By the time you get the barriers up another train is bloody here 😂

Waiting for the train and timing that sentence must have been a pain to do

This is a new level of budget cuts...

I think several people are missing the point, so it's probably important to state that the barriers are already lowered as you approach in your car. You raise them by hand, and lower them again when you get to the other side. If you don't lower them, they gradually lower on their own - however this is a slow process.

Its used to keep animals out at the same time, this is a farm after all so making it so only humans can open the gates is a much safer way. The gates close automatically over a short period of time as it utilises a bleed valve. Think of it as those taps where you have to push down to get the water going but after some time it automatically closes.

Great Britain - Where people can still be trusted not to kill themselves in stupid ways. (Mostly)

Sign: Cross quickly Tom: No, I don't think I will.

If you ever get to Germany, you should seek out an "Anrufschranke", where you have to call up the signalman down the line to open the barriers for you. Don't forget to call again when you are on the other side!

'4: Cross quickly' Stands on tracks.

As a Canadian, I basically have no idea what I just witnessed.

Half the comments here wouldn't have been made had Tom mentioned that almost all of these unmanned/unpowered crossings are built over private roads, on stately manor homes or on massive farms. No danger of an 80 year old man with a dodgy back coming across one whilst driving his Fiat Panda.

Love how quintessentially British & polite your program title is. I hate it when people assume you don't already know something on social media. Finally someone who's got it right.

There was a question on my driving theory test about these gates and I had no idea wtf it was on about. I've asked so many people over the last few years for the answer and no one has a clue, so thank you for finally ending my torment Tom haha.

I've used this crossing a thousand times over the years. They are entirely manual, and you need to lower them yourself. Fortunately, the road is only used by a farm at the end of it (some 200 yards) and where the road ends...

By the time I'd've done that, another train would've gone past

Uhm, why are the barriers not electronically operated with the light??? It's not that much harder...

I just love how he times everything so well

There used to be a power station in castle donnington derby/Leicester that used to operate their barriers like this. I was allowed as a kid to pump it, probably because my dad couldn’t be bothered to get out the car. I used to love doing it, and by rights there was another easier way to go but it’s these little things from childhood that stay in your mind ☺️. I wonder if it is still there.

Also, the Class 395 Javelins can't do 140 down that stretch anyway since it's a Third-Rail line, which limits the speed (the record being about 110). They only do 140 on HS1, where the electrical traction current comes from overhead wires and the signalling is set up to allow it (Virgin Pendolinos could theoretically do 140 on the West Coast Mainline, as they're design-capable of going that fast, but those speeds are only allowed on lines with in-cab signalling like HS1).

I live in Canterbury, I didn't realise they were that uncommon

I don't get it... how do the crossings go down again after you've crossed? Do they expect people to put it down again themselves? In that case who would bother? It may as well just have the lights. Where I grew up many crossings only had lights and some only had a sign.

I can only imagine a little old granny lady trying to operate that.

On Network Rail , there also exists another kind of User Worked Level Crossing ( UWC) which is called Telephone Equipped UWC or TEL for short . These are *usually* deployed in case of Absolute Block Section Signalled Areas . In this case the user wanting to open the barriers for road movement needs to call the Station Controller/Master (of the stations on either sides) active in the area if the gates can be opened for road traffic . If the Line Clear has not been granted by the Station Master / Controller , the Masters would not allow the gate to be opened . If there is no train to be expected , the Master would allow the vehicle user to use Level Crossing . The timing of Gate Opening is noted and no train is admitted in the Block section ( in either direction ) . Only and only when the confirmation call from the user arrives that the gate is closed and is clear for train traffic , the master notes the timings down and now train could be allowed in Block Section . To prevent mishap , ( I guess these days ) the Block Instrument is interlocked with Gate Opening / Closing . If the Gate is open for Road traffic , the Block Instrument is locked on to Line Closed state . Until and unless the gate closes , Line Clear cannot be granted .

Wow. This is a simple, practical solution. Seeing the title of the video I thought it'd just be a pedestrian crossing, not a complete road crossing.

I didn't know manual crossings were that uncommon, we've still got old 80's manual gates that swing out to the road on the London-Ipswitch line. Not many people still use it since it's only a five min drive to a bridge, but it's still there and still works.

Before I clicked on this video I was think of the exact same crossing (Whitehall Road, Canterbury). I have used it once before, whilst it was fun being in control of the barriers I can imagine it would also be quite tiring for the people who need to use it regularly.

Welcome back everyone, good to see you after all these years

You wrote. _Things you might not know._ Your unassuming approach is a true delight, thank you. I hate the _[N] things you don't know about..._ video titles which assume that one's ignorance is a given. (Your content is always brilliant, anyway!) Cheers.

