Trimley St. Martin (Thorpe Lane) Level Crossing, Suffolk

Trimley St. Martin (Thorpe Lane) Level Crossing, Trimley St. Martin, Suffolk
Date filmed: 26/10/2020
Route: Felixstowe Branch Line
- Between Derby Road and Trimley Stations
Location: Thorpe Lane, Trimley St. Martin
Trains:
Lowering 1 (Starts at 0:11): Class 755 (Greater Anglia) - 2:35
Lowering 2 (Starts at 3:10): Class 66 (Freightliner) - 6:20
Single-track obstacle detection level crossing located on a single-track section of the Felixstowe Branch Line near to Gun Lane Junction within the village of Trimley St. Martin just outside of Felixstowe. A fifth wigwag alerts drivers along a nearby side-road of the level crossing being active, and there are also four alarms here to warn pedestrians, and each alarm sounds at a reasonable volume given the level crossing's fairly quiet surroundings. Both of these aspects of the level crossing accompany the usual obstacle detection equipment here. Numerous "stop when lights show" signs are used on each of the level crossing's approaches, some of which are much larger than usual.
This level crossing was one of three public highway level crossings between Derby Road and Trimley Stations to be renewed from an Automatic Half Barrier (AHB) level crossing in 2019 during re-signalling on the Felixstowe Branch Line, where a few miles of track between Trimley Station and Gun Lane Junction was also doubled to help improve the movement of freight traffic constantly using the line, whilst minimising disruption to passenger services at the same time. This level crossing, along with nearby Morston Hall and Levington level crossings, was converted to a Manually Controlled Barriers with Obstacle Detection (MCB-OD) level crossing during re-signalling, which is linked in with the signalling system to improve the flow of freight and passenger traffic alike, whilst minimising disruption to road users and improving overall level crossing safety and efficiency. Equipment such as LIDARs, Radars, and ANPR cameras scan the level crossing and prove whether or not it is clear before allowing the signals to turn green for trains to pass.
A passing freight train slowed to a crawl as it navigated a fairly tight railway bend just northwest of this level crossing, though a Greater Anglia 755 can be seen taking the same bend at speed a few minutes beforehand. The freight was possibly slowing down for signals because it was only a few minutes behind the stopping passenger service.
Thanks for watching!

[@technogb2300]

Great crossing.

[@SgtChip]

Nice work. It's kind of odd to have a 5th WigWag not mounted to an existing pole, instead having its own. Different, but a nice change to be sure.

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thanks! There are quite a few level crossings with extra wigwags on separate poles over here.

[@suffolktrainsplanesandbuses]

my favourite and most visited crossing on the Felixstowe line, not sure why it stopped as they never stop (but i know theres a signal) as the passenger train goes really fast, also derby road is a long way away and its quite a shallow curve

[@NELincsTrainspotting]

Great video

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you!

[@mgsmith344]

Very 👍 (good)

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you! 👍

[@ElectraProductions225]

Looked better AHB

[@ElectraProductions225]

Also great video

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thanks! I quite liked this crossing as an MCB-OD tbf - certainly different to what it was before, that's for sure though 👍

[@ElectraProductions225]

@@SouthEastLevelCrossings I remember seeing it in 2016 looked cool

[@OttoFeher]

Nice

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thanks!