If the trains were that slow it was probably "safe" (as in you're not going to get flattened because you were somewhere within line of sight) to cross the tracks wherever which is why people kept doing it x_x I remember growing up in close proximity to a train line and the already slow trains would usually slow down to walking speed when going through a residential area (they used to do that where I grew up) so all you had to do when crossing the train line was the same thing you do when crossing the road (check both ways and listen for oncoming), and it was two steps to cross it as it was literally just the pair of rails, no barricades or anything around it (it was just on/across/next to the road).
Our trains are long dead though, kind of impressive these ones are still kicking.
