Manual gate level crossings and level crossing keepers jobs.

[stadler]

How many old manual gate level crossings still exist nowadays? By this i mean proper main road gate crossings operated manually by a crossing keeper and i am not talking about those user worked farm crossings. There used to be hundreds but i imagine it could be less than twenty or even less than ten nowadays?

Do level crossing keepers jobs still exist and how many are still employed? By this i mean traditional level crossing keepers that manually open and close the gates by hand. I am curious if the actual job of level crossing keeper even still exist for the few remaining manual gate crossings or is the role combined with something else now?

Lastly are the modern common full barrier level crossings controlled by the signaller? Or is there actually someone other than the signaller whose sole job it is to simply raise and lower it by pressing a button and watching over a screen? I ask because i always thought that the modern full barrier level crossings were lowered and raised by the signaller pressing a button and watching on a CCTV camera. Or watching out of the window if it is a local signal box. But i saw a job advert from Network Rail recently for a job called "Level Crossing Keeper (Desk)" which described operating level crossings remotely via CCTV cameras. So have i been wrong and it is not the signaller operating these? They actually have someone sitting in the signalling centre whose main job is operating level crossings via CCTV but they are not a signaller?

 

[skyhigh]

How many old manual gate level crossings still exist nowadays? By this i mean proper main road gate crossings operated manually by a crossing keeper and i am not talking about those user worked farm crossings. There used to be hundreds but i imagine it could be less than twenty or even less than ten nowadays?

It's definitely not as few as 10.

There are also still crossing keepers employed, but I don't know how many.

I can think of:
Crofton Old Station crossing (used to access Crofton depot)
Red Lane crossing (between Streethouse and Featherstone)
Marston Moor, Hessay, Wilstrop, Hammerton Lane and Whixley (all on the Harrogate line)

These all have manual gates and a crossing keeper.

There is also:
Cattal, Hammerton, Poppleton and Knaresborough.

These also have manual gates but are done by the signaller rather than a crossing keeper.

 

[tumbledown]

Middlewood LC on the Buxton line is manual. Not sure if the operator is also a signaller.

 

[Magdalen Road]

Littleport

 

[ainsworth74]

Lastly are the modern common full barrier level crossings controlled by the signaller? Or is there actually someone other than the signaller whose sole job it is to simply raise and lower it by pressing a button and watching over a screen? I ask because i always thought that the modern full barrier level crossings were lowered and raised by the signaller pressing a button and watching on a CCTV camera. Or watching out of the window if it is a local signal box. But i saw a job advert from Network Rail recently for a job called "Level Crossing Keeper (Desk)" which described operating level crossings remotely via CCTV cameras. So have i been wrong and it is not the signaller operating these? They actually have someone sitting in the signalling centre whose main job is operating level crossings via CCTV but they are not a signaller?

It varies depending on location. Taking my own line for example at Longbeck crossing the signaller is next to the crossing so looks out the window and pushes the relevant buttons to raise and lower the barriers as needed. A bit further down the line at Redcar there is one crossing on Church Lane which is remotely operated via CCTV by the signaller at Redcar. West Dyke Road crossing is operated by Redcar signaller manually by looking at their window. Then a bit further along close to Middlesbrough you have Whitehouse crossing which is remotely operated by a workstation in York ROC and uses Obstacle Detection (with no CCTV at all) to prove the crossing clear apart from on match days when there is a crossing keeper (it's near the football ground so sees extremely large pedestrian flows) who can operate the crossing locally (I think this is often done by a MOM but wouldn't swear to it!).

So even within a few miles you have several different methods of working crossings!

I believe for ROCs and IECCs (are there are any left or are they all now in ROCs or mini-ROCs?) there can be workstations with so many crossings on the patch, particularly CCTV crossings, that having a separate signaller whose job is to monitor and operate level crossings does exist. But that will vary by workstation as obviously some may have only one or two crossings and a sparse enough service that it can all be done by one person. Other workstations will have so many crossings and so many services that someone else has to do it.

 

[jp4712]

I’ve often thought that the crossing keeper’s job at Fine Lane, between Lichfield TV High Level and Alrewas, must be one of the most bucolic jobs on the railway.

 

[zwk500]

I believe for ROCs and IECCs (are there are any left or are they all now in ROCs or mini-ROCs?) there can be workstations with so many crossings on the patch, particularly CCTV crossings, that having a separate signaller whose job is to monitor and operate level crossings does exist. But that will vary by workstation as obviously some may have only one or two crossings and a sparse enough service that it can all be done by one person. Other workstations will have so many crossings and so many services that someone else has to do it.

Correct. Level Crossings could drive a need to have 2 separate workstations, the additional level crossing desk at a workstation, or be light enough load that everything is handled by the one signaller.

The recent Farncombe to Petersfield Resignalling had to handle several level crossings and I believe there was quite a lot of discussion about the most effective way to handle it.

 

[Narrowgauge725]

There is Spittal Crossing on the East Coast Main line just south of Berwick Upon Tweed, the crossing keeper comes out fo the house to open up, I have only once used it and had to wait a considerable time both for him to come out then to wait until there was sufficient time between trains.

