Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 5:40 am
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http://www.rxrsignals.com/Phpbb3/
That's ridiculous considering the fact the crossing only got "upgraded" 2 years ago. It really doesn't look like a crossing that would cause congestion (being that it's a two lane road with no traffic lights or intersections nearby).TrickyMario7654 wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2019 11:00 pmSpeaking of crossing removals, the LXRA have today that the removal for the Cardina Road (one of my local crossings) has been 'fast tracked' with works to begin on a road bridge due to start later this year.
https://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/media ... or-removal
Actually to tell you the truth, I drive over this crossing every school day and I don't find it "dangerous and congested" like they claim. Sure, there's a lot of traffic using the road, but we pretty much always make it to school on time. Also, the last accident at this crossing I can recall was back in 2006 (when there was mostly empty paddocks surrounding the crossing) and the road was single carriageway in each direction.
End of rant.
Well, there are a lot of new houses popping up in the area, but even then I find ourselves rarely getting stopped at the crossing (even though they state more trains will be added to the Pakenham line in the future, causing more boom gate closure time).chris96 wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2019 8:48 pmThat's ridiculous considering the fact the crossing only got "upgraded" 2 years ago. It really doesn't look like a crossing that would cause congestion (being that it's a two lane road with no traffic lights or intersections nearby).TrickyMario7654 wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2019 11:00 pmSpeaking of crossing removals, the LXRA have today that the removal for the Cardina Road (one of my local crossings) has been 'fast tracked' with works to begin on a road bridge due to start later this year.
https://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/media ... or-removal
Actually to tell you the truth, I drive over this crossing every school day and I don't find it "dangerous and congested" like they claim. Sure, there's a lot of traffic using the road, but we pretty much always make it to school on time. Also, the last accident at this crossing I can recall was back in 2006 (when there was mostly empty paddocks surrounding the crossing) and the road was single carriageway in each direction.
End of rant.
It's so irresponsible for the government to consider removing a quiet residential crossing like Camms Rd (which will be a nightmare for locals while removal works take place) instead of crossings like Anderson St in Yarraville which are known to cause traffic chaos. Don't get me wrong, Anderson St is probably my favorite crossing in Melbourne at the moment (now that Royal Park has been trashed) and I really don't want it removed because of the interesting equipment and setup it has. But it's a matter of principal, what logical reason would cause the LXRA to prioritize a crossing on a quiet back road over one in a busy hub with many known problems?Applehead137 wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2019 12:27 amI think it’s so stupid with some of the choices that they make for removal. I really don’t care about Cardina Road getting removed since it’s all new equipment but some of the crossings on the removal list are stupid.
I filmed Camms road in February and barely any cars were using the road. Pointless removal.
Plus if you want to run more trains you should think about making the line double track.
I was in Surry Hills the other day and saw 4 trains go through the union road crossing( it’s a Really Nice crossing except for the bells) and it only helps up like 5 cars either way . Not a lot . Pointless,
And why did metro have to trash royal park . I don’t see a point in replacing the equipment . The gate mechs were fine one of the hybrids was fine the other hybrid was wearing through the gong but they could have just replaced the old gong with a new gong. Point less and waste your of money.
End of rant
Union Road tends to hold up a lot of traffic in peak hours, plus you had that smash at the crossing in 2016 which killed two elderly women (although they drove onto the tracks as the gates were lowering and got trapped in the crossing).chris96 wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2019 1:51 amIt's so irresponsible for the government to consider removing a quiet residential crossing like Camms Rd (which will be a nightmare for locals while removal works take place) instead of crossings like Anderson St in Yarraville which are known to cause traffic chaos. Don't get me wrong, Anderson St is probably my favorite crossing in Melbourne at the moment (now that Royal Park has been trashed) and I really don't want it removed because of the interesting equipment and setup it has. But it's a matter of principal, what logical reason would cause the LXRA to prioritize a crossing on a quiet back road over one in a busy hub with many known problems?Applehead137 wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2019 12:27 amI think it’s so stupid with some of the choices that they make for removal. I really don’t care about Cardina Road getting removed since it’s all new equipment but some of the crossings on the removal list are stupid.
I filmed Camms road in February and barely any cars were using the road. Pointless removal.
Plus if you want to run more trains you should think about making the line double track.
I was in Surry Hills the other day and saw 4 trains go through the union road crossing( it’s a Really Nice crossing except for the bells) and it only helps up like 5 cars either way . Not a lot . Pointless,
And why did metro have to trash royal park . I don’t see a point in replacing the equipment . The gate mechs were fine one of the hybrids was fine the other hybrid was wearing through the gong but they could have just replaced the old gong with a new gong. Point less and waste your of money.