Says "all thats stopping me from getting hit from a train are the *gates* " stands on the track where a 140mph *OR* 50mph train could come through and hit him

Its especially dangerous because express trains are not required to sound the horn at crossings

In germany we have somethingh in a way similar called "Anrufschranke". On such crossings is a kind of phone where you can be connected to the signal box and the dispatcher will open the gates when it is save

That was something I really did not know thanks Tom !

This Crossing design has a lot to do with livestock

The level crossing on my road is completely manual. The operator sits in a small hut all day and gets out two times an hour to push open the level crossings (which unlike many modern electrical ones cover all of the road) so a train can stop/go through. They used to all be like this but now there aren't many left.

I like this older format of videos, just a quick intro, showing what the video is about, and a quick outro, as opposed to now where it’s a longer outro, and the content of the video talks more about the history behind what ever the video is about.

Hey Tom, I'm from Australia and last year I lived in York. I was so amazed to see in Nether Poppleton a level crossing where the conductor had to walk down to the gates and manually open and close them. Also, here is Australia because our country is so vast many rail crossings in the outback / remote parts of Australia have no barrier at all. Just a flashing light.

If you ever come to the Netherlands, you should make a video about the user operated ferries here. They transport a few bikes and pedestrians and can be operated by a single person.

I miss these kind of tom videos. Informative, well done, a good script and he doesn't have to fly half way around the world for it.

Dude I live here and it's the bomb - It was my childhood getting to work the lever and take it down again was so much fun! Best part of the walk.

There's a pedestrian crossing near us on the GWR, on a nice bit of straight where the trains woosh past. There are no lights or barrier, just a stile and warning sign. Adds to the fun of the wander back from the pub ...

Would be interesting to see how this integrates with the signalling systems for the trains, telling them if the barriers are down or not

There is Bodsbury Crossing between Elvanfoot and Beattock on the West Coast Main Line that is the same. Technically it is just a farm access, and use by anyone other than railway staff, the property owner, or anyone with business at the farm is prohibited. Same dual hydraulic pumping mechanism with a release lever and red/green lights. It gets abused fairly regularly, usually by delivery drivers that don’t want to raise and lower it twice. But if a train passes and the barriers are raised it will be reported by the driver to the signaller, who will in turn call out the BTP, a Mobile Operations Manager and sometimes the local signalling technicians to ascertain if there is a problem preventing its lawful use. These types of crossing are not interlocked with the signalling beyond the operation of the red/green lights and the onus is very much on the user to make sure they cross on a green light. A train will not get a red signal if the barrier is raised. Misuse if detected will always result in a loss of drivers licence and potentially a prison sentence depending on the severity. As someone formerly part of the local signalling team (my profile picture is actually just a couple of miles up the line at Abington, taken during an engineering shutdown) I’ve seen some camera footage of misuse and know what happened to the vehicle driver involved.

I remember Ramsgate.. before that big scandal. You will always be Rams to me.

I know this crossing well. I used to go here just to use the crossing. It looks like it has been modernised a bit since I was last there?

If someone leaves without lowering the barriers, is there a mechanism that will do it automatically?

Subscribing to your channel might have been the best decision I have made for a year. Frequent videos, that are short, good, funny and awesome!

We have one like that in Northern Ireland, but all you do is push a button to open it, then warning lights tell you to close it again, you cross over to the other side then push the close button! No levers! Enjoyed the vid! :)

What will the elderly do?

"Nothing too unusual about this except" the fact that it's really unusual...

There’s one of these user operated level crossings on the East Coast main line near Biggleswade. It’s on a dead end road that leads to a couple of houses on the opposite side of the line. I encountered it whilst trying to find a shortcut home, that wasn’t ! You have to pump hard to get the crossing barriers to stay up - I didn’t pump enough 💪 and the barriers came down whilst I was half way over 😩. Panic pumping to get the barriers up again and get off the railway; all the time being watched by a bemused resident who’d come out to watch

That looks so fun to just play with all day.

If the barriers don't go down automatically, isn't it a little too dangerous to use this crossing?

Near canterbury? Holy crap, I need to go see this!

I never thought that such thing would exict, thanks for showing it.

I used to use that exact Crossing on a daily basis once upon a time when I lived lived on the Housing estate situated above the Rail line in the background ( the Dover to Victoria line.)

So Tom Scott done a video on this level crossing, before Geoff Marshall went there in 2017.

Damn those barriers getting a free “Pump” from everybody ✊💨💨💨

I have a childhood memory that makes me feel all gooey about level crossings. I'd love to have the old red lamp as a bedside night light.

In Germany, there is also a "self-service" railroad crossing in the Hannover / Braunschweig area. Analogous to the English, we have so-called "call barriers" which are always closed and only open after a button at the transition itself. :-)

That is why French high-speed railroads don't intersect with anything ! Always goes over or under an obstacle

What are the elderly, disabled, etc. expected to do, if they can't operate it?

Like the videos you put out. Your like the Uncle Johns Bathroom Reader . Short stories that are to the point and interesting.

