RedhenRailcarSAR wrote: Sun Jun 30, 2019 5:22 am
So today I visited the NRM, and I found out some amazing stuff!
So first of all, the Bell that replaced the stolen/dead Teardrop is a Safetran Mechanical Bell.
And most exciting of all, I can confirm the existence of several more Bryant Zinc Bells, and a 1st gen US&S Teardrop in South Australia! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to stay at the bell pile for long but I did ring some of the bells.
Photo proof (picture is too big for the website) https://mobile.twitter.com/RedhenSar/st ... 24/photo/1
Wow, what a fantastic find! It's great to know that another US&S Teardrop currently exists in Australia! That means there are at least three in the country right now! I wonder if there are any others still lurking out there in private collections?
Could this be the same bell that was on display at Belair station in the 80's? Here's a comparison of the two bells (I hope you don't mind me using your photo here):
It would be great if the NRM would refurbish the bell and put it on display. Do they realize the significance of the bell? If not, someone really needs to let them know as it's sad to see it so neglected. Also nice to hear about the additional Bryant Zinc bells you found. The NRM really aren't short of interesting vintage equipment!
Side note first, I heard from a fellow railfan in Adelaide on YouTube (vacbag, the first person I know who found out about the bell pile) that the teardrop bell was replaced because it was taking up too much power, and it was frying the transformer so they got that Safetran bell, I assume which is softer on the transformer. I also heard from them that the teardrop went in the pile. Well to be honest the bells aren’t really in a pile, they are in the yard though.
The NRM seems to take care of its equipment though, but I think some work might be needed on some of the equipment, for example the wig wag at ground level
Is sounding flat and one of the bell hammers isn’t working. That may be related to the cold weather though, I heard wig wags work better in warmer weather.
I also forgot to mention there are also multiple Mck&h and Westinghouse Teardrops, this includes cast iron Mck&h ones. I also found a crossing signal with a Westinghouse base, Presumably Mck&h lights, and a Bryant Zinc bell. The signal is painted in Black and White Stripes as the original SAR signals were.
I’m not too sure on the Belair Display Signal, but the bells both look the same from what I can tell. The rail heritage groups all seem to have a nice working relationship so its possible that the Belair Station group passed it to the NRM, but I think someone stole the belair display signal Teardrop, that I think is the only valid reason for replacing bells on the the signal.
Next time I go to the NRM, I’m gonna try and get a second visit to that yard and hopefully suggest the restoration of that bell, (or ask for it, haha).
That's very interesting information indeed! I didn't realize that Teardrop Bells were harder to run then other models. That could also be another factor in why there are so few left these days. I'll have to get back to the NRM again sometime as I havern't been there in years! They probably have the most amount of M-Bells in SA at this point.
I also have a few interesting bits of news I'd like to share. I'll start off with something pretty unusual. The Keon Parade crossing in Reservoir, VIC has always had four Hybrid bells (one for each gate post). However, for some reason only two of the Hybrids actually worked. The ones in the middle sat there doing nothing. Here's the crossing in action in a video from Stuart Hunt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sKCV5Ufa00&t=271s
Bizarrely, the middle signal's Hybrid Bell on the South Morang side of the crossing has been replaced with a GS E-Bell, even though it still doesn't do anything! Here's some photos I took today:
Has anyone got any ideas as to what on earth could be going on here?
In other news, the last remaining Barker Technics E-Bells on the Upfield line at Union St, Brunswick have sadly been replaced with GS Type 3's. The crossing has also received new WCH gate mechs. Here's some pictures:
The Macaulay Rd and Arden St crossings in North Melbourne are currently still untouched. However, I'm sure it won't be long before they're "upgraded" too.
On a lighter note, the original non-adjusted Genral Signals Type 1 at Hutton St in Thornbury (one of the oldest E-Bells in Melbourne) is still there and sounding very healthy!:
I guess this was done by Connex (Melbourne's rail operator at the time when these were installed in 2003-04) as a way the further weatherproof and protect the units. I must say, they've done very well to last for over 15 years. That's like an eternity in E-Bell years!
that’s such a shame the last Barker Bells on the line are gone, i think the last barker type 2s on the metro network were on this line too (i dunno, forgive me for not knowing the line haha) I am happy I visited before the barker bells at Union St were gone.
I am thinking that the bells in the middle are spares for the ones on the outside, so the middle South Morang side is now on one of the outside signals, and the gs bell is next in line after the next middle hybrid moves to one of the outside signals. Its a crazy theory but that could be the reason.
I think those grills on the unadjusted type 1s are doing their job nicely, great to hear about the surviving unadjusted type 1s.
Did they end up fixing that dead incandescent on Macaulay Rd or is it an LED now?
Speaking of dead incandescents, I also wonder if the dead incandescent on Park St Brunswick has been fixed too.
