More WCH e-bells in Stoughton, MA...

[wilek209]

Ugh, it's not just Stoughton that had an e-bell installed (I was mistaken; School St. still DOES have a WCH mechanical bell; only Porter St. got their bell replaced.) The South Ave. railroad crossing in Whitman, MA also fell for this too...
http://www.rxrsignals.net/Massachusetts/Whitman/South/

BOTH mechanical bells (the WCH and the malfunctioning Safetran) were replaced with the same WCH e-bells that the MBTA has been using more and more recently. I do kinda wish they switched to using Safetran or General Signal's e-bells instead...

[MD2020]

Thats because anything made by WCH in the past several years is cheap junk.

I know firsthand, I am a signal maintainer, and I have to work with that junk sometimes.

[LARDLOGO]

WCH bells are annoying to me when they are everywhere. I know that electronic bells are light, but they should sound more like safetran type 1's.

I'm back by the way...

[MD2020]

WCH E "bells" (sirens) sound awful anyway, and do not duplicate a bell sound, it is more like an alert siren. (When a real bell strikes, the tone/sound falls, a wch noisemaker strikes then ramps up, unlike any real bell)

WCH mechanical bells, at least the ones made in the past several years, are cheaply made, and of inferior materials. They will quickly start skipping and ringing sporadically, then fail altogether.

Thats a simple fact that I and other maintainers I've talked with see on a daily basis. Their bells are getting to be as bad as their mechanisms.

[LARDLOGO]

WCH E "bells" (sirens) sound awful anyway, and do not duplicate a bell sound, it is more like an alert siren. (When a real bell strikes, the tone/sound falls, a wch noisemaker strikes then ramps up, unlike any real bell)

WCH mechanical bells, at least the ones made in the past several years, are cheaply made, and of inferior materials. They will quickly start skipping and ringing sporadically, then fail altogether.

Thats a simple fact that I and other maintainers I've talked with see on a daily basis. Their bells are getting to be as bad as their mechanisms.

Mechanical bells have failed recently. I own the infamous Sierra HWY WCH bell from Palmdale and the reason for it not working is because of broken wires.

WCH needs to repent quickly or they will end up like safetran in e bell competition

[wilek209]

WCH E "bells" (sirens) sound awful anyway, and do not duplicate a bell sound, it is more like an alert siren. (When a real bell strikes, the tone/sound falls, a wch noisemaker strikes then ramps up, unlike any real bell)

WCH mechanical bells, at least the ones made in the past several years, are cheaply made, and of inferior materials. They will quickly start skipping and ringing sporadically, then fail altogether.

Thats a simple fact that I and other maintainers I've talked with see on a daily basis. Their bells are getting to be as bad as their mechanisms.

I never thought of it sounding like a siren... it sounds more like some HO-scale model crossing signal to me! (I know that Kato made an N-scale crossing gate with electronic bell sound, but since Kato's a Japanese-company it sounds like your typical Japanese electronic crossing bells; even the version they offered in America with USA-style signals has the same Japanese bell sound!)

[MD2020]

Safetran is actually a leader in quality and sound output with E bells, but you don't see many of them, because of the circuitry inside, it makes them very expensive. (They have a verticle sense and a "Bell sense" feature that allows a crossing monitor to sense if the bell is working properly without the addition of extra wires up the gate to it, or an added microphone) Also, they are of very high quality, have lightning suppression built in, and are weather resistant, and loud too.

You might not see many of them around, because of the added cost, but, just like the wch and GS/NEG ones, you get what you pay for.

On that argument, I prefer ordering GS or NEG E bells because they are low priced, they sound good, and they are light and easy to swap out when needed. Add a current limiter http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0875524544 across the leads into the bell, and they will have a decent amount of spurrious surge suppression. (lightning)

As far as E bells, we can either we can buy top quality Safetran bells that are plenty loud and sound great at a premium price, or buy a mediocre bell (wch noisemaker) that sounds awful at a little higher price, or we can buy decent bells that sound good and are easy to replace at a very good price.

....And the recent WCH mechanical bells cost more than any of the above, and aren't worth the pot metal they are made from.

[LARDLOGO]

Safetran is actually a leader in quality and sound output with E bells, but you don't see many of them, because of the circuitry inside, it makes them very expensive. (They have a verticle sense and a "Bell sense" feature that allows a crossing monitor to sense if the bell is working properly without the addition of extra wires up the gate to it, or an added microphone) Also, they are of very high quality, have lightning suppression built in, and are weather resistant, and loud too.

You might not see many of them around, because of the added cost, but, just like the wch and GS/NEG ones, you get what you pay for.

On that argument, I prefer ordering GS or NEG E bells because they are low priced, they sound good, and they are light and easy to swap out when needed. Add a current limiter http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0875524544 across the leads into the bell, and they will have a decent amount of spurrious surge suppression. (lightning)

As far as E bells, we can either we can buy top quality Safetran bells that are plenty loud and sound great at a premium price, or buy a mediocre bell (wch noisemaker) that sounds awful at a little higher price, or we can buy decent bells that sound good and are easy to replace at a very good price.

....And the recent WCH mechanical bells cost more than any of the above, and aren't worth the pot metal they are made from.

I meant General Signals, I kind of forgot about it.