Official name: West Dyke Level Crossing
Date filmed: 16/07/2021
Video filmed at 12:31
Route: Tees Valley Line
- Redcar Central Station
Location: West Dyke Road, Redcar
Trains:
Class 158 (Northern) - 2:25
Saltburn ➡ Darlington
A rather unique level crossing found within the North Sea town of Redcar, next to Redcar Central Station on one of the busier main routes into and out of the town. This level crossing is operated from the tall signal box next to it, one of numerous working signal boxes still controlling various signal blocks along this line, and has two alarms which are rather loud and screechy. One of the wigwags (warning lights) here is attached to the signal box itself due to a lack of space in that corner of the level crossing. Beyond this station, passenger trains continue towards Saltburn-by-the-Sea.
This level crossing was the first, and so far only, level crossing in the country to have a Power Operated Sliding Barrier system installed at it. Manufactured by EDS, these are two bespoke very large, robust, telescopic, cantilevered gates which slide across the road to completely close it off when trains are due. These have position/rotation sensors and Programmable Logic Controllers to vary their speed dependant on their position, and they are at their fastest in the middle of their opening/closing phases whilst moving at a slower pace at each end of their movement. These were installed here in late 2015 to replace older wooden gates with motorised wheels which were prone to faults due to the high winds that are fairly common in the town, and this was one of the reasons that lifting barriers were not installed here instead. The current pair of gates are wind-resistant and are rather tall.
Since their instalment in 2015, one of the gates here has become rather rusty, and one makes a lot of squeaking noise as it moves. The alarms here are active for almost a minute as it takes quite a while to fully close the gates. When the gates open, pedestrians can very often be seen walking around them, or onto the tracks waiting for them to fully open, as they are rather slow in this procedure too.
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