(Ft. "The Santa Steam Express") Mitre Bridge Level Crossing, Greater London

Borough: London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

Date filmed: Friday the 15th of December 2023
Videos filmed between 15:32 and 16:38

Route: Willesden Relief Lines
Closest timing point: Mitre Bridge Junction (on Real Time Trains)

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

Location: College Park, Harlesden (NW10 6RF)

As the sun goes down, I manage to provide the third and final part of this trio of festive-ish videos taken around West London on this day, ten days before Christmas Day. This time, the same rail tour as seen twice previously by me that day (the Santa Steam Express) can be seen trundling past this quirky West London crossing, operated from the Wembley Area Signalling Centre, a railtour that was Diesel-hauled on its approach to where it would turn around, just up the line from here, to run steam-hauled back to London Victoria via Acton and Chiswick. The very fine-looking 'Black 5' locomotive can be seen trailing and steaming on the rear. This was its third of four round-trips that day (the 'Afternoon' leg) it completed, and the festive decorations on-board were more visible by now as it got darker. Also, see if you can spot the big man himself on-board! Its fourth and final run then didn't pass for another few hours. As this is the final upload before Christmas Day, I'd like to wish all my viewers a very Merry Christmas! See you on Boxing Day!

You may also note that this and a few other trains ran the opposite direction along the 'up' line compared to usual due to what was likely a points failure on the 'down' line at the junction, meaning the points had to be maintained in one position to allow the frequent London Overground services to access Willesden Junction's high level platforms. This was perfectly safe and catered for as the line is fully signalled bi-directionally on both lines. This line allows services to access the West Coast Main Line from the West London Line without causing any more disruption to the intercity traffic than necessary. Fully bi-directional, they join the West Coast Main Line just before Wembley Central and give access to a plethora of large freight yards, and you can also sometimes see empty London Overground stock running along them (seen in this video). A typical day here sees quite a variety of rather interesting rail traffic.

Due to very sparse pedestrian usage, none of the barriers here have any skirting underneath them. The road traffic lights here are on rather skinny masts, the same masts that typically support street lighting, and both alarms are Yodalarm 'YO5' alarms which are incredibly rare at level crossings nowadays. However, what's also unusual here is that BOTH alarms are producing continuous flat-tones, and this is one of not many times this has happened anywhere. The level crossing is on an industrial access road which is very uneven and has tight road bends on either side of the line, and care should be taken if filming here due to the abundance of HGV traffic. As one of the premises up the road had closed during my time here, the road became a little quieter as time went on. Willesden Junction trains do not use the crossing, but are clearly visible from here.

Trains featured:
Lowering 1 (0:00):
66 952 (Freightliner) - 1:15
6M02 Newhaven Day Aggregates ➡ Wembley Receptions 1-7 | On-time
-
Lowering 2 (2:31):
1) 378 206 (London Overground) - 3:28
2L43 Clapham Junction ➡ Stratford (London) | On-time

2) 378 232 "Jeff Langston" (London Overground) - 4:02
5L46 Wembley Central Sidings ➡ Clapham Junction | 2 minutes late
-
378 233 "Ian Brown CBE" (London Overground) - 4:39
2Y95 Stratford (London) ➡ Clapham Junction | On-time
-
Lowering 3 (5:18):
1) 377 706 (Southern) - 6:12
2M45 East Croydon ➡ Watford Junction | 2 minutes late

2) The rail-tour! (See if you can spot the big man himself on-board!) - 6:59
Leading: 47810 / D1924 "Crewe Diesel Depot"
Trailing: L.M.S. Stanier "Black 5" 45231 "The Sherwood Forester" (British Railways)
1Z33 London Victoria ➡ London Victoria (Via Willesden and Acton) "The Santa Steam Express" | 7 minutes early
-
378 256 (London Overground) - 8:11
2L44 Clapham Junction ➡ Stratford (London) | 6 minutes late
-
Class 153 Rail Inspection Train (Network Rail) - 8:52
2Q27 Ferme Park Reception ➡ Barnham Up Sidings | 198 minutes (3h 18m) late!
-
Lowering 4 (9:14):
377 703 (Southern) - 9:55
2O49 Watford Junction ➡ Selhurst (Cancelled to East Croydon) | 10 minutes late
-
Lowering 5 (10:30):
66 181 Light Locomotive (DB Cargo UK) - 11:22
0B34 Dollands Moor L.H.S. ➡ Wembley H.S. | 12 minutes late
-
End-of-video picture showcase: 12:12

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!
Merry Christmas, all! 🎄🎅