Colchester (East Gates) Level Crossing, Essex

Date filmed: Tuesday the 18th of June 2024
Videos filmed between 11:16 and 11:47

Route: Sunshine Coast Line
Between Colchester (COL) and Colchester Town (CET) / Hythe (Colchester) (HYH) Stations

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

Filming location: East Street, Colchester (CO1 2TG)

A large and busy level crossing located east of Colchester City Centre and next to East Gate Junction and its abandoned signal box. Three of the four barriers at this level crossing are full-length, though not holding up well, and in one corner there is a thin set of lights with not particularly healthy-looking light shades. The alarms are a good volume, and the level crossing is now controlled from Colchester's Power Signal Box near the main line station, as it has been since the 2009 re-signalling on the lines towards Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze. Most trains pass over this level crossing incredibly slowly due to the very tight radius curve which takes them towards the more central Colchester Town station, though those that don't call there (the Clacton trains mainly) proceed a fair bit faster.

This is quite a busy crossing with 8 trains per hour across it during the off-peak. Part of that traffic using the crossing is rather uniquely one of the shortest trains in the country in terms of distance - a shuttle service between Colchester Town and its main line station with no intermediate stops. A train comes up from London and proceeds through to Colchester Town, returns back to the main line station to then shuttle back to Colchester Town, before returning to London. This is to free up Colchester Town station as it's only single-platform, and that platform is required for the Walton-Colchester trains. In this video, the train is featured heading back to Colchester Town from the main line and out to London thereafter.

Trains featured:
Lowering 1 (0:00):
720 508 (Greater Anglia) - 1:23
1N18 London Liverpool Street ➡ Clacton-on-Sea | On-time
-
Lowering 2 (1:55):
720 536 (Greater Anglia) (1) - 3:01
2F34 Colchester ➡ Colchester Town | On-time
-
Lowering 3 (3:59):
720 125 (Greater Anglia) - 5:04
1N35 Clacton-on-Sea ➡ London Liverpool Street | On-time
-
Lowering 4 (5:32):
720 536 (Greater Anglia) (2) - 6:07
2F33 Colchester Town ➡ London Liverpool Street | On-time
-
Lowering 5 (7:09):
1) 720 527 (Greater Anglia) - 7:54
2F36 London Liverpool Street ➡ Colchester Town | On-time

2) 720 544 (Greater Anglia) - 8:44
2F35 Walton-on-the-Naze ➡ Colchester | On-time
-
End-of-video picture showcase: 9:25

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: Panasonic HC-VX1 in 4K 25fps

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