Class 66s "The Powerful Parkeston Panorama" Rail-tour at Parkeston West Level Crossing, Essex

Date filmed: 27/05/2023
Videos filmed at: 17:28 | 17:41 | 17:55

Route: The Mayflower Line
Harwich International Station

Crossing type: Manually Controlled Barriers crossing (MCB)

Location: Station Road, Parkeston Quay
Trains featured:
Lowering 1 (0:00):
720 525 (Greater Anglia) - 1:20
2A45 Harwich Town ➡ Manningtree
-
Lowering 2 (2:05):
66 765 & 66 748 Top & Tailed (GBRf) - 3:33
1Z67 Norwich ➡ Stevenage
-
Lowering 3 (6:11):
66 748 & 66 765 Top & Tailed (GBRf) (GBRf) - 7:50
1Z67 Norwich ➡ Stevenage

UK Railtours' "The Powerful Parkeston Panorama" Rail-tour, a special freight line charter service doing a day trip around East Anglia via a selection of freight lines typically unfamiliar to any passenger-carrying train, is seen in this video just before and after reversing at Harwich International Station. It can first be seen crawling from the goods sidings into the station's Platform Two during quite an unusual move for a passenger-carrying train. In fact, the set of points which it used to leave the Parkeston Sorting Sidings was so lesser-used by trains carrying passengers that they had to be manually 'clipped and scotched' (secured) so that the train could safely pass over it, albeit at walking pace for safety reasons. During that lowering, the barriers were down for over nine minutes whilst it navigated from the sidings into the station. It can then be heard powering up and seen swiftly making its way back out en-route towards the Carless Curve around ten minutes later, a section of track which hadn't seen a passenger train in over twenty years! These were lowerings two and three respectively. The first was filmed around ten or so minutes prior and features an hourly passenger service departing towards Manningtree.

This location is a level crossing with loud alarms in close proximity to Harwich International Railway Station and cruise terminal on the Harwich International Port in the Parkeston Quay area, one of a few locations in the country with a 'boat train' where a connecting service from London Liverpool Street is timetabled to make a connection with a ferry service to the Hook of Holland (Hoek Van Holland). It's part of one alternative step-free access route towards Platform One and the cruise terminal itself from the Station's car park and has three tracks going over it: One towards the 'Bay' platform, one for the main running line, and the other towards Platform One and the former second track towards Harwich Town, now in situ as a through-siding. It provided some good shots for this railtour, though please do bear with the slightly backlit shots due to the awkward position of the sun. I certainly feel my catch of it powering back out was better than my catch of it crawling into the station.

The location also provided quite an intriguing feel and backdrop due to the maritime nature and the fact that it was quiet without a ferry service there at the time. The barriers were renewed in 2021 to replace some which dated all the way back to 1985, and the adjacent signal box from where it's controlled also controls most the Mayflower Line's signalling from just before Wrabness all the way to the end of the line at Harwich Town.

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

Thanks for watching!