Very unusual, un-gated crossing: Britannia Bridge Level Crossing, Welsh Highland Railway, Gwynedd

Two Welsh Highland Railway steam services steam out of Porthmadog Harbour Station towards Caenarfon, snaking along the road like trams over Britannia Bridge, Porthmadog, at this rather distinctive and unusual level crossing! Skip to 2:47 for the first activation, and skip to 3:47 for the first train.

Date filmed: 29/06/2023
Videos filmed at: 10:06 | 14:05

Route: Rheilffordd Eryri / Welsh Highland Railway (WHR)
Porthmadog Harbour Station

Crossing type: Automatic Open Crossing Locally-monitored by traincrew (AOCL)

Location: A497 High Street, Porthmadog
Intro - 0:00
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Activation 1 (2:47):
Welsh Highland Railway No. 143 (NG G16 Class) - 3:47
Porthmadog ➡ Caernarfon "The Harbourmaster"
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Activation 2 (5:20):
Welsh Highland Railway No. 87 (Ex. South African Railways NG G16 Class) - 6:06
Porthmadog ➡ Caenarfon "Snowdonia Star"

For more information about the railway: https://www.festrail.co.uk/

A pair of videos filmed on one of North Wales' rare sunny days at this very busy level crossing in the centre of Porthmadog, which spans Britannia Bridge (not to be confused with the large one on the North Wales Coast Line where the railway runs under the road onto the Isle of Anglesey), located next to Porthmadog's Harbour and the station of the same name which serves as the main connecting hub between the area's two main narrow gauge heritage railways: the Ffestiniog Railway and the Welsh Highland Railway. Most of the time, only the Welsh Highland Railway's impressive steam locomotives, very big trains for such a narrow gauge railway, use it, though the occasional special train which runs the entire length of both railways isn't unheard of. Running both the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways, the Ffestiniog Railway Company owns over 40 miles of narrow gauge railway from Blaenau Ffestiniog right the way through to Caenarfon via Porthmadog. Each video was respectively taken before and after making a return journey to Blaenau Ffestiniog on the "Mountain Spirit" service, the first featuring the morning departure of the Caenarfon round trip from Porthmadog, called "The Harbourmaster", and the second featuring the afternoon departure of the "Snowdonia Star" service on its return leg to Caenarfon having started there that morning.

This has to be one of the most unusual and rather iconic level crossings in the entire country. When the Welsh Highland Railway re-opened through Porthmadog in 2011 in its Cross Town Rail Link (CTRL) project, it seemed like the only way to connect its route to Porthmadog Harbour Station, without building an entirely new station, was to run it across Britannia Bridge, but also due to numerous restrictions at this location including the Grade II listed status of the bridge, the end result was decided to have the railway run along the road almost like a tramway. They quite smoothly snake along the road, and the first shot shows the movement of the whole train across the crossing whilst the second shot mainly focusses on tracking the locomotive departing Porthmadog Harbour from the other side, the whole train passing too of course.

Due to the layout of the tracks, cyclists are advised to dismount, and the tracks themselves are clearly marked out in red on their path across the bridge with additional yellow marking dots either side of it. Pedestrians are provided with two separate crossing points too, one located by a side entrance to the platform, the other in the far corner of the bridge near the purpose-built extension for the railway. The crossing's length is considerable: around 100yds / 315ft / 96 metres separates the crossing's boundaries from end to end. Two side roads enter the crossing within it, one has just the single extra set of lights, the other (Glasyln Bridge and the main entrance to the heritage railway station) has its own dedicated pair of wigwags / warning lights. A total of seven sets of 'Pike' LED warning lights and three reasonably loud alarms all provide clear warnings here. Given how the pavements over the bridge itself don't conflict with the railway anywhere else than at the two dedicated crossing points, it seems like these warnings simply warn people of the presence of a train, as well as telling motorists to stop.

The backdrop to this location comes in the form of either the mountains of Snowdonia in the distance, the pretty little harbour beside, or the main tourist part of Porthmadog. It was easy to predict when the crossing was about to be activated as a member of train crew could be seen waiting next to a plunger and looking like they were ready to go. it can get very busy at times, so please excuse the crowds at the start of the second video. Nonetheless, enjoy!

Thanks for watching!