Level Crossings

Bramleyman · Level Crossings

As you know, level crossings have varied over the years from open, through to full barriers/gates. AHB - Automatic Half Barrier in my opinion, are the most abused crossing yet. Pictured below is a typical one that I have seen abused/mis-used by several vehicles in a short space of time.

On the day I took the picture above and in the space of less than an hour, I witnessed four vehicles zig-zag the barriers with one woman in a 4x4, on her mobile, do it and a split-second later, a freight train thundered through with the driver rightly laying on the horn.

Below, is the same crossing as taken today, with lights flashing, barriers lowered and a passenger train passing at speed. Idiots zig-zag the barriers and you can see how easy it is for them. During the time I took this picture, a mate and I wandered about looking at it and discussing how things COULD be improved to prevent anymore tragedies. In the top picture, you see floral tributes attached to the wire, following a multi-death accident there weeks before.

nebulaman

http://www.networkrailmediacentre...?ReleaseID=1838&NewsAreaID=17

I have seen picture of small plastic posts placed down the centre of the road to discourage overtaking or weaving at crossings. Whether they are sucessful is a different matter.

Bramleyman

I seem to recall these are found on what many of us remember as Southern region, but do stand to be corrected.
They are okay as long as the queues don't get too long and some Idiot becomes impatient at waiting and drives the wrong side of them to avoid the queue and then cause yet further delays, when they get hit by the train passing.

Bramleyman

Please look at the picture below, then read about something that happened there not so long back.

Imagine you are driving along this road from either direction and following a vehicle stopping because the red lights are flashing both sides of the road, then barriers lowering as they do. Most people stop and wait, but some try their luck as did the driver of a 4x4 who claimed to be late getting to pick the kids up from school and the driver in front was going too slow. The driver zig-zagged the barriers, got reported, then taken to court where she denied doing it. The case has been adjourned, so I have not said where it is. I got the story of this from a local paper.

Owen

One of the ways that you can get into Norwich from where I live is to go up the A11 onto the A47. On the way, you go over the Wyndonham/Thetford Line. On the level crossing, they still have the original signal box and gates. I presume there have been no fatalities there for years because cars cannot zig zag across like on other crossings. Of course, these have to be manned which is why there are none left today.

easternbuzz

People are just idiots! What is going to win, a car or a very heavily big train usually travelling with some momentum, you think people would realise the answer, apparently not. New drivers should be taught with obstacles such as level crossings, but some will still risk their life.

Bramleyman

By all accounts, it was not the level crossing I first showed, but this one.

Either way, the woman claimed there are NO lights on the right, but WHAT is that red light on at the half-barrier? Also, look top-right corner of photo. I took this late this afternoon when on my way home from my fathers, deliberately coming this way to get this picture. A local paper delivered today, had it on page 2 and boy, did they make an issue of it?

By the way, the line here is single track, so she sure had to zig-zag round the half barrier. Less than a minute after taking this picture, an EWS Class 66 with a load of wagons loaded with sand, passed in the up direction. Imagine what the result would have been had she crossed at the same time as one of them and never mind a Class 365 EMU?

Owen

Sometimes (IMHO), the people that jump the lights deserve what hits them. If they pass away, surely we just loose another idiot in society? If they are stupid enough to take the risk, they should pay for the consequences of their actions.

nebulaman

Problem is that it can really affect the driver. I know of several blokes who never drove again after a level crossing hit but others want to go back the next day (usually they are made to take 2 weeks off). I don't know how I would react but I do have the same opinion as you Owen.

Bramleyman

That is another problem with these incidents. It can affect different people, different ways. All Train drivers have my sympathy with these idiots.

Owen

I totally agree with you Nebulaman, Any driver involved in an incident must be pretty shaken. Although they are entirely innocent, if I were in the same situation I would feel a strong sense of guilt knowing that I had contributed to the killing of a fellow human being, even if they were a complete idiot and decided to jump the lights. What isn't fair though is if a turnip decides to jump the light, gets hit and then causes the train to crash resulting in serious injury or death.

Bramleyman

This morning I took my Partner to Downham Market station to catch the train to Kings Lynn. As hers departed, the up train came in and the Red aspect was showing on the foot crossing, so I stopped as I know best to do. One young man totally ignored the signal and proceeded to cross, so I shouted to him to stop because I could see the train approaching and rather close to the crossing. He said "There's no train coming." and crossed just getting to the other side as the train stopped. Had I been the train driver, I would have sounded the horn and regardless of the passengers waiting on the platform. After this train departed and we got the Green to cross, the young man in question stood waiting for somebody to pick him up, so he never gained anything from the crossing before the train stopped and I still left the station before him. Next time, it just might be the sand train approaching?

After that Incident at Colchester last week, I would have thought he would have had more sense than to cross just because it was slowing down to stop. Had it been the sand train and not a passenger train, he might well not be here now. Even so, the electric units are as we all know, a Silent Killer.