Yeah good point BM. If I remember correctly I was only in a light loco at the time so even if I'd have slammed my brakes on I'd still have been passed the crossing by a few hundred yards.
There have been two occasions that I've been on a train thats been stopped to be annoying to some people though. The first time I was just a second man and we were coming back from Eastgate Cement Works up the Wear Valley. As we trundled along we saw a fox run across the track, and not far behind it there was a hunt which was going to pursue it over the line. Unfortunatley for the hunt, our train passed between them and the fox, and to make matters worse, my driver decided it was a good time to have a cup of tea and a sandwhich, so he stopped the train. The people on horseback weren't very happy and aimed quite a few expletives in our direction. As you can imagine, I was pretty cut up about it, not.
The other time was a couple of years after that in 1984 and I was made a driver for the day on a trip from Port Clarence to Healey Mills. I'd been stopped at the barriers at Sherburn In Elmet at about 4am, but then I got a green light, so I set off. Just as I started to approach the crossing, police cars started to arrive waiting for me to get out of the way so they could continue their journey on to some mine or other to do battle with some pickets. Unfortunately I had to stop because my loco lost all its power. I went back to the signlapost telephone and informed the signalman that I'd be on my way as soon as I could. I asked him if I was holding anything up behind me and he replied that the next train probably wouldn't be along for a good half hour. Thankfully I managed to regain power after about ten minutes. Temperamental buggers those class 37's.
