Smithy Bridge

On the rare occasions when I travel to and from Manchester by train, this is my stop. The rest of the time, when I walk, there is an underpass but, when in my car, it is where I am stopped by a level crossing. Even though I know the times when trains pass by, I always seem to get caught. The waiting seems endless when I am in the car but no time at all when I am alighting from the train.

I find traditional railway structures - stations, bridges and signal boxes like this one - stylish and oddly appealing, a consoling thought as I sit waiting for the red lights to stop flashing and the (modern) gates to rise.