, or whatever. Never mind how much or how little traffic the rail line might carry, either. If it saves one stupid driver’s life, it’s worth it.
Crossbuck signs and “Stop, look, listen” are just so 20th-century.