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Location notes
Knottingley is east of Leeds in the heart of the Yorkshire Coal Fields. The location is on the line east from Knottingley to Drax and Eggborough Power Stations, and onto Goole.
Railway type and traffic
The passenger service to Goole is very infrequent. There is however an intensive service of coal trains operated by both DB Schenker and Freightliner serving the Power Stations.
Environment
The level crossing is on a farm track just east of the end of the built up area of Knottingley. It is surrounded by fields, though there are factories to the north and the houses to the west. It is a very quiet location, the crossing itself being disused.
Road directions
From the M62, Junction 33:
Turn north onto the A1 for one junction onto the A645. At the top of the slip road, turn left and follow the road through the town, passing both the station and the shops on the right. The road narrows between houses and near the end of the town there is a triangular junction on the right. Take this road which narrows more into a lane towards the factories. Keep right just before the Factory gate and where the lane turns left to parallel the perimeter wall there is a rough farm track heading straight on to the crossing.
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Knottingley, Blackburn Lane map co-ordinates
Turn north onto the A1 for one junction onto the A645. At the top of the slip road, turn left and follow the road through the town, passing both the station and the shops on the right. The road narrows between houses and near the end of the town there is a triangular junction on the right. Take this road which narrows more into a lane towards the factories. Keep right just before the Factory gate and where the lane turns left to parallel the perimeter wall there is a rough farm track heading straight on to the crossing.
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location
Knottingley, Blackburn Lane map co-ordinates
Parking
The farmtrack is full of pot-holes but can be used with care. There is space to park by the crossing as no other traffic uses this track.
Public transport
Amenities
The are no facilities around the crossing, however there is a range of shops and two Fish and Chip shops in Knottingley itself.
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.
Knottingley, Blackburn Lane
Streetmap links
Knottingley, Blackburn Lane general view map
Knottingley, Blackburn Lane close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Knottingley, Blackburn Lane
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Knottingley, Blackburn Lane
Googly map
Knottingley, Blackburn Lane general view map
Knottingley, Blackburn Lane close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Knottingley, Blackburn Lane
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Railway Gen Group
Photographic notes
The line runs roughly east-west, so the sun will be on the front of trains heading west towards Knottingley up until late morning, before favouring the other direction, towards Goole. The line in the distance curves from the north-east and drops sharply from the east approaching the crossing giving good views of westbound empty coal trains approaching.
These regularly come to a stand at the signal by the crossing so is ideal for videoing. Shots the other way are slightly restricted by line side vegetation, though decent line side shots are still possible.
These regularly come to a stand at the signal by the crossing so is ideal for videoing. Shots the other way are slightly restricted by line side vegetation, though decent line side shots are still possible.
General views - All photographs © Mark Bearton unless otherwise stated
Fig 1 - Looking east
Fig 2 - Looking west
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.