Nice find with the bells at the NRM . From my view it doesn’t look like the same teardrop at Belair. Who knows where that is. Probably stolen . I saw a couple videos on Keon parade and I heard that the signal got knocked down or something. Maybe they just placed a ebell up there for the time being . Sad that all the barker te I bells are gone on the upfield line. I hope to film either Mernda crossings or crossings around North Melbourne soon so I hope those crossings still have the hybrids. Great that Hutton street stil has the original type one. Anyway I found this album on Flickr which has about 200 Crossing pictures taken around the 90s 2000s. I think the’re from Darren Hodges since a lot of the pictures look like there from his signspotters website. There’s really some great stuff to look through there. https://www.flickr.com/photos/17513196@ ... 0818747536
Applehead137 wrote: Wed Jul 03, 2019 7:13 pm
Anyway I found this album on Flickr which has about 200 Crossing pictures taken around the 90s 2000s. I think the’re from Darren Hodges since a lot of the pictures look like there from his signspotters website. There’s really some great stuff to look through there. https://www.flickr.com/photos/17513196@ ... 0818747536
Great find! Lots of very unique signals in there and some great flashbacks to a time when Victoria's crossings were varied an interesting. How so much has changed in such little time! Awesome stuff!
Applehead137 wrote: Wed Jul 03, 2019 7:13 pm
Nice find with the bells at the NRM . From my view it doesn’t look like the same teardrop at Belair. Who knows where that is. Probably stolen . I saw a couple videos on Keon parade and I heard that the signal got knocked down or something. Maybe they just placed a ebell up there for the time being . Sad that all the barker te I bells are gone on the upfield line. I hope to film either Mernda crossings or crossings around North Melbourne soon so I hope those crossings still have the hybrids. Great that Hutton street stil has the original type one. Anyway I found this album on Flickr which has about 200 Crossing pictures taken around the 90s 2000s. I think the’re from Darren Hodges since a lot of the pictures look like there from his signspotters website. There’s really some great stuff to look through there. https://www.flickr.com/photos/17513196@ ... 0818747536
Those are some amazing pictures, I especially love the black and white booms, painted poles/signals, and those Lex-c lights. One of those pictures is actually taken at Bordertown, South Australia. Those signals are gone now unfortunately, Being replaced with the usual LEDs and Safetran Type 3. One of the other especially interesting pictures was that Gated Signal With the WCH M-Bell waiting to replace the Gateless Teardrop bell Signal. How times have changed.
Some of y'all might find this video interesting, so here's a video of the Marion Road crossing in Plymton, SA, which still features a pair of WCH mechanical bells as of this month (according to the uploader, anyways):
freebrickproductions wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2019 1:25 am
Some of y'all might find this video interesting, so here's a video of the Marion Road crossing in Plymton, SA, which still features a pair of WCH mechanical bells as of this month (according to the uploader, anyways):
Thanks for that! I'm so glad to see that the WCH M-Bells are still there. I just hope they hold on a little longer!
freebrickproductions wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2019 1:25 am
Some of y'all might find this video interesting, so here's a video of the Marion Road crossing in Plymton, SA, which still features a pair of WCH mechanical bells as of this month (according to the uploader, anyways):
Thanks for sharing that video! I have been there too, the WCH bells sound nice and healthy and to be honest, I’m surprised they haven’t been replaced yet. Best I don’t speak too soon though, the Adelaide Metro signalling department is probably looking at this and writing down some ideas. There are long term plans to grade separate the crossing anyways.
I think apart from the Stop on red signal signals and WCH bells, the crossing reminds me of a Melbourne Crossing because of its equipment.
freebrickproductions wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2019 1:25 am
Some of y'all might find this video interesting, so here's a video of the Marion Road crossing in Plymton, SA, which still features a pair of WCH mechanical bells as of this month (according to the uploader, anyways):
Thanks for sharing that video! I have been there too, the WCH bells sound nice and healthy and to be honest, I’m surprised they haven’t been replaced yet. Best I don’t speak too soon though, the Adelaide Metro signalling department is probably looking at this and writing down some ideas. There are long term plans to grade separate the crossing anyways.
I think apart from the Stop on red signal signals and WCH bells, the crossing reminds me of a Melbourne Crossing because of its equipment.
The current WCH m-bells actually replaced Safetran type 3 e-bells, so I'm thinking that there is a reason why they went back using m-bells here. I guess there could be some kind of electrical issues at this particular crossing which are not very kind to e-bells. Hopefully the m-bells are here to stay.
GSV from 2013 showing the e-bells https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.967 ... 312!8i6656 https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.967 ... 312!8i6656
Nice pictures! Those stop on red signal signs are actually U.S versions! I wonder why and how they ended up at that crossing?
I also have a few updates I'd like to share. Today I traveled to Inverleigh and am pleased to report that the Mahers Rd crossing still has its Westinghouse Hybrid Bell!
The crossing also has a new Safetran Type 3 (it previously had a GS E-Bell on this signal)
Of course, Railway St and Inverleigh-Winchelsea Rd still have their Hybrid bells too!
Inverleigh clearly must be stuck in some sort of time loop from the late 90's/early 2000's to have so much untouched equipment!
Unfortunately, I do have some sad news to report. The dead Hybrid at Peak School Rd in Little River has been replaced with a new Safetran Type 3:
But guess what....it's already dying!
The bell isn't even a week old (the Hybrid was still there when I drove past on Tuesday). Clearly something is actively killing the bells.
It's great to know that another US&S Teardrop currently exists in Australia! That means there are at least three in the country right now! I wonder if there are any others still lurking out there in private collections?
The crossing has also received new WCH gate mechs. Here's some pictures:
Lots of very unique signals in there and some great flashbacks to a time when Victoria's crossings were varied an interesting. How so much has changed in such little time! Awesome stuff!