End of rant
Another example of questionable crossing removal selection was Kororoit Creek Road in Altona. That crossing was only down for about 30 seconds each time it was activated (it was a single track railway) and never caused congestion. On top of that, it had quad gates meaning motorists couldn't drive around the gates even if they wanted to. Does that really sound like "one of Melbourne's most dangerous and congested level crossings" to you?
Now the LXRA wants to remove Werribee St, a freight only crossing that's lucky to see 5 trains a day. What a waste of money and resources!
To end on a good note, here's a vintage photo of the Kororoit Creek Road crossing in 1992 with its original black and white gates:
Better yet, here's one from when it was a gateless single lane road crossing in the late 60's! Looks like it had a Griswold/RACO bell back then:
NaziRoads strike again!McK&H.Aust wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 4:05 amSome observations from a recent road trip to Victoria and South Australia.
Visited the crossing at Barnes which was upgraded with gates last year https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.028 ... 328!8i1664
Sadly the upgrade also involved the removal of the former Balranald Line junction and signals at Barnes. Interestingly, all three new signals at the crossing have a mixture of new and old style Westinghouse lights. Here are a few pictures:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=10jc1d ... HKb5rdohPv
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KMHqd ... LqC2djw2--
https://drive.google.com/open?id=15Endk ... M-2OoHd4RA
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NtW9p ... NctslSEOrd
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1UYDyw ... hHyDP2uDWn
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qS4Ii ... YYAw9saPr6
Some more sad news is the removal of all remaining signals, foundations and relay cases on both disused crossings between Pinnaroo and Murrayville
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-35.237 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-35.260 ... 312!8i6656
I'm guessing the removal was done as part of the gauge conversion work of the line between Ouyen and Murrayville, the end of the converted standard gauge section is just before the crossing at Murrayville, as seen in these pictures:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-LGY- ... 114hQzlppd
https://drive.google.com/open?id=15FIMw ... RhF_mdctYp
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ehYo0 ... 5osdK-OqfA
One final thing is the death of a Safetran Type 3 e-bell on the crossing at South Rd/Cross Rd in Adelaide. The older model Type 3 on this signal has died, although the other three bells at the crossing are still working so maybe they're not in a hurry to replace it https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.967 ... 312!8i6656
The upgrade at Barnes seems more ridiculous when you consider the Murray Valley Hwy crossing at Echuca sees very busy traffic but remains gateless, it's unchanged from the GSV image and I also filmed it https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.140 ... 312!8i6656TrickyMario7654 wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 4:42 amNaziRoads strike again!McK&H.Aust wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 4:05 amSome observations from a recent road trip to Victoria and South Australia.
Visited the crossing at Barnes which was upgraded with gates last year https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.028 ... 328!8i1664
Sadly the upgrade also involved the removal of the former Balranald Line junction and signals at Barnes. Interestingly, all three new signals at the crossing have a mixture of new and old style Westinghouse lights. Here are a few pictures:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=10jc1d ... HKb5rdohPv
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KMHqd ... LqC2djw2--
https://drive.google.com/open?id=15Endk ... M-2OoHd4RA
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NtW9p ... NctslSEOrd
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1UYDyw ... hHyDP2uDWn
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qS4Ii ... YYAw9saPr6
Some more sad news is the removal of all remaining signals, foundations and relay cases on both disused crossings between Pinnaroo and Murrayville
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-35.237 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-35.260 ... 312!8i6656
I'm guessing the removal was done as part of the gauge conversion work of the line between Ouyen and Murrayville, the end of the converted standard gauge section is just before the crossing at Murrayville, as seen in these pictures:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-LGY- ... 114hQzlppd
https://drive.google.com/open?id=15FIMw ... RhF_mdctYp
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ehYo0 ... 5osdK-OqfA
One final thing is the death of a Safetran Type 3 e-bell on the crossing at South Rd/Cross Rd in Adelaide. The older model Type 3 on this signal has died, although the other three bells at the crossing are still working so maybe they're not in a hurry to replace it https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.967 ... 312!8i6656
Barnes seems like a pointless crossing to upgrade, especially seeing that the line sees very trains nowadays. Seems to be a pretty common thing in Victoria for some reason.
Also, removing the junction there looks like an attempt to sabotage any efforts to reopen the line (I doubt there are any plans to begin with).
What crossings did you film, BTW?