Do studded tires make less than ideal railroad crossings worse? I'm considering getting studded tires, but I'm concerned about a portion of my commute.  I go down this road both directions: 39° 40.468', -84° 14.340'.  This 2 lane narrow road has 2 railroad crossings from a parallel track next to the road in order to service a factory.  Both the road and the crossings are poor quality.  

Considering the rule of thumb for railroad crossings is perpendicular as possible, this road doesn't allow that.  I'm not talking about the tire falling in the groove along the rail, just the tire trying to climb a rail.  On dry days, no problem, but when they are wet they cause a small slide to the side before the tire goes over the top of the rail.  What I'm worried about is that since the tire engages the track off center, will studs cause me even more troubles by not providing traction to climb the rail and cause the bike to slide out from under me as the tire follows the rail?

In my case, the bike is a 2008 Schwinn High Timber, 26x1.95 inch department store mountain front suspension with stock dirt trail tires.  Any tires I plan on buying are urban 26x1.50 to 26x1.75.
I think you'll be fine. You might experience some slip, but not enough to cause you to come off the bike or get stuck, etc. 

Three reasons I'll think you'll be alright:


Your tires are also made of rubber, not just metal studs and will deform while on/around the rail. This means that some portion of the rubber tire will be contacting the rail and providing grip.
If you have any speed at all your tire will cross the rail quickly and not spend much time trying to grip it.
The odds of both tires being on the rail at the same time, for any length of time, are pretty low, so the rear tire will be pushing forward or the front will pull enough to get you across it.


Now, there's a small technique that will help you out regardless of conditions and tires: the bunny hop. By lifting even your front tire over the rail, you've eliminated half of your traction problem. Getting the back tire up will pretty much erase the issue all together.