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Location notes
Manea, Cambridgeshire. Situated on the Ely-Peterborough line.
Railway type and traffic
Passenger services: Central Trains class 158 and 170 DMUs, Greater Anglia class 150, 153 and 170 DMUs. Several per hour each way. Freight services: DB Schenker (mainly 66s, some 60s), Freightliner (66s), GBRf (66s), plus infrastructure services to and from Whitemoor Yard.
Environment
Open fields in the middle of the fens, close to an automatic half barrier level crossing.
Road directions
Close to Manea village: take the B1093 north through the village and turn right along an unclassified 'yellow' road about 1 mile from the station.
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Manea - Welney Road level crossing map co-ordinates
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location
Manea - Welney Road level crossing map co-ordinates
Parking
Park near the level crossing. You can sit in the car until the crossing is activated.
Public transport
Manea station has almost no train service. There are some buses to Manea village (probably from March); the local operator is Stagecoach Cambus, but the buses are probably very infrequent.
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location
Amenities
Thhere is a chip shop anda few other shops in Manea village, about 0.75 miles away. Otherwise, March is the nearest town.
Sun Compass
Sun Compass using Suncalc by brought to you by Vladimir Agafonkin:
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Manea - Welney Road level crossing
Streetmap links
Manea - Welney Road level crossing general view map
Manea - Welney Road level crossing close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Manea - Welney Road level crossing
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Manea - Welney Road level crossing
Googly map
Manea - Welney Road level crossing general view map
Manea - Welney Road level crossing close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Manea - Welney Road level crossing
Who likes this location on facebook
Railway Gen Group
Photographic notes
The line runs north west - south east, and the land is very flat - find a good spot along the road and shoot across the field. Looking at the signals (visible at the level crossing) will tell you which direction a train is coming from, and you can also see the level crossing barriers at Manea station.
Shots are possible in both directions from mid morning until the end of daylight - there are no problems with shadows at all. There may be shots from the north/east side of the line as well. The sun is on the nose for up (eastbound) trains until mid afternoon, and after that for down (westbound) trains. There are a few line side bushes which may affect shots of down trains.
A standard or short telephoto lens is best used.
It is also a good spot for videos - you can see a long way. The road is very quiet, so traffic noise should be unlikely, although the crossing has sirens.
Shots are possible in both directions from mid morning until the end of daylight - there are no problems with shadows at all. There may be shots from the north/east side of the line as well. The sun is on the nose for up (eastbound) trains until mid afternoon, and after that for down (westbound) trains. There are a few line side bushes which may affect shots of down trains.
A standard or short telephoto lens is best used.
It is also a good spot for videos - you can see a long way. The road is very quiet, so traffic noise should be unlikely, although the crossing has sirens.
General views - All photographs © Brian Carter unless otherwise stated
Fig 1 - Looking north west
The photo was taken on 2nd February 2002, showing an eastbound working - the diverted Pathfinder Tours' 'Spinning Web' with 56111.
Fig 2 - Looking east
Early in the afternoon (before the sun had moved onto the nose, which it does eventually).
Disclaimer
All information contained within this is site is © Trainspots. The images used on this site remain the property of the original photographer, as credited at the top of the page, and are used with their kind permission.
The information on these pages is supplied for the benefit of railway enthusiasts who carry out a harmless hobby, and through the medium of photography and video, actually promote the railway industry. Railway enthusiasts can also act as eyes and ears against railway vandalism, and as such should surely be encouraged to do so by the supply of adequate information such as is found on this website.
This site has been created to assist railway photographers in their travels around the country. It is based on the personal knowledge and experience. No liability can be held against the web site or its contributions for incorrect information. Trainspots will endeavour to check all information and corrections will be accepted and posted accordingly.
Advice as to the locations general environment is given as a guide on each page. This information is a GUIDE only. ALWAYS be careful with your equipment, Trainspots can not be held responsible for your personal security. Avoid leaving your property on display for all to see, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are, sadly, people who will not think twice about trying to steal your equipment.
Trainspots DOES NOT condone trespass and none of the information on this site should be taken as a right to trespass on either railway or private land. To the best of our knowledge all locations are publicly accessible areas, where they are not contact information will be given to the appropriate authority for permission to be obtained.
The content of this site is created and intended for all age ranges but the content of sites linked from this site are not subject to the same intentions. Trainspots will attempt to check links for validity but as time passes and the site grows this will not always be possible. Broken, or indeed updates to, links should be submitted to the editor for inclusion in the updates. All links external to the Trainspots site are opened in a new browser window. Trainspots has been running now for over 10 years and there are imitation sites and guides to railfotspots. But we are a free site and we continue on the path we started out on over a decade ago to provide a useful guide to UK Railway Photographic Locations.
The information on these pages is supplied for the benefit of railway enthusiasts who carry out a harmless hobby, and through the medium of photography and video, actually promote the railway industry. Railway enthusiasts can also act as eyes and ears against railway vandalism, and as such should surely be encouraged to do so by the supply of adequate information such as is found on this website.
This site has been created to assist railway photographers in their travels around the country. It is based on the personal knowledge and experience. No liability can be held against the web site or its contributions for incorrect information. Trainspots will endeavour to check all information and corrections will be accepted and posted accordingly.
Advice as to the locations general environment is given as a guide on each page. This information is a GUIDE only. ALWAYS be careful with your equipment, Trainspots can not be held responsible for your personal security. Avoid leaving your property on display for all to see, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are, sadly, people who will not think twice about trying to steal your equipment.
Trainspots DOES NOT condone trespass and none of the information on this site should be taken as a right to trespass on either railway or private land. To the best of our knowledge all locations are publicly accessible areas, where they are not contact information will be given to the appropriate authority for permission to be obtained.
The content of this site is created and intended for all age ranges but the content of sites linked from this site are not subject to the same intentions. Trainspots will attempt to check links for validity but as time passes and the site grows this will not always be possible. Broken, or indeed updates to, links should be submitted to the editor for inclusion in the updates. All links external to the Trainspots site are opened in a new browser window. Trainspots has been running now for over 10 years and there are imitation sites and guides to railfotspots. But we are a free site and we continue on the path we started out on over a decade ago to provide a useful guide to UK Railway Photographic Locations.
