Level crossing stupidity...

[Wickham Green too]

41 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

.... The beauty of a longer boom is is just needs the balance weights adjusting and as such is a cheap win.

Perhaps the 'extra' length could be hinged to permit a trapped vehicle to escape with no more than scratched paintwork ............ it would need a spring strong enough to keep it extended when the boom is vertical.

[RJS1977]

On 26/10/2021 at 12:31, Fat Controller said:

Perhaps they might do as SNCF/RFF have been doing in recent years, fitting a concrete barrier between the left and right-hand lanes of the road.

 

Rather like our bypass on the A4130

  https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.591767,-1.1382644,3a,75y,259.8h,66.14t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sJc4O3Hcr0kzjcNXF57r_mg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DJc4O3Hcr0kzjcNXF57r_mg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D161.6862%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

[Compound2632]

19 minutes ago, RJS1977 said:

Rather like our bypass on the A4130

 

Not the most intimidating of central barriers but I suppose the metal post might discourage some!

[newbryford]

It won't stop cyclists weaving around them..... ironic smiley : )

 

Edited October 28, 2021 by newbryford
typo

[Michael Hodgson]

15 hours ago, newbryford said:

It won't stop cyclists weaving around them..... ironic smiley : )

 

Yeah but idiotic cyclists are expendable, and whilst that may be just as true of boy racers in cars, a push bike under a train isn't going to cause a derailment.  Ufton Nervet showed what could happen with a car, and whilst that was a suicide who probably didn't intend to kill the train driver or passengers, no system of barriers will ever be able to prevent a determined individual from ending it on the line.  

[Wickham Green too]

Just now, Michael Hodgson said:

.....  no system of barriers will ever be able to prevent a determined individual from ending it on the line.  

Equally, those gates and Toblerones that seem to be at the end of every station platform nowadays ......

[Michael Hodgson]

9 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

Equally, those gates and Toblerones that seem to be at the end of every station platform nowadays ......

 Given that it was the Board of Trade who originally insisted on having ramps at platforms ends for safety reasons, it seems a bit perverse that it's now considered unsafe these days.  On the other hand, the triangular wooden bars at level crossings do seem to be a good idea given that we have moved to barriers from gates across the line.

[Ian Smeeton]

No slam door stock on the Main Line these days, so no need for ramps.

 

Cattle guards (the triangular section timber) at the edge of crossings are not universal.

 

Wymondham, Crossing has none, as the gates are used to fully close off the railway, but Wyfordby, just down the line only has them on one side, as it has a single gate each side of the line, leaving the Melton side open.

 

Barriered crossings need them, but only some gated ones.

 

Regards

 

Ian

[martin_wynne]

23 minutes ago, Coombe Vale said:

Or are the French using nickel silver track on their railways now?

 

Stainless steel?

 

 

 

[Hobby]

Just the angle of the sun in both cases?!

[Hobby]

They've welded some rumble strips on the ends which may well slow down rusting on the welds, but the growth of the weeds shows it's been unused for a long time, I still stand by the angle of the light giving a false impression.

[298]

On 28/10/2021 at 21:48, RJS1977 said:

 

Rather like our bypass on the A4130

  https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.591767,-1.1382644,3a,75y,259.8h,66.14t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sJc4O3Hcr0kzjcNXF57r_mg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DJc4O3Hcr0kzjcNXF57r_mg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D161.6862%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

 

No wonder road vehicles keep coming acropper, did you see how that tree surgeons lorry looses a rear axle in other photos...?

[PhilJ W]

36 minutes ago, 298 said:

 

No wonder road vehicles keep coming a cropper, did you see how that tree surgeons lorry looses a rear axle in other photos...?

Not so much a loss as a gain. It looks as if its a four wheel vehicle that has been 'stretched' by the Google camera.

[Compound2632]

27 minutes ago, Coombe Vale said:

Fair enough, but I've never seen rust shine so consistently in any amount of sun at any angle. Let's agree to disagree eh? 

 

Dryer climate?

