UK "Pen Pals"

[nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org]

Rob,

Level crossings were, and are, quite common on British railways.

During the steam era they were protected by gates which swung across
the road when a train was due to pass. They were manually operated by
a crossing-gate keeper, some of whom lived in houses provided for them
right next to the crossing.

The tendency has been to try to eliminate level crossings as much as
possible. Nevertheless many remain. Instead of swing gates they are
now "protected" by half gates which are simply barriers which fall
into place when a train is due. This is done automatically in
co-ordination with the signalling, and crossing-gate keepers no longer
exist.

While saving greatly on labour and expense, the new system is not as
safe. Every so often there are accidents when a motor vehicle has got
stuck on a crossing, and it is hit by a train. There have even been
incidents when someone has attempted suicide by driving on to a level
crossing.

A proviso on my former comments on "pilots". While new stock has them,
there are still many older locos and multiple units on British
railways which don't have them.

Frank Hung 

-----Original Message-----
From: nw-modeling-list-bounces at nwhs.org
[mailto:nw-modeling-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of
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Sent: 08 June 2006 03:50
To: 'N and W Modeling List'
Subject: RE: UK "Pen Pals"

What about road crossings though? Were there no grade level crossings,
or did roads always cross over or under the tracks? If there were
grade level crossings then trains without headlights would, to a
driver in a car, almost appear to materialize out of nowhere at night.
I've driven in the UK on several vacations but I can't remember
anything about railroad crossings.