Australian Railroad Crossing Signals

[ToledoRailfan]

This crossing has rather odd looking Give Way signs with yellow backgrounds!
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.783 ... 312!8i6656

That's just weird.

Anyways, I found a video of the North East line from the early 80's and there are plenty of Teardrop bells throughout the video. I'm pretty sure the first crossing seen is Benalla-Yarrawonga Road (which had a Teardrop bell at the time). I think you also see the old gateless signals at Bank Street, Avenel at 1:28 (which had two Teardrops at the time). Ewings Rd (which has a hybrid bell). There's another gateless crossing (again with a Teardrop bell) at 4:15 but I have no idea where it is.

That steam train must have been a special excursion.

Pretty sure it was. Sadly, they don't run them anymore on the North East line due to it being converted to Standard Gauge a few years back.

Interesting... Rail gauge in Australia is interesting!

[McK&H.Aust]

Anyways, I found a video of the North East line from the early 80's and there are plenty of Teardrop bells throughout the video. I'm pretty sure the first crossing seen is Benalla-Yarrawonga Road (which had a Teardrop bell at the time). I think you also see the old gateless signals at Bank Street, Avenel at 1:28 (which had two Teardrops at the time). Ewings Rd (which has a hybrid bell). There's another gateless crossing (again with a Teardrop bell) at 4:15 but I have no idea where it is.

Interesting video. The North East line would have been awesome back then, teardrop bells and semaphore signals everywhere

The scene at 7:43 looks like Euroa, it has the goods shed opposite the station and an overpass in the background https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.749 ... 328!8i1664

I wonder if the crossing at 4:15 is also Euroa, but a bit earlier. Was there ever a crossing at the northern end of Euroa?

Slightly off topic but I had to laugh at the hairdo on the news reader at 0:27, the grainy footage makes it look quite fake, kinda like the hair on lego people

[TrickyMario7654]

Anyways, I found a video of the North East line from the early 80's and there are plenty of Teardrop bells throughout the video. I'm pretty sure the first crossing seen is Benalla-Yarrawonga Road (which had a Teardrop bell at the time). I think you also see the old gateless signals at Bank Street, Avenel at 1:28 (which had two Teardrops at the time). Ewings Rd (which has a hybrid bell). There's another gateless crossing (again with a Teardrop bell) at 4:15 but I have no idea where it is.

Interesting video. The North East line would have been awesome back then, teardrop bells and semaphore signals everywhere

The scene at 7:43 looks like Euroa, it has the goods shed opposite the station and an overpass in the background https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.749 ... 328!8i1664

I wonder if the crossing at 4:15 is also Euroa, but a bit earlier. Was there ever a crossing at the northern end of Euroa?

Slightly off topic but I had to laugh at the hairdo on the news reader at 0:27, the grainy footage makes it look quite fake, kinda like the hair on lego people

I don't think there was a crossing at the northern end of Euroa. Now that I think about it, it may be the crossing at Longwood.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.801 ... 328!8i1664

[ToledoRailfan]

Anyways, I found a video of the North East line from the early 80's and there are plenty of Teardrop bells throughout the video. I'm pretty sure the first crossing seen is Benalla-Yarrawonga Road (which had a Teardrop bell at the time). I think you also see the old gateless signals at Bank Street, Avenel at 1:28 (which had two Teardrops at the time). Ewings Rd (which has a hybrid bell). There's another gateless crossing (again with a Teardrop bell) at 4:15 but I have no idea where it is.

Interesting video. The North East line would have been awesome back then, teardrop bells and semaphore signals everywhere

The scene at 7:43 looks like Euroa, it has the goods shed opposite the station and an overpass in the background https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.749 ... 328!8i1664

I wonder if the crossing at 4:15 is also Euroa, but a bit earlier. Was there ever a crossing at the northern end of Euroa?

Slightly off topic but I had to laugh at the hairdo on the news reader at 0:27, the grainy footage makes it look quite fake, kinda like the hair on lego people

I don't think there was a crossing at the northern end of Euroa. Now that I think about it, it may be the crossing at Longwood.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.801 ... 328!8i1664

That crossing could've been a two-gated double crossing if that was a thing in Australia.

[freebrickproductions]

This crossing appears to have Harmon 12 inch incandescent lights!
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.413 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.413 ... 312!8i6656

...

The next crossing appears to have more Harmon 12 inch lights, although they kept the 8 inch lights for the side road.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.686 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.686 ... 312!8i6656

They're actually 3rd Generation Modern Industries 12x20 inch lights, at least at the first crossing. However, AFAIK, there's no differences between these lights and 3rd Generation Harmon lights other than the logo on the back.

[ToledoRailfan]

This crossing appears to have Harmon 12 inch incandescent lights!
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.413 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.413 ... 312!8i6656

...

The next crossing appears to have more Harmon 12 inch lights, although they kept the 8 inch lights for the side road.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.686 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.686 ... 312!8i6656

They're actually 3rd Generation Modern Industries 12x20 inch lights, at least at the first crossing. However, AFAIK, there's no differences between these lights and 3rd Generation Harmon lights other than the logo on the back.

Pretty odd that one side of the signal uses normal lights while the other side uses those weird lights that are used in Western Australia. I posted a photo of a signal similar to that in this topic not that long ago.

