Australian Railroad Crossing Signals

[TrickyMario7654]

The yellow masts were very common in Tasmania, don't recall seeing many of them elsewhere. There were a few private crossings in NSW with yellow masts but they are long gone now.

Well, Centre Road in Clayton has yellow painted masts.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.929 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.929 ... 312!8i6656

Also, can somebody explain to me what the heck has happened to this crossing?
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.929 ... 704!8i4352
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.929 ... 704!8i4352

[TrickyMario7654]

Interesting. There was this one site about Australian signals that I use to look at when I was kid and I remember seeing a lot of yellow masts. It seems that your crossings seem to significantly vary from different states and territories, I wonder if that has to do with you guys having several rail systems?

Was this it?
http://www.signspotters.hobbiesplus.com ... ssings.htm

[ToledoRailfan]

Interesting. There was this one site about Australian signals that I use to look at when I was kid and I remember seeing a lot of yellow masts. It seems that your crossings seem to significantly vary from different states and territories, I wonder if that has to do with you guys having several rail systems?

Was this it?
http://www.signspotters.hobbiesplus.com ... ssings.htm

Yep. Thats it.

[chris96]

What will the bell Nazis do for entertainment once all the m-bells have gone?

They've started replacing the WCH gate mechs and Barker Technics E-Bells on the upfield line now... tons of fun left for them

I thought the WCH gate mechs on the Upfield line were installed in the 1990's when they upgraded the line and abolished all of the hand operated crossing gates? Are they replacing them with newer WCH ones or Siemens? No doubt they would be using GS E-bells to replace the Barker Technics ones, it's a shame because they are a unique bell.

They are using Siemens mechs to replace the WCH ones.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.733 ... 312!8i6656

I traveled along the Upfield line today and had time to check out some of the "upgraded" crossings. It turns out that Metro actually did install new WCH mechanisms at some crossings on the line. If you look at the photo below (taken at the Brunswick Rd crossing) you will notice that the mech is a new version containing the text "Western-Cullen-Hayes Inc". This version has only been in production for a couple of years:


The older version simply read "WC Hayes" and did not feature any branding on the gate arm
DSC09038 by Christian Nolan, on Flickr

In September 2016, Brunswick Rd still had its original WCH mechs as seen in these street view images:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.776 ... 6656?dcr=0
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.776 ... 6656?dcr=0

It also still had Barker Technics bells:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.776 ... 6656?dcr=0

Here's a close up of the GS Type 3 bells that replaced them:


I wonder why Metro decided to use a mix of both WCH and Siemens gate mechs and not just stick to one supplier for every crossing?

I also have some close up shots of the E-Bells at Church St, Brighton. Could they be NEG bells?

[freebrickproductions]

Those are definitely General Signals e-bells painted a very dark gray or black. Also, those newer counterweight arms on the WCH gate mechs have been in production for several years, but I never noticed the recent logo change on the gate mechs and counterweight arms though.

[TrickyMario7654]

I traveled along the Upfield line today and had time to check out some of the "upgraded" crossings. It turns out that Metro actually did install new WCH mechanisms at some crossings on the line. If you look at the photo below (taken at the Brunswick Rd crossing) you will notice that the mech is a new version containing the text "Western-Cullen-Hayes Inc". This version has only been in production for a couple of years:

That's pretty strange. I thought Metro only used Siemens gate mechs these days.

Kind of odd seeing NEG e-bells on a Metro crossing too, maybe the supplier mistook them for General Signals ones' as after all, both do look almost identical. (EDIT: They're actually the usual General Signals e-bells, I typed this comment before freebrickproductions posted his.)

[chris96]

Those are definitely General Signals e-bells painted a very dark gray or black. Also, those newer counterweight arms on the WCH gate mechs have been in production for several years, but I never noticed the recent logo change on the gate mechs and counterweight arms though.

I wonder why the bells were painted black? This is the only crossing I've seen in Melbourne with painted E-Bells.

[McK&H.Aust]

I traveled along the Upfield line today and had time to check out some of the "upgraded" crossings. It turns out that Metro actually did install new WCH mechanisms at some crossings on the line. If you look at the photo below (taken at the Brunswick Rd crossing) you will notice that the mech is a new version containing the text "Western-Cullen-Hayes Inc". This version has only been in production for a couple of years

Nice pictures there! I think the newer design of WCH gate mech logo has been around since about 2010. I base that theory on a couple of crossings I have filmed.

The first crossing is Princes Hwy, Unanderra https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.464 ... 312!8i6656
These gated signals were installed in late 2010 and one of the gate mechs has the old logo while the other has the new logo.

The other crossing is Railway St, Corrimal https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.374 ... 312!8i6656
These gated signals were installed in 2011 and both gate mechs have the new logo.

I have also seen three different types of counterweight arms used on WCH mechs....
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.444 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.374 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-31.864 ... 312!8i6656

The WCH catalog shows a couple of different counterweight arms as being available http://www.wch.com/pdf/catalog/cwtsparms.pdf

It's nice to have a bit of gate mech variety around Melbourne, in Sydney every crossing has WCH gate mechs (except Greenacre) and although I like them it does get a little boring seeing the same mechs on every crossing!

[freebrickproductions]

I have also seen three different types of counterweight arms used on WCH mechs....
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.444 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.374 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-31.864 ... 312!8i6656

The WCH catalog shows a couple of different counterweight arms as being available http://www.wch.com/pdf/catalog/cwtsparms.pdf

The first design is the old WRRS counterweight arms that WCH gate mechs used for a long time (up until the 1990s, it appears).
The second design is a Harmon/Modern Industries counterweight arm that the companies used for a while. I've seen the exact same arms on US&S Model 75 and Safetran gate mechanisms.
The third design is the current WCH counterweight arm.

It also appears that the illustrations that WCH uses in their counterweight arms is of the older WRRS ones, interestingly enough...

[McK&H.Aust]

I have also seen three different types of counterweight arms used on WCH mechs....
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.444 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.374 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-31.864 ... 312!8i6656

The WCH catalog shows a couple of different counterweight arms as being available http://www.wch.com/pdf/catalog/cwtsparms.pdf

The second design is a Harmon/Modern Industries counterweight arm that the companies used for a while. I've seen the exact same arms on US&S Model 75 and Safetran gate mechanisms.

That's awesome, it's nice to see some Harmon/MI equipment still living on. I find it interesting to learn how much different stuff they made. The next crossing I intend to film (hopefully this coming Monday) has them https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.933 ... 312!8i6656 I will have a closer look to see if I can find the logo on them, as I always just presumed they were WCH.