Oh no; not the level crossing again.

I have mentioned our level crossing once or twice recently. That's because I go over it about 30 times a week. To day there was a bit of extra activity down at the crossing, police activity. British Transport Police together with civilian members of staff were out in force for much of the day with a film crew from ITV Western highlighting the inherent dangers of level crossings. Basically there are two main problems that can result in hundreds of tonnes of speeding train coming into violent and usually fatal contact with the human body. The first is the obvious one of trying to beat the barriers as they start to come down. They might lack the weight and speed of a passing train but if the action is mistimed they can make a nasty dint in the roof of a car. The barriers here in Paignton are full barriers so no chance of anyone trying to drive round the barriers, if you have half barriers where you live then don't be tempted. The second less obvious danger is driving on to the crossing without being able to drive of the crossing and that is the main problem here.

The two photos illustrate this, the first shows the young lads on their scoters keeping the crossing clear and the second shows a car sat with wheels on the rails. I’m not too bothered if a train comes alone and redesigns this car but if it did happen it would tend make a mess of our schedules; and the car and the train and traffic through Paignton for the next few hours. Keep the crossing clear.

I Love Level Crossings

Once a week I get to drive the Cockington Clipper instead of the service 500. This is so the full time driver can have a day off now ond then. The departure point is the same for both services, Torbay Road in Paignton. Sixty metres in front of the bus stop is probably the bussiest level crossing in the country and it is common to get stopped at this crossing 2 or three times a day. The Cockington route then goes round in a circle and passes back over the rail line via a slightly less busy level crossing in Sands Rd. This crossing is used mainly by the Paignton to Dartmouth Steam Railway, web page here http://www.dartmouthrailriver.co.uk/. If you are into steam trains then take a ride between Kingswear and Paignton.

The engine in the photo which I took after being stopped at the crossing is call the Torquay Manor and I haven't noticed it before. The barrier to the crossing goes down well before the train arrives for safetyu reasons so there is plenty of time to stop the bus, switch the engine off and get out and up close to the track. The train then takes a minute or so to pass so getting stuck at both crossings can add 5 minutes to the journey time. Does take a good photo though.

Oak Tree and a Level Crossing

Not much happened to day, I made the 6 round trips without major incident as usual. Tweenaway was it's usual ununderstandable mess. A road improvement scheme has been in progress there for seemingly ever. When the Universe was created Tweenaway Cross Roads were already a gleam in some body's eye. Some vengeful god I imagine. The problem is with the traffic management, or lack of it I should say, at the road works. I don't think enough care is taken to make sure everyone knows what to do. At the moment there is ane lane until 15 metres before the lights which turn into two lanes as you approach from the Zoo. The right lane is for turning right only and the traffic light for that traffic is on green only long enough for about 5 cars to turn right. The left lane is for turning left or straight on. Problem is there is no sign explaining which lane motorists should be in. It is tricky getting into the left lane so most motorist stay in the right lane and when the light turns red they stop and block the left lane which still has a green light for an other 20 seconds. The queue of traffic stretches back several hundred metres at time and I go that way seven times a day. Gives me chance to relax but I wish the contractors or Torbay council would take 10 minutes to look at the problem and sort it out. Trouble is the only ones who care are us poor sods who drive that way.

Apart from the above the only other moment of excitement was the car stopping on Torbay Rd. Well he had to stop, the car in front had also stopped in the usual queue of traffic that builds up while the barriers were down at the level crossing. After the train had gone and the barriers gone up the first 6 cars drove on to the crossing but there is only room for 5 cars to clear the danger area that the trains use. I was almost begging the barriers to come down but they didn't. There is no real danger of being hit by a train here. Trains coming from the left will be leaving Paignton Station which is only 10 yards away and trains coming from the right will be stopping in the station and have several hundred metres clear view of the crossing in which to stop. Would have been embarrassing for the driver of the car though.

Anyway here is a photo of a 600 year old oak tree to calm anyone who needs calming.

Paignton and the Level Crossing

This is one of the 2 level crossings in Paignton. The road in the background is Hyde Road, the busiest road in the area. It is a two lane, one way street but the local Blue Badge holders turn it into a one lane one way street. So when the barriers come down Hyde Road slows down to a crawl. This afternoon the barriers came down and the train went through. The barriers didn't go back up again which usually means there is an other train due. Not this afternoon. This afternoon the lack of upward motion on the part of the barriers was due to a defect in the mechanism. People stood about for a few minutes until they worked out that an other train wasn't hurtling towards them at breakneck speed and walked over the bridge. The car drivers turned their cars around and found an other way round. No problem. Except that once one lot of car drivers had worked out that the barriers were not going to point themselves at the sky and driven off, a new lot of car drivers would replace them and wait a few minutes before the truth dawned and they went their alternate, merry way. A process that repeated itself for a couple of hours. The engineers who knew exactly where to hit the lifting gear with a big hammer are stationed in Exeter, 30 miles away and they had to get through the traffic jam just like us lesser mortals. So did the police turn up to direct the traffic away from this seemingly unending cycle of arriving at the barrier, wait 5 minutes, penny drop, move away, be replaced by more waiters? No. It would appear they considered it to be a British Transport Police problem. Nearest British Transport Police? Yes that's right. Plymouth. 35 miles away. I arrived in Brixham only 45 minutes late. By the time I got back to Paignton some one had hit the mechanism with a hammer in the right place and once again the barriers were pointing to the heavens. Which was nice of them.