 

[milooo]

Would East Rd LC count in Langford? https://goo.gl/maps/zMS2NKtS4SQKpvt78 (link to Google maps pinpoint of East Rd LC in Langford)

 

[Rutland23]

I think that there are around 40 crossings operated by Crossing Keeper, with no signals.

There are 2 between Oakham and Melton, at Wymondham and Wyfordby.

Somewhere at work (if it is till there) I have a list of all the extant MCG crossings operated by crossing keepers.

None at all in Scotland, and all bar a few in England.

And, yes, in my opinion, its the best job in the world.

No stress, no rush, nobody in a hurry comes to my crossing, and if they are in a hurry, they aren't in a hurry when they get there!

Regards

Ian

 

[Elecman]

Several on the Cumbrian coast line

 

[Twingo37175]

Is there still Dormer Green and Noblethorpe just North of Doncaster on the ECML? I know those on the main roads went to barriers (or a bridge) over 10 years ago, but I am not sure on the last 2 (which were mainly farm or cycles, and a single keeper between the 2)

 

[weeklycommuter]

Video taken in 2019 of the manually operated level crossing gates being opened and closed for a Class 317 train at Elsenham Station in Essex on the West Anglia Line served by trains between Cambridge and London Liverpool Street.

This station is now served by five coach and ten coach Class 720 Greater Anglia trains operating the service between Cambridge and London Liverpool Street. The level crossing is staggered with trains calling at the platforms after the level crossing in both directions.

Greater Anglia has the following important information for passengers leaving at this station on ten coach Class 720 trains.

Elsenham (Essex)

www.greateranglia.co.uk

Don’t get stuck on the train​

If you’re travelling from London or Bishop Stortford to Elsenham station, please travel in the back seven coaches of the train. This is for Greater Anglia trains with 10 coaches only as the doors on the front three coaches will not open at Elsenham.

If you're travelling from Cambridge to Elsenham station, please travel in the back six coaches of the train. This applies to Greater Anglia trains with 10 coaches only as the doors on the front four coaches will not open at Elsenham.

 

[83G/84D]

And I don’t think anyone has mentioned St Mary’s crossing box near Brimscombe in Gloucestershire. A delightful location that so had the pleasure to visit a few years ago.

 

[LittleRedTrain]

What is the current status of the crossing at Dyffryn Ardudwy on the Cambrian line?
It looks like a normal user-worked crossing, but there always seems to be someone in hi-vis supervising it, based out of a portacabin on the disused platform.
He's even visible on street view: https://maps.app.goo.gl/XRbNMityxqdgH5m97

 

[Stuart-h]

Fairly sure theres one not far from helpston on the east coast main line.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

Tal - Y - Cafn on the Conwy Valley, still has a keeper who operates the gates as although a half barrier would absolutely be fine there (imo) The location to the bridge and going into the river from any sort of accident means, a crossing keeper has a very comfortable job, thanks to good old risk assessments.

 

[bramling]

What is the current status of the crossing at Dyffryn Ardudwy on the Cambrian line?
It looks like a normal user-worked crossing, but there always seems to be someone in hi-vis supervising it, based out of a portacabin on the disused platform.
He's even visible on street view: https://maps.app.goo.gl/XRbNMityxqdgH5m97

ISTR the “keeper” is simply there to supervise the correct use of the UWC, which has a history of chronic misuse going back years.

 

[Bevan Price]

Astley Level Crossing (& former station) on the Chat Moss route. The signaller controls the locking & unlocking of the gates. Users are supposed to open the gates and then close them after crossing the line. However some lazy s*ds don't bother to close the gates, and the signaller has to come out of the box to close them. That is possibly the most common cause of signal checks for trains approaching the crossing.

 

[Bodiam]

There was an unfortunate incident at East Farleigh (south of Maidstone West on the line to Paddock Wood) a few years ago where the signaller was badly injured when a car ran into a gate as he was closing it. Network Rail was prosecuted under the Health & Safety at Work Act. As I understand it, that was a major factor in converting crossings on the Medway Valley line and elsewhere in Kent from gates to lifting barriers, even if these were still controlled locally.

 

[43055]

Hilton crossing between Derby and Stoke I believe is the only with manual gates and wig wag lights.

 

[Russel]

Tal - Y - Cafn on the Conwy Valley, still has a keeper who operates the gates as although a half barrier would absolutely be fine there (imo) The location to the bridge and going into the river from any sort of accident means, a crossing keeper has a very comfortable job, thanks to good old risk assessments.

It must get quite boring though, opening and closing gates once every couple of hours!

 

[Kneedown]

Fairly sure theres one not far from helpston on the east coast main line.

Woodcroft I believe.

 

[flixtonman]

The correct name for Middlewood LC (post no. 3) is, apparently, Norbury Hollow LC. The protecting signals are controlled by the person in the small, adjacent signal box, who also manually opens and closes the gates. 61 trains each day, I understand.

 

[tumbledown]

Astley Level Crossing (& former station) on the Chat Moss route. The signaller controls the locking & unlocking of the gates. Users are supposed to open the gates and then close them after crossing the line. However some lazy s*ds don't bother to close the gates, and the signaller has to come out of the box to close them. That is possibly the most common cause of signal checks for trains approaching the crossing.

