Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

chris96 wrote:The same thing happened at Upfield.
2009:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.666 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.666 ... 312!8i6656
2014:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.666 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.666 ... 312!8i6656

I don't see that point of that.

While were on the subject of the Upfield line, here are two videos of the line in the 90's...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3As4iSx4Kk

This first one shows off a cab view of a portion of the line between Batman (Yes, we do have a station named Batman) and Jewell. The train passes through 4 sets of interlocked gates, 9 sets of handgates, and a few crossings with lights and barriers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y8Ee4NGyuU

This next one is a cabview of the entire line in 1992. The video has "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" and another song I don't know the name of playing through out the video. There's crossings with interlocked gates, handgates, lights and barriers (black and white barriers too!), and towards the end of the line, crossings with just flashing lights and bells! A lot of things have changed since then. Citylink now runs over Macauley station, all the crossings now have lights and barriers (though some of the ones seen in the video were closed in 1998), not to mention the Comeng trains seen in the video have been refurbished...

freebrickproductions wrote: Usually it's done when an e-bell dies.

Sure, but I often travelled over that crossing in Geelong and the bells were still going strong when they were replaced. Not sure about the Upfield ones though.

TrickyMario7654 wrote: While were on the subject of the Upfield line, here are two videos of the line in the 90's...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3As4iSx4Kk

This first one shows off a cab view of a portion of the line between Batman (Yes, we do have a station named Batman) and Jewell. The train passes through 4 sets of interlocked gates, 9 sets of handgates, and a few crossings with lights and barriers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y8Ee4NGyuU

This next one is a cabview of the entire line in 1992. The video has "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" and another song I don't know the name of playing through out the video. There's crossings with interlocked gates, handgates, lights and barriers (black and white barriers too!), and towards the end of the line, crossings with just flashing lights and bells! A lot of things have changed since then. Citylink now runs over Macauley station, all the crossings now have lights and barriers (though some of the ones seen in the video were closed in 1998), not to mention the Comeng trains seen in the video have been refurbished...

Love those hand operated gates! I also noticed a few crossings with teardrop bells. Almost all crossings on the line have E-Bells now.

chris96 wrote: Love those hand operated gates! I also noticed a few crossings with teardrop bells. Almost all crossings on the line have E-Bells now.

A lot has changed since then...

BTW, I saw your comment on how Metro throw away most of their old bells, even if they are in perfect working condition... Real shame, I'm hoping to acquire one of the Westinghouse bells of either Main Street or Racecourse Road whenever they replace them with E-Bells...

TrickyMario7654 wrote: BTW, I saw your comment on how Metro throw away most of their old bells, even if they are in perfect working condition... Real shame, I'm hoping to acquire one of the Westinghouse bells of either Main Street or Racecourse Road whenever they replace them with E-Bells...

Yeah, it sucks. Unfortunately, to them these bells are just old junk and they don't value the historical aspects of this equipment like we do. But what hurts the most is that even if you ask for old equipment (that you know they'll never use again) they will most likely decline the request anyway and toss them in the trash. I've heard several stories of this happening.


Anyway, moving onto more positive things, here are some more street view finds.

At Ballan this crossing has two types of E-Bells installed. One side has a General Signals Type 2 while the other has a Safetran Type 3:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.605 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.605 ... 312!8i6656

A similar setup at Bacchus Marsh:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.687 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.686 ... 312!8i6656

And another:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.689 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.688 ... 312!8i6656

It isn't common for Vline to install General Signals Bells on their lines. Instead, they mostly use the Safetran/Siemens Type 3's.


If you go back a few years, most of the crossings on this line had a mechanical bell on one side

Westinghouse Hybrid Bell:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.688 ... 328!8i1664

WCH Mechanical Bell:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.687 ... 328!8i1664

The crossing at Ballan had both a Westinghouse Hybrid and WCH bell in 2008:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.605 ... 328!8i1664

Then in 2009 the Westinghouse was replaced with a Safetran Type 3, but the WCH remained:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.605 ... 312!8i6656

Finally, by 2014 the WCH was replaced by a G.S Type 2 and the A-Frame gates were removed:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.605 ... 312!8i6656


Some old crossing/signalling equipment sitting in the Bacchus Marsh yards:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.687 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.687 ... 312!8i6656

Some old equipment left beside the tracks at Talbot just after the crossing was upgraded:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Me ... !4d144.612

Again, this crossing has G.S Type 2 E-Bells and Safetran gate mechs, rather than the standard Vline setup of Safetran/Siemens Type 3 bells and WCH gate mechs:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.177 ... 312!8i6656


Speaking of Siemens, here's the Australian headquarters of Siemens rail/signal division:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.827 ... 312!8i6656

They have a small crossing setup at the back of the factory (I guess for demonstration purposes?). It used to also have E-Bells and lights but I can't find a Google Maps image of it:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.827 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.827 ... 312!8i6656


I also found some miniature signals at the Diamond Valley Railway:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.733 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.733 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.733 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.732 ... 312!8i6656

chris96 wrote:Speaking of Siemens, here's the Australian headquarters of Siemens rail/signal division:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.827 ... 312!8i6656

Speaking for Siemens, here's one of their MoMo trains I found on street view.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.988 ... 328!8i1664

These Hitachi trains will also likely be thrown into the bin soon
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.799 ... 312!8i6656

Also one question, why do some Westinghouse bells sound higher pitched than others?
Some examples below.
Typical pitch (Hampton Street, since replaced with E-Bells )...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTDNAMSZoUg

Higher pitch (Burke Road, since grade separated )...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_5u9ljewGs

TrickyMario7654 wrote: Also one question, why do some Westinghouse bells sound higher pitched than others?
Some examples below.
Typical pitch (Hampton Street, since replaced with E-Bells )...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTDNAMSZoUg

Higher pitch (Burke Road, since grade separated )...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_5u9ljewGs

It usually depends on the health of the gong. If the gong is worn, it will sound slightly different from a "mint condition" gong. I've heard some some seriously damaged Hybrids that just produce a horrible "clunk" sound and don't ring out at all. In fact, there's currently a pair like that at the Toorak Road crossing in Kooyong. They sound awful.

I've updated the list I made on crossings that still have m-bells in Melbourne.

I don't know how rare these are, but I found some McK&H gate mechanisms at Webb Street, Narre Warren.



I also found this combo of LED's and Wetinghouse lights at McGregor Road, Pakenham.

TrickyMario7654 wrote:I don't know how rare these are, but I found some McK&H gate mechanisms at Webb Street, Narre Warren.



I also found this combo of LED's and Wetinghouse lights at McGregor Road, Pakenham.

Those are becoming quite rare. There's still a few here and there, but not a huge amount.

On the subject of things becoming rare, here is one of the few wishbone gates still on a Vline track:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-38.157 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-38.158 ... 312!8i6656

Found this private crossing inside the grounds of a factory in Geelong
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-38.107 ... 312!8i6656

It had a teardrop bell in 2010:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-38.108 ... 312!8i6656

Also came across this oddity on the Bellarine Hwy:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-38.229 ... 312!8i6656