Date filmed: Tuesday the 9th of July 2024
Video filmed at 18:34

Route: Far North Line
- Rogart (ROG) is the closest station

Crossing type: Automatic Open Crossing Locally-monitored with Barriers (AOCL+B)

Filming location: Dalmore Road, Pittentrail (IV28 3TZ)
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Disclaimer: NOTHING in this video has been edited or cut to manipulate what happened or mislead anyone. The only parts that were cut were uneventful periods during the time the driver was conversing with the signaller.
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An automatic level crossing located in a beautiful and remote part of the Scottish Highlands just outside of the small village of Pittentrail near Rogart Station on the Far North Line. This level crossing on this small, very quiet road used to have no barriers, and had these ones rather cheaply and incompletely 'bolted' onto the system in 2014. They're very long and large for such a small road, and there's an interesting set-up on one side of the crossing due to how the road curves.

Providing a very 'interesting' start to my collection of videos around Sutherland and Caithness (right at the top of Mainland Britain), unfortunately not too uncommon major flaw of these '+B' level crossings is quite well demonstrated in this video. Here, the barriers fail to lower for an oncoming Inverness-bound train, causing it to have to stop short of the crossing and the driver to contact the signaller at Inverness. After that conversation, the driver had to get out and check the warnings were active before returning to the cab, only for the crossing to time out and deactivate at the most inconvenient moment. Once the crossing was re-activated from a trackside control panel, the barriers STILL refused to lower, and the train had to proceed very cautiously whilst producing almost constant loud blasts of the horn and almost stopping before crossing the road to be sure it's clear to cross. Thankfully, with trained professionals carefully following strict procedures, the situation was actually quite safe, and the road lights and audible warnings were working perfectly too. It's a little tense when signals (including Drivers' Crossing Indicators like here) have to be passed at 'danger' like this, but 'phew!', the train passed without incident.

This isn't the first time one of these crossings has done this, as myself and other people have caught it before. They're very cheap, basic conversions, not even that, a simple addition at best, and it appears the relay system controlling the barriers just doesn't click in as it should sometimes. A team of technicians later arrived to inspect it (I saw this when passing the crossing again later). At least when these relatively cost-saving installs fail in this manner, they fail safe and the system brings the approaching train to a stand.

Trains featured:
Intro - 0:00
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Activation 1 (0:20)
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Activation 2 (3:32):
158 703 (ScotRail) Eventually passes - 5:00
2H64 Wick ➡ Inverness | 10 minutes late
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End-of-video picture showcase: 5:45

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!