One of my commentators informed me that work had been carried out on the disgracefully decrepit gates at Holywood level crossing - so I went to see for myself.
I say they give that box and crossing a listed status. If you say it's the last remaining wheel controlled level crossing in the whole of Scotland, that's pretty special.
You might be surprised by how much heritage equipment is still in use on the quieter parts of the system - all over Britain. Speaking as a photographer I hope it remains that way for years to come!
Thanks for the video, that is extremely interesting to me because I am a Canadian Railroader myself and I have never seen anything like that before although I do remember one manually protected Crossing going into the sales barns years ago in Kitchener Ontario, greetings from Stratford Ontario Canada
It's unique in Scotland although I believe a number of similar crossings are still in use in England - quite a museum piece but one I hope we'll keep - much more interesting than an automatic barrier! Every good wish from Scotland.
@@schoolshortsYes in North Yorkshire both Kirkham Abbey and Weaverthorpe level crossings are still using the manual gates operated by a ships wheel in the box.
Thank you. It is a little gem - or would be if it were restored to full working order. I'll keep an eye on it and report again if there's any further news.
Mechanical marvel underneath the workings that people don't see. I'm surprised thst there aren't any pop up locking shoes in the centre of the road, well not that I can see. They were large and well greased at the crossing near me on the West Coast main line in the 60s. Occasionally one of the gates did bounce back though. The pedestrian gate was also mechanically locked and we used to hang on to it as slammed shut 😁 All gone now including replacement barriers, they put a bridge over the line.
It never ceases to amaze me that so many level crossings remain on ultra-high-speed lines such as the one at Floriston, a few miles north of Carlisle. I'm always very cautious when driving across it.
Cosmetically repaired, they look a lot better but still look to be in the same mechanical condition. There probably aren't many S&T left working who know how to get them back in full working condition now. Sadly a skill that will be lost.
It's going to be a major headache if they have to keep that speed restriction on the Southbound track - you would have thought that would have prompted them to do something more permanent.
There are plenty of people in the heritage sector who’d have those gates looking like new in a jiffy although I suppose going down that road would be tantamount to admitting defeat!
@@winco68 I was going to say they should look at getting help from East Lancs Railway who have a well maintained 4 gate crossing, but being the 'professional' railway asking amateurs to help out would as you say be admitting defeat. Only training I had on this type of crossing was a film, which I think is on a DVD now, and notes. I doubt today Networkrail have any practical training on gates in school, there are several barrier crossings set up
Well, Tim, after watching your video, I looked at my photo catalogue for my own pics of Hollywood, which were taken in 2013. They showed the gates etc in good condition at that time. However, and admittedly, 10 years of weather predominantly from the Atlantic via the Solway have taken their toll. I hope to compare the gates’ condition 10 years hence as, and if, I approach my 90th! (Please post us an update then). Slange var! 🤣
You and I are of a similar age. Let's hope we are both still around for our 90th and still capable of doing creative work. Whether I'll still be to drive a car by then is another matter - our government seems inclined to clamp down on older motorists at present. However - here's hoping!
Glad to see the gates have been fixed up in part and look loads better. Hopefully they sort out the locking mecanism. Surprised they haven't modernised them.👍
Certainly looking much better. Personally I hope they don't modernise them - the old gates are much more photogenic than automatic barriers and on such a quiet line they're hardly a major obstacle. However, abolition of the signal box and gates will reduce the salaries bill!
The mechanism needs rebushing which is NOT a difficult job for any competent engineering business but, like the crossing at Broughty Ferry (look up Google for that debacle where the gates were demolished by an HST due to having no interlocking in place) Network Rail will claim no one can do it. What NR need is capable people who CAN think out of the box when faced with obsolete or old machinery that NEEDS to be kept in working order.
Thinking, like common sense, is a skill which has long since been replaced by red tape, rules and regulations - 'elf 'n' safety - in this once great country of ours. Thanks for the reference to the Broughty Ferry incident - one with which I was unfamiliar. As an RNLI member, Broughty Ferry means the 1959 lifeboat disaster which I vividly remember, being 14 years old at the time. Best wishes.
You'd need a Network Rail engineer to answer that one but I suspect that the gates by the southbound track are less secure than those by the northbound rails.
That was the intention last year but it didn't happen - and I suspect that lack of funding will see the present gates remain in place for some years to come
Some grease and rod adjustment should help the mechanism to get back to at least near normal The gate keeper will be aware of the problem. Looks like the driver of the second train wasn't too concerned about the 20 mph restriction! Keep us updated.
