how long to wait at a level crossing?

[saaby93]

This turned up - skip to 20 mins if you want to miss the shunting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPvLzy6F85E

[dvs_dave]

Not at all unusual in North America. Freight trains are on average 1.5 miles long, so take forever to pass. Get stuck by a 3+ mile long one, and you’re in for a good wait! They often also have 5+ engines pulling/pushing them, 3 in front, 2 rear, being a common configuration, sometimes a couple mid-train too.

Edited by dvs_dave on Saturday 17th July 15:23

[Riley Blue]

Only a single track, imagine then having to wait at the crossing for one going the other way.

[droopsnoot]

I've waited several times at the local level crossing on the way to the pub while some pretty long trains go by, which seemed to be track maintenance machines, but more than 30 of them along with various other wagons etc. Then one morning I got held up at a different local crossing while one of them came back. The line goes to Cardiff, so presumably doing something down there.

[SteBrown91]

There’s a level crossing by the entrance to Bardon Quarry in Leics and if you catch that wrong when a freight train is arriving you can be waiting a while. Especially as the train is moving slowly as it’s coming to into the rail yard.

[Ronstein]

Try getting through Datchet (one stop out from Windsor Riverside). The trains are too long for the platform, so they're stopped across the level crossing while passengers get on and off and frequently there's an inbound followed by an outbound.

[Harpoon]

The entrance to Deganwy Quay in North Wales could be pain if you timed it wrong. I've had to wait for three trains in the past, though that's not helped by having to wait for the left turn filter.

https://goo.gl/maps/MnAxKWVpFZvwNdsAA

[voram]

Welcome to Sunningdale....

Complete with speed camera, of course, to deter anyone foolish enough to contemplate making a dash for it.

[matchmaker]

voram said:

Welcome to Sunningdale....

Complete with speed camera, of course, to deter anyone foolish enough to contemplate making a dash for it.

Like this stupid ?

https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/sunni...

[Rower]

voram said:

Welcome to Sunningdale....

Complete with speed camera, of course, to deter anyone foolish enough to contemplate making a dash for it.

I was told that the waiting time is so long at Sunningdale is because there is an incline after the crossing and the barriers will not lift until the train has cleared the summit and there is no danger of it rolling back down in case it breaks down ...... that is bollax isn't it ?

[Portofoni]

Mortlake high street is a cracker , main line into London , sometimes you have to wait for 3 or 4 trains to pass , each way .

[dirkgently]

I made a bloke wait for an hour at my crossing once, but he was an arse.

[Magnum 475]

The one near Radway Green used to drive me mad when I was working in that area.

Trains routing from Alsager to Crewe were OK - about a minute before the train went through, the barriers would drop.

Trains routing from Crewe to Alsager - barriers drop about 5 minutes before the train arrives.... I'd have thought Network Rail could do something a little better than creating huge traffic jams every 20 minutes...

[Dogwatch]

In days gone by when every level crossing had its own box it wasn’t unusual to be crossing about ten feet from the buffers of a train stopped at the local station. Just the crossing gate between you and the buffers. Train wants to move off then gates close to traffic, minimal disruption.

Now signalman is tens of miles away and closes barriers when he feels like it regardless.

[droopsnoot]

Magnum 475 said:

The one near Radway Green used to drive me mad when I was working in that area.

Trains routing from Alsager to Crewe were OK - about a minute before the train went through, the barriers would drop.

Trains routing from Crewe to Alsager - barriers drop about 5 minutes before the train arrives.... I'd have thought Network Rail could do something a little better than creating huge traffic jams every 20 minutes...

A mate that meets us in the pub on a weekday evening complains about that crossing all the time, at least in part because one of our group used to work for Network Rail / various railway infrastructure companies and should therefore be able to explain it / fix it, despite him being retired for a few years now. And to be fair, he does patiently explain the issue every time he's asked, which is every week. The first mate, however, never explains why he can't just leave a little earlier, or a little later, or use one of at least two other routes to get from his house to the pub.

[littlebasher]

There's a crossing in Rotherham that i got stuck at for 40 minutes. It forms part of the entrance to an industrial estate that has only one way in and out.

The trains just kept on coming !

[Gary C]

dirkgently said:

I made a bloke wait for an hour at my crossing once, but he was an arse.

Hummm

Pot & kettle

[Kinky]

Rower said:

voram said:

Welcome to Sunningdale....

Complete with speed camera, of course, to deter anyone foolish enough to contemplate making a dash for it.

I was told that the waiting time is so long at Sunningdale is because there is an incline after the crossing and the barriers will not lift until the train has cleared the summit and there is no danger of it rolling back down in case it breaks down ...... that is bollax isn't it ?

The reason above, yes. The reason is that it only affects trains coming from London. There's a bend before the level crossing/station, and AIUI they need to have visibility of so far ahead; or in cases where they can't (like in this instance) enough time to respond to any alarms.

Trains coming from Ascot are much quicker.

[Yertis]

Dogwatch said:

In days gone by when every level crossing had its own box it wasn’t unusual to be crossing about ten feet from the buffers of a train stopped at the local station. Just the crossing gate between you and the buffers. Train wants to move off then gates close to traffic, minimal disruption.

Now signalman is tens of miles away and closes barriers when he feels like it regardless.

This was the case at Poole, where up trains would be almost buffered up to the Towngate Place level crossing (no longer there). My only real memory of BR steam is Dad holding me up to look at the front of some huge black locomotive there.

[matchmaker]

Dogwatch said:

In days gone by when every level crossing had its own box it wasn’t unusual to be crossing about ten feet from the buffers of a train stopped at the local station. Just the crossing gate between you and the buffers. Train wants to move off then gates close to traffic, minimal disruption.

Now signalman is tens of miles away and closes barriers when he feels like it regardless.

Not the case. The location of the signaller has nothing to do with when the barriers are closed. They are closed in sufficient time to not significantly slow the train.