Rare Barriers at Levisham Level Crossing, North Yorkshire Moors Railway

Date filmed: 16/04/2023
Video filmed at 14:27

Route: North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR)
Levisham Station

Crossing type: Manually Controlled Barriers crossing (MCB)

Location: Braygate Balk, Levisham
Trains featured:
British Railways 63395 - Arrives at 2:37 | Departs at 4:06
Pickering ➡ Grosmont "The Spring Moorlander"

A very picturesque level crossing and station found deep within the North Yorkshire Moors on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, next to Levisham Station. The location is best reached by train as the only road to the station and level crossing is single-track and goes down a hill from very high up just past Levisham village itself, this coming after a couple more steep single track sections of road to even access the village! This does mean, however, that there is very little vehicular traffic, making the location very peaceful when the station isn't busy. Both alarms are rather loud, and one is still an original alarm from the late 1970s - early 1980s, of which variant only a few still remain on level crossings nationwide. In this video, one of the railway's steam locomotives is seen stopping in the station and departing towards Goathland and Grosmont on the 'Spring Moorlander' lunchtime Pullman dining service. The lower-quadrant semaphores are seen dropping by 45 degrees to show the line is clear. The signalman is seen going to complete a token exchange with the train just before I panned around to show the last signal before the long block section to Goathland (also known as the 'Advance starter / section signal'), and you can see the token retrieved from the train being placed down in the signal box (if you look carefully) as they returned just after I panned back.

This level crossing is quite a rarity. Not only did it still have very old filament bulb wigwags / road traffic lights (sadly no longer the case as of Summer 2025), but it also has two pump-operated barriers which have been retrofitted with motors which release the hydraulic pressure to lower the barriers when the crossing is lowered, and then rev up to raise the barriers again when they're raised, one after the other just like they would if they were still operated with the pumps. Given the motor sound when they raise, a good guess would be that these are the same motors you get in the 'Field & Grant' barriers, though they are silent when the barriers are lowered. Remarkably, the pump-operation still works, but is rarely used. Usage of this in normal running should never be attempted. Though the barriers are such an oddity, there is still a very strong heritage feel to this level crossing unlike at the one down at Pickering at the end of the line.

Visit the railway:
North Yorkshire Moors Railway - https://www.nymr.co.uk/
Train details were sourced from the timetables found on the 'daily train services page

Thanks for watching!