satisnek
Member
[AHB = Automatic half barrier]
This is not hypothetical, I saw it for real yesterday along Findern Lane in south Derbyshire, where the traffic queuing to get into Mercia Marina for the illuminated drone display was tailing back over the crossing all the way to the Canal Bridge junction in Willington (I felt sorry for the poor old V3 bus, as well as motorists wishing to go straight past, caught up in it). I thought at the time that it would only take one muppet to stop on the crossing when a train was just about to 'strike-in', with no means of moving out of the way, and I for one wouldn't want to be around to see the result. But what I did actually witness, bearing in mind that there's no yellow box or clear demarcation of clearance on the exit from the crossing, were drivers going over the crossing once there was what they perceived to be sufficient distance between the tracks and the car in front. Thus the potential for a near-miss was very real, which can't be much fun for train drivers.
I've read Richard Westwood's book on the Hixon crash, as well as the official report, and am aware of the modifications made to these crossings afterwards, as well as many being subsequently eliminated or converted. However, I'm left with the distinct impression that much was swept under the carpet and remains there to this day.
This is not hypothetical, I saw it for real yesterday along Findern Lane in south Derbyshire, where the traffic queuing to get into Mercia Marina for the illuminated drone display was tailing back over the crossing all the way to the Canal Bridge junction in Willington (I felt sorry for the poor old V3 bus, as well as motorists wishing to go straight past, caught up in it). I thought at the time that it would only take one muppet to stop on the crossing when a train was just about to 'strike-in', with no means of moving out of the way, and I for one wouldn't want to be around to see the result. But what I did actually witness, bearing in mind that there's no yellow box or clear demarcation of clearance on the exit from the crossing, were drivers going over the crossing once there was what they perceived to be sufficient distance between the tracks and the car in front. Thus the potential for a near-miss was very real, which can't be much fun for train drivers.
I've read Richard Westwood's book on the Hixon crash, as well as the official report, and am aware of the modifications made to these crossings afterwards, as well as many being subsequently eliminated or converted. However, I'm left with the distinct impression that much was swept under the carpet and remains there to this day.