[SHMD]

They are actually shiny!

I checked, at the time, as I couldn't understand it.

 

I will post some more tomorrow.

 

 

Kev.

[PhilJ W]

Animals using the track tops as a path?

[96701]

On 29/10/2021 at 13:42, Wickham Green too said:

Equally, those gates and Toblerones that seem to be at the end of every station platform nowadays ......

Whilst they do not stop the determined, they do require the person who may be considering suicide as an option to stop and change their thought pattern which is often enough to stop them getting onto the track, so not such a waste of effort.

[SHMD]

I'm a bit later than I thought but I have some time, in between flights at Schiphol Airport, so here goes.

 

Here you can see the welded Zig-Zagging, presumably to operate the track circuits for the crossing, which are still shiny. They were very flat (well used/worn) and perhaps had become work-hardened thus giving them a little more corrosion protection.

 

Another view, but this time with the sun just behind my right shoulder.

 

This was taken 100m further east. Again the rails were reflecting the sun, even though the sun just behind my right shoulder. The Levers and mechanism were very corroded.

That track, switching off to the left, is buried under that banking - and it is still shiny even though the vegetation is clearly well established.

 

This is the view west.

I must admit to being a bit "level crossing stupid" here myself as clearly it is not safe to loiter in the middle to take that photo.

I mean, cyclists could come at any time and they don't slow down fast!

(I've also heard that the cyclists around there hunt in packs called peletons!)

 

For those interested, or can get info out of Google Maps, here is a screen grab of the crossing.

Google the Hotel and you should find it.

 

 

Kev.

 

[melmerby]

On the 2008 google view the rails are very rusty!

 

As an aside:

If you follow the track a couple of kilometres west you come across a standard gauge + narrow gauge museum:

"Conservatoire provençal du patrimoine de véhicules anciens"

https://cppva.com/accueil.php

[Compound2632]

21 minutes ago, melmerby said:

If you follow the track a couple of kilometres west you come across a standard gauge + narrow gauge museum:

"Conservatoire provençal du patrimoine de véhicules anciens"

 

Isn't French a wonderful language? What would that be in Britain: "Transport Heritage Centre"? Mundane. 

[TheQ]

just a minor incident.

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/traffic/car-crashes-into-level-crossing-near-attleborough-8456424

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

just a minor incident.

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/traffic/car-crashes-into-level-crossing-near-attleborough-8456424

Did you see the clip lower on the page of the crossing fault, train only just missed two vehicles when the lights changed to green before the train crossed 

[newbryford]

6 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

Did you see the clip lower on the page of the crossing fault, train only just missed two vehicles when the lights changed to green before the train crossed 

 

I believe the issue was discussed on the Class 745/755 thread as the new stock wasn't activating the crossings properly.

[Michael Hodgson]

Surely these are unrelated incidents?

 

A car colliding with a barrier is a routine driver error - and on the road shown in the photo, the crossing is fairly inconspicuous, albeit with the barriers raised and no flashing reds.

The video is a case of barriers lifting prematurely, a fault for the railways to fix, and I see no evidence of a the vehicles hitting them.

I don't see that slowing the trains is necessarily going to help, as it lengthens the strike-in time, potentially giving the barriers more chance of lifting prematurely.  I hope that decision is based of preliminary findings of apparent cause by the investigators.  

[beast66606]

28 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Surely these are unrelated incidents?

 

A car colliding with a barrier is a routine driver error - and on the road shown in the photo, the crossing is fairly inconspicuous, albeit with the barriers raised and no flashing reds.

The video is a case of barriers lifting prematurely, a fault for the railways to fix, and I see no evidence of a the vehicles hitting them.

I don't see that slowing the trains is necessarily going to help, as it lengthens the strike-in time, potentially giving the barriers more chance of lifting prematurely.  I hope that decision is based of preliminary findings of apparent cause by the investigators.  

 

The train speed was lowered temporarily as the (AHB) barriers were damaged and the trains needed to be hand signalled over the crossing.