Long crossing | Garve Level Crossing, Highland

Date filmed: Tuesday the 9th of July 2024
Videos filmed at: 13:46 | 14:34

Route: Kyle of Localsh Line
Garve (GVE) Station

Crossing type: Automatic half Barrier Crossing Locally-monitored by train crew (ABCL)

Filming location: A835 Station Road, Garve (IV23 2PS)

A half-barrier level crossing located in the small village of Garve, found on the A835 towards Ullapool (a main road which is very quiet for an 'A' road compared to what I'm used to) where it crosses the Kyle of Localsh Line. This is around about the area where the scenery really starts to improve and becomes dramatic, though I never went any further along the line on this particular trip. This level crossing used to have no barriers until it underwent a renewal in the mid 2010's with the barriers properly integrated into the system. The adjacent station is a token exchange point on this line where trains can cross, though 'tokens' which drivers need to enter single lines are in radio form rather than physical form (appearing on an in-cab display when obtained), and the 'points set' indicator seen at the start of the video tells Inverness-bound trains that the spring-loaded un-motorised points are set to bring the train into the correct platform. The ones at this end are simply pushed across by Kyle-of-Localsh bound trains, and this system considerably reduces maintenance and costs, great for the remote locations this line ventures into.

For a single-track crossing, this one is incredibly long from end to end. The track crosses the road here at a very steep angle, and it's so long that additional pedestrian lights and alarms have been provided in the middle of the crossing for those on it when it activates, making a total of four alarms, two LED pedestrian signals, and four road traffic lights at this crossing. The alarms are not as loud as you'd think, and some have rather high-pitched tones, though the one grabbing your attention initially (most likely) has a new sounder which really doesn't blend well with the others here. As you can see, the track appears to climb quite noticeably as it leaves the station towards the North West.

Trains featured:
Intro - 0:00
-
Lowering 1 (1:18):
158 710 (ScotRail) - 2:01
2H82 Kyle of Localsh ➡ Inverness | 2 minutes late
-
Lowering 2 (2:51):
158 721 (ScotRail) - 3:55
2H85 Inverness ➡ Kyle of Localsh | 2 minutes late
-
End-of-video picture showcase: 4:42

Train details sourced from:
Real Time Trains: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/sear...
Traksy: https://traksy.uk/live

Filmed on: Panasonic HC-VX1 in 4K 25fps

Thanks for watching!