[TrickyMario7654]

I think the crossing at Yarrawonga may be on borrowed time. I just found out about this project involving the construction of a replacement bridge to this one.
https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/plannin ... ning-study

This will all be fine and dandy, if it weren't for the fact that a new connector road linking Orr Street to the Murray Valley Highway is to be built in order to take traffic off of nearby Belmore Street.


The new road will intersect at where Benalla Road currently terminates, dangerously close to the crossing.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.019 ... 312!8i6656

Chances are, they'll also take the opportunely to upgrade the crossing with gates, spelling the end of the Westinghouse Teardrop currently at the crossing.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.019 ... 312!8i6656

More info on the project. (You can see that there were two other options for where the road connects up to the highway a good distance away from the crossing, but obviously they go with 'B' because they know the crossing has rare equipment at it and they just love to annoy us by removing it).
https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/~/media ... .pdf?la=en

Now, were talking about a few years down the road before they begin works, so I'm not 100% sure if they will upgrade the crossing. But knowing the state government, they'll probably do it anyway.

[McK&H.Aust]

This crossing appears to have Harmon 12 inch incandescent lights!
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.413 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.413 ... 312!8i6656

...

The next crossing appears to have more Harmon 12 inch lights, although they kept the 8 inch lights for the side road.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.686 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.686 ... 312!8i6656

They're actually 3rd Generation Modern Industries 12x20 inch lights, at least at the first crossing. However, AFAIK, there's no differences between these lights and 3rd Generation Harmon lights other than the logo on the back.

Guess I need to brush up on my 12 inch light knowledge, but it's cool they are Modern Industries. Queensland crossings have no bells but they certainly have an interesting variety of lights and gate mechs.

[McK&H.Aust]

This crossing appears to have Harmon 12 inch incandescent lights!
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.413 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.413 ... 312!8i6656

...

The next crossing appears to have more Harmon 12 inch lights, although they kept the 8 inch lights for the side road.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.686 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.686 ... 312!8i6656

They're actually 3rd Generation Modern Industries 12x20 inch lights, at least at the first crossing. However, AFAIK, there's no differences between these lights and 3rd Generation Harmon lights other than the logo on the back.

Pretty odd that one side of the signal uses normal lights while the other side uses those weird lights that are used in Western Australia. I posted a photo of a signal similar to that in this topic not that long ago.

Those rectangular backgrounds are not very common outside of Western Australia, but they are used on a few crossings where the angle of the sun can hinder the view of the lights. Here's one at Urunga on the north coast of NSW https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-30.484 ... 312!8i6656

[McK&H.Aust]

I think the crossing at Yarrawonga may be on borrowed time. I just found out about this project involving the construction of a replacement bridge to this one.
https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/plannin ... ning-study

This will all be fine and dandy, if it weren't for the fact that a new connector road linking Orr Street to the Murray Valley Highway is to be built in order to take traffic off of nearby Belmore Street.


The new road will intersect at where Benalla Road currently terminates, dangerously close to the crossing.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.019 ... 312!8i6656

Chances are, they'll also take the opportunely to upgrade the crossing with gates, spelling the end of the Westinghouse Teardrop currently at the crossing.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.019 ... 312!8i6656

More info on the project. (You can see that there were two other options for where the road connects up to the highway a good distance away from the crossing, but obviously they go with 'B' because they know the crossing has rare equipment at it and they just love to annoy us by removing it).
https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/~/media ... .pdf?la=en

Now, were talking about a few years down the road before they begin works, so I'm not 100% sure if they will upgrade the crossing. But knowing the state government, they'll probably do it anyway.

I guess it depends on the design of the new intersection with the Murray Valley Hwy, but the crossing is probably a goner either way. If they install a roundabout it will have to be very large to cope with the big trucks, so it will certainly require a reconfiguration of the crossing (and new signals, most likely gates). If they install traffic lights, the longer trucks won't be clear of the tracks if they are stopped at the new intersection, so they will probably install new gated signals at the crossing with the traffic lights stopping vehicles before the crossing.

It's quite sad, not just for the crossing but also for the railway station, turntable and steam locomotive water tank which all seem to be in the path of the new road, also maybe the silos behind the station.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.017 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.017 ... 312!8i6656

They probably chose that route because it will mostly use railway land, so no need for expensive property acquisitions and the associated political fallout. I guess heritage doesn't matter when you want a fancy new road.

The Westinghouse teardrop bell on the Shone Ave crossing at Wongawilli is also on borrowed time (in more ways than one).
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.479 ... 312!8i6656

There are plans to widen the road, install gates and also new pedestrian/cycle path crossings. The draft plan is a fairly large file but is interesting reading (also has a picture of the crossing on the cover). Some interesting pictures and information about the crossing begins on page 322. There are also pictures and information about the other crossings on the line starting on page 364.
http://www.haveyoursaywollongong.com.au ... ents/17754

Wollongong Coal are the owners of the Wongawilli mine and also the railway line. They have run into quite a bit of strife on several fronts, production at the mine was stopped in late May 2017 and hasn't resumed. Trains are no longer operating.

Basically the mine owner's problems are......
They owe money to the government who are taking legal action to recover it.
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/stor ... -pay-rent/

They owe money to the contractor who was operating the mine for them (they have since gone bankrupt). http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/stor ... unk-delta/

They are being investigated by the government to determine if they are "fit and proper" to hold a mining licence.
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/stor ... g-licence/

Obviously if you are a mining company and can't afford to pay your rent to the government, you are in serious financial trouble. Unless another company is willing to buy the mine, there is a good chance that it will not re-open.