Hepscott Level Crossing, Northumberland

Date filmed: Tuesday the 14th of May 2024
Video filmed at 11:16
Route: Blythe & Tyne Railway
- Closest timing point: Hepscott Junction (on Real Time Trains)
Crossing type: Automatic Half Barrier Crossing (AHBC)
Filming location: Hepscott, Morpeth (NE61 6LW)
A level crossing located in the quiet village of Hepscott, just outside of Morpeth in Northumberland. It appears to have in part been recently renewed, as the supporting masts for the road traffic lights (wigwags) and one alarm have all been recently replaced, but the alarms still stop when the barriers are down. The wigwags and barriers themselves are also un-changed, and the alarms now each point at unusual angles. One is quite conveniently forward-facing, which is quite an unusual but a welcome sight as it's more audible by approaching users who don't have to stand right underneath it to hear it best.
This line is typically infrequently-used, seeing only one or two return trains per week coming off of the East Coast Main Line toward the Blyth area, and these can be seen during daylight for only a few months of the year. However, from April this year until completion, major resignalling work on the Northumberland Line, ready for it to hopefully open to passenger trains in the next few months, means that the coal trains to/from Lynemouth Power Station have to be diverted via this line to use the East Coast Main Line to avoid these works. Trains are running top and tailed and turn around at Bedlington, where they can then pick up the now re-signalled section up to Ashington and on to Lynemouth. The one featured in this video was considerably delayed, likely due to problems at Bedlington, and had to be held whilst the in-bound one was let through to clear the main line.
The response unit had turned up to assess this level crossing as this and the other at Choppington were malfunctioning, briefly re-activating after the train had passed only to raise again within a few seconds or so. I witnessed this level crossing do this whilst here, but have not included the clip. For this reason, the late train seen trundling through in this video lost even more time as it had to be cautioned. Thankfully, the train appeared on Open Train Times on the map as approaching nearby Hepscott Junction well before it got here. I was still very fixated on anticipating it as I'd raced here from Choppington to film this level crossing active for it without having to return later. This video is the result, and I hope you enjoy it!
Trains featured:
60 021 & 60 056 (GB Railfreight) Top & Tailed coal train - 0:47
6N19 Lynemouth Power Station (GBRf) ➡ Tyne Coal Terminal (GBRf) | 34 minutes late
Train details sourced from:
Real Time Trains: www.realtimetr...
Open Train Times: www.opentraint...
Traksy: traksy.uk/live
Filmed on: Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus in 4K 30fps
Thanks for watching!

[@Alfieslevelcrossings]

Great videos! Very nice rural location.

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you very much! It is quite pleasant here.

[@freebrickproductions]

Great video and crossing! Sounds like this one had a more "traditional" tail-ring malfunction at it, lol. Neat to see the forwards-facing alarm though.

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you very much!

[@NorthWestLevelCrossingsChannel]

Excellent video and crossing 👍

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you very much!

[@joshsautisticrailwayadvent144]

Great video and crossing

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you very much!

[@CharlesUrban]

Excellent work! I see that your longer freight trains can have "pusher" engines at the back, but do you ever have "mid" engines in the middle of the train? We do that a lot here in 'Murica.

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you! This one mainly had an extra engine as it was turning around on its run, and needed to save the hassle of 'running the engine around' to change ends. I have known but not seen engines in the middle of the train, but very rarely.

[@NWLevelCrossings]

Brilliant Video! 👍🏻👍🏻

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you! 👍

[@SouthWestCrossingsUK]

Great video! Not a fan of forwards facing alarms because you cant hear them both at the same time

[@SouthEastLevelCrossings]

Thank you! That's fair enough