Yes, this is really a User Worked Crossing. The locking mechanism takes a bit of strength, mind you.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

It must get quite boring though, opening and closing gates once every couple of hours!

Probably pops home for a few hours and comes back

 

[MartinC]

Marchwood on the Fawley branch. School Road at Hythe (Hants) on the same branch although this location no longer has any regular rail traffic.The latter crossing (next to a school) was the location of the derailment of an oil train when the crossing keeper went to sleep in his warm hut.

 

[johncarter06]

How many old manual gate level crossings still exist nowadays? By this i mean proper main road gate crossings operated manually by a crossing keeper and i am not talking about those user worked farm crossings. There used to be hundreds but i imagine it could be less than twenty or even less than ten nowadays?

Do level crossing keepers jobs still exist and how many are still employed? By this i mean traditional level crossing keepers that manually open and close the gates by hand. I am curious if the actual job of level crossing keeper even still exist for the few remaining manual gate crossings or is the role combined with something else now?

Lastly are the modern common full barrier level crossings controlled by the signaller? Or is there actually someone other than the signaller whose sole job it is to simply raise and lower it by pressing a button and watching over a screen? I ask because i always thought that the modern full barrier level crossings were lowered and raised by the signaller pressing a button and watching on a CCTV camera. Or watching out of the window if it is a local signal box. But i saw a job advert from Network Rail recently for a job called "Level Crossing Keeper (Desk)" which described operating level crossings remotely via CCTV cameras. So have i been wrong and it is not the signaller operating these? They actually have someone sitting in the signalling centre whose main job is operating level crossings via CCTV but they are not a signaller?If you want to learn more, it’s quite interesting how these roles differ.

There are very few true manual gate crossings left now, and the traditional keeper roles still exist but only in a small number of places, often combined with other duties. Most modern full-barrier crossings are operated by the signaller via CCTV, though some areas do use dedicated Level Crossing Keepers who remotely control several crossings from a desk, depending on the setup and workload.

 

[Annetts key]

How many old manual gate level crossings still exist nowadays? By this i mean proper main road gate crossings operated manually by a crossing keeper and i am not talking about those user worked farm crossings. There used to be hundreds but i imagine it could be less than twenty or even less than ten nowadays?

Do level crossing keepers jobs still exist and how many are still employed? By this i mean traditional level crossing keepers that manually open and close the gates by hand. I am curious if the actual job of level crossing keeper even still exist for the few remaining manual gate crossings or is the role combined with something else now?

Lastly are the modern common full barrier level crossings controlled by the signaller? Or is there actually someone other than the signaller whose sole job it is to simply raise and lower it by pressing a button and watching over a screen? I ask because i always thought that the modern full barrier level crossings were lowered and raised by the signaller pressing a button and watching on a CCTV camera. Or watching out of the window if it is a local signal box. But i saw a job advert from Network Rail recently for a job called "Level Crossing Keeper (Desk)" which described operating level crossings remotely via CCTV cameras. So have i been wrong and it is not the signaller operating these? They actually have someone sitting in the signalling centre whose main job is operating level crossings via CCTV but they are not a signaller?

I have no idea on numbers so can't answer that part of your questions.

However, I can confirm that the operations grade called crossing keeper does still exist. It is actually a signalling grade and hence a crossing keeper comes under the same management chain as signallers.

The determination of whether a post is graded as a crossing keeper or as a signaller is determined by the type and amount of equipment (workload) and the level of responsibility assigned to that post.

Hence in what may appear to be a signal box at a level crossing, even if that crossing is a full barrier crossing and the operator controls the protecting signals, you may find the grade for that post is that of a crossing keeper, not signaller. Meanwhile, elsewhere, the grade may be that of a signaller.

Similarly, as others have said, in a PSB, ROC or signalling centre (and yes, not everything is a ROC) there may be multiple CCTV crossings in the area, hence a crossing keeper may have a separate desk to operate and monitor these.

But if there one, or a small number of CCTV crossings, instead it may be that the signaller operates and monitors it / them.

Some examples to illustrate:

I know of a signal box that controls a local full barrier crossing and two CCTV crossings. This box has no levers any more but has two signalling panels. It's operated by a signaller. Before the levers were removed and the panels installed, it controlled a local full barrier crossing and one CCTV crossing but no points. It had the status of a signal box because of the number of signals and because it had block instruments.

On a main line, I know of a crossing keepers box (before the area was resignalled, it use to be a signal box in it's own right). This controls a local full barrier crossing and one CCTV crossing. The crossing keeper controls the four main line signals that protect the two crossings. The grade is that of a crossing keeper because the PSB that controls the area and all other signals is where the SPTs connect to. So any instructions to drivers come from the signaller at the PSB. The area is all track circuit block.

 

[themiller]

Several on the Cumbrian coast line

Skelly Crag crossing is not on a main road but has a crossing keeper, Kirksanton crossing and Limestone Hall crossings are across a ’main’ road (A5093). All three would be difficult to automate due to the road geometry.