Скачать или смотреть 7029 'Clun Castle' on "The Polar Express" & more at Bentley Heath Level Crossing, West Midlands

Date filmed: Saturday the 21st of December 2024
Videos filmed between 12:48 and 13:14

Route(s): Chiltern Main Line / Snow Hill Lines
Betwen Dorridge (DDG) and Widney Manor (WMR) Stations

Crossing type: Manually Controlled Barrier crossing with CCTV (MCB-CCTV)

Filming location: Mill Lane, Dorridge (B93 8NY)

Here's about half an hour's worth of railway action at this level crossing in the outskirts of Dorridge, an affluent West Midlands town near Solihull and Birmingham. The star of this video's show comes right at the start and near the end, and it's in the form of a 'Polar Express' themed Steam service from/to Birmingham Moor Street, this one turning around just down the line at Dorridge Station. Contrary to what I expected, the steam locomotive was at the 'Birmingham' end of the train, and provided a spectacular departure back for the city on the train's return leg - it even provided a loud whistle which is very rare for a mainline steam train when 'whistle boards' aren't involved! This was one of four round trips that day, the first of all four, and three of which to/from Dorridge, and the locomotive providing the duties was 7029 'Clun Castle'. It was quite a sight!

The level crossing here is in a quiet residential area, and the alarms too are very quiet. This is also believed to be one of the first (if not THE first) level crossings anywhere in the country to have had LED wigwags fitted - 'NRS' variants dating back to circa. 2006 when the crossing was re-controlled via CCTV to the West Midlands Signalling Centre (formerly controlled from a long-gone crossing box supervised from an also long-gone power signal box at Saltley). The line speed here is quite high, and there's a variety of trains and train operators using this part of the Snow Hill Lines, including the ever-underrated Chiltern Railways (sadly no push/pull sets feature in this video, though) providing their alternative expresses between London and Birmingham. Great lineside views are possible here, especially thanks to the adjacent footbridge which isn't the most structurally sound!

As is the usual case for me, this is my last upload this side of Christmas, with no video planned to be released on Christmas Day itself. I would like to wish you all a very restful, enjoyable, and Merry Christmas! 🎄🎅

Trains featured:
Start of video - 0:00
1) 47 773 & 7029 'Clun Castle' (Vintage Trains) - 0:19
1Z12 Birmingham Moor Street ➡ Dorridge "The Polar Express" | 1 minute late

2) 168 322 & 168 002 (Chiltern Railways) - 1:30
1R25 London Marylebone ➡ Birmingham Moor Street | On-time
-
Lowering 1 (2:11):
168 217 & 168 328 (Chiltern Railways) - 3:33
1H45 Birmingham Moor Street ➡ London Marylebone | On-time
-
Lowering 2 (4:13):
221 116 (Cross Country) - 5:10
1E40 Reading ➡ York | On-time
-
Lowering 3 (5:43):
172 217 & 172 214 (West Midlands Railway) - 6:40
2V56 Dorridge ➡ Worcester Foregate Street | On-time
-
Lowering 4 (7:13):
7029 'Clun Castle' & 47 773 (Vintage Trains) - 9:00
1Z13 Dorridge ➡ Birmingham Moor Street "The Polar Express" | 6 minutes early

Also passed:
Class 172/3 & Class 172/2 (West Midlands Railway)
2D51 Worcester Foregate Street ➡ Stratford-upon-Avon | On-time
-
End-of-video picture showcase: 10:04

Train details sourced from:
Real Time Trains: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/sear...
Open Train Times: https://www.opentraintimes.com/maps
Traksy: https://traksy.uk/live

Filmed on: Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus in 4K, 30fps

Thanks for watching!