I love this guy, he cracks me up.

Pointless. It has a green or red light indicating if it's safe.....So just wait at the lights. Then slowly set off when it goes green. The barrier is superfluous if you have to operate it yourself.

The speed on that line is 70mph, and it is easy for the trains to be doing that at the crossing

Tfw the train aligns perfectly with the words "this is a user operated level crossing"

There's one on a public road just west of Alsager in Cheshire that forms part of the Cheshire Cycleway route. It's on the mainline between Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe - two busy stations. You don't have to pump the gates open - you have to manually open both of them before you cross and they're like gates you'd see at a farmer's field entrance. I've never seen anything to low-tech on a public road. A train approached after I'd opened both gates - so the gates were wide open as it passed. It does have the mini red/green lights though.

The instructions on the sign says fully raise BOTH barriers. Do you have to crank both sides individually to get them to go up or does it move both up when you pump?

If they had more of these near places that people use to cross the track, there might not be as many deaths. Some scary videos of people thinking they can outrun a train.

That's just class on so many LEVELS.

I love the little traffic light

...and that is stupidly dangerous and totally unnecessary by todays possibilities.

Can't I just download an app to do it for me?

Its Station 8 on the running workout trail. People must coordinate their workouts with the local train schedule obtained only at the train Station.

There's one of these crossings on the West Coast Main Line near Beattock where trains cross it at over 100mph.

I'M AWARE JUST HOW DODGY THIS LOOKS Classic Tom!

Well that is insanely dangerous.

Used to have one in Minster Ramsgate (not sheerness). Only changed to an automatic crossing in the last 2 years, great fun when you have to cross it to deliver post.

I remember crossings where you had to open big white gates by hand and then close them after crossing. There was no interlinking or signalling involved. I was to young to use them myself as that was in about 1950. It was a single track line with one gate either side. it was in Welwyn garden city on the Luton Line.

Why isn't there an interlock? If the light is red, you just CANNOT raise the gate/barrier. A mechanical interlock, maybe.

Well that's just weird. ;P

Time to add this to the Tom Scott introducting places series.

I never thought I'd ever hear of my hometown of Ramsgate in a Tom Scott video 😂😂😂

0:54 *pauses video*. *opens unit converter*. 140 mph ≃ 225 km/h, 40 mph ≃ 60 km/h and 50 mph ≃ 80 km/h. You’re welcome.

If you arrive at the crossing and the light turns red, why would you get out to lower the barrier manually to then have to pump to raise it? Wouldn't most people just wait in the car for the light to turn green and leave the barrier up?

Great work!

Interesting design. Had heard that there were some like this but not exactly how they worked. I am sure I passed through an unusual level crossing on a single track road in Rutland - possibly not far outside Uppingham - but don't know much of the details as there were other cars around and the barriers were open. I think it was a kind that was self-closing on the approach of a train, but then stayed closed until you pressed a button to ask the signaller to open them - which he would then do if it was safe. No signals at that crossing.

This seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen....

barry scott's son? shouts the same!

I've seen the old fashioned ones with swing gates you have to operate manually on a heritage line. No lights even - you have to watch for trains yourself. All the ones I've seen on the main line though are either automatic or operated by an attendant.

That is so wacky. Especially since they have the light so the system obviously knows when it should do it. There is a boat drawbridge in one of my frequent vacation spots of Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine, USA that is user-operated. As in, if a sailboat or other large boat needs to get through, they have to call up to a pedestrian on the bridge to press the button to activate the bridge to go up or down. When I was like 8 years old I would hang out by the button on the bridge so I would be the one who had to press it.

As a child I would stand there all day and open and close the barriers xD

I suppose the Barrier lowers automatically with approaching trains.

In Germany, in the Extertal, is a piece of railroad track that you can drive on a pedal powered cart with crossings that have barriers for the rails.

Only just seen this. There's one just north of Lichfield, with old style gates not barriers. There is a phone to call the signalman, then you have to open both gates, drive through, then close them again. I was deivering parcels and my sat-nav sent me through there - wrong place, had to go back through the whole routine again

What...the...hell? If there is functioning traffic light, why not just install electric barrier in that place? It seems incredibly stupid and pointless.

Why does the UK use miles when they're metric

I used to cross the Paddington-Penzance mainline in a couple of places on my horse at bridle crossings. Sat in the saddle, pick up phone. Talk to Truro signal box. Tell them 'I'm up Jolly's bottom waiting to cross on a horse'. They say wait however long or cross now. Pick up the phone on the other side to say the line is clear. Years ago in pissing rain I forgot to call in the all's clear at Wheal Boys. Have not heard a train since :)

East Road is a user-worked crossing exactly like this. It's on the East Coast Mainline, four tracks wide and the speed limit over the crossing is 125mph on the fast lines. 80mph on the slows.

Why dont you just wait for the green light then instead of doing all that hard work