McK&H.Aust wrote:Great find. There are flagmen and signal maintainers at the crossing, most likely there was a malfunction or there is testing & maintenance work being carried out.
Time for an updated list of crossings still known to have m-bells at the start of 2016 in Metro Melbourne (includes Stony Point Line).
THIS LIST IS NO LONGER UPDATED AS OF 11/16/16. PLEASE CHECK THE NEW LIST IN A SEPARATE THREAD I MADE...
Crossings in red indicates crossing has been grade separated. Crossings in blue indicates bell has been replaced with an E-Bell. Crossings in green indicates that I'm unsure if it's still there.
Macaulay Road, Kensington (Westinghouse Hybrid, Upfield Line crossing)
Arden Street, North Melbourne (Westinghouse Hybrid)
Bell Street, Coburg (Westinghouse Hybrid, on LX-ing removal list)
Thompsons Road, Lyndhurst (Westinghouse Hybrid, on LX-ing removal list)
Station Street, Officer (Westinghouse Hybrid)
Brunt Road, Officer (Westinghouse Hybrid)
Oakover Road, Preston (Westinghouse Hybrid, has B&W gate too!)
Robinsons Road, Langwarrin (Westinghouse Hybrid)
Golf Links Road, Langwarrin South (Westinghouse Hybrid)
Bedford Road, Ringwood (Westinghouse Hybrid)
Armstrongs Road, Seaford (Westinghouse Hybrid)
Seaford Road, Seaford (Westinghouse Hybrid, on LX-ing removal list)
Hallam South Road, Hallam (Westinghouse Hybrid, on LX-ing removal list)
South Gippsland Highway, Dandenong (Westinghouse Hybrid, on LX-ing removal list)
Greens Road, Dandenong South (Westinghouse Hybrid)
Abbotts Road, Dandenong South (Westinghouse Hybrid, on LX-ing removal list)
Chandler Road, Noble Park (Westinghouse Hybrid, on LX-ing removal list)
Corrigan Road, Noble Park (Westinghouse Hybrid, on LX-ing removal list, there's also a disused teardrop bell visible at this crossing)
Centre Road, Clayton (Westinghouse Hybrid, on LX-ing removal list)
Clayton Road, Clayton (Westinghouse Hybrid, on LX-ing removal list)
Grange Road, Caulfield (Westinghouse Hybrid, on LX-ing removal list, an Mk&H Teardrop bell was previously on one side of the crossing, but was replaced with a Westinghouse Hybrid sometime after June 2013)
Toorak Road, Kooyong (Westinghouse Hybrid, on LX-ing removal list, Hybrid's sound horrible on this crossing.)
Is there a video of the crossing?
Yeah, there is one (go to 11:03). chris96 said the bells sound really bad at this crossing.
The bells sound ok to me in the video.
Not sure if anyone has covered this before but I believe there are at least two different generations of Westinghouse hybrid bells, which could help explain the difference in tone among them. An easy way to tell the difference is by looking at the number of holes where the base of the bell bolts onto the top of the mast. The first generation bells only have one hole, where the second generation bells have two holes (one above the other).
Another difference is on the back of the housing, above the Westinghouse logo where the mechanism inside is bolted on. On the first generation bells there are four bolts visible on the outside, while on the newer ones there are only two bolts. Yet another difference is on the inside where the white box that provides the pulses to operate the bell is attached. You can see from the video that this is a second generation bell, as the white box inside is attached to the top of the assembly where the gong bolts onto. On the first generation bells the white box is mounted to the left of the assembly and is screwed into the back of the housing.
I have also uploaded a video of my hybrid bell, I believe it is a first generation and you can see the differences from the newer ones.
McK&H.Aust wrote:
Not sure if anyone has covered this before but I believe there are at least two different generations of Westinghouse hybrid bells, which could help explain the difference in tone among them. An easy way to tell the difference is by looking at the number of holes where the base of the bell bolts onto the top of the mast. The first generation bells only have one hole, where the second generation bells have two holes (one above the other).
Another difference is on the back of the housing, above the Westinghouse logo where the mechanism inside is bolted on. On the first generation bells there are four bolts visible on the outside, while on the newer ones there are only two bolts. Yet another difference is on the inside where the white box that provides the pulses to operate the bell is attached. You can see from the video that this is a second generation bell, as the white box inside is attached to the top of the assembly where the gong bolts onto. On the first generation bells the white box is mounted to the left of the assembly and is screwed into the back of the housing.
I wasn't aware of the fact that two different variants exist of the Hybrid bell. Thanks for telling me, I'll be on the look out for that next time I take a close look at one of them
McK&H.Aust wrote:The bells sound ok to me in the video.
How about this one at Seaford Road (32:34)? It sounds off to me...
Metro, why do you keep removing Mechanical bells?!
TrickyMario7654 wrote:
How about this one at Seaford Road (32:34)? It sounds off to me...
It does sound different. The actual mechanism seems to be working normally, maybe there is something wrong with the gong, it could be cracked, worn or obstructed by a foreign object like spider webs or a wasp nest.
I have noticed many slight variations in the sound of these and other bells. Not all teardrop bells sound the same, and WCH mechanical bells can have different sounding gongs. I think it could have something to do with the metal composition of the gong, there are probably slight variations between each batch that is made, or the shape of the gong could vary slightly with each batch, specially if they are made from multiple moulds.
I also suspect that if the bolt securing the gong became loose it could alter the sound.
TrickyMario7654 wrote:
How about this one at Seaford Road (32:34)? It sounds off to me...
It does sound different. The actual mechanism seems to be working normally, maybe there is something wrong with the gong, it could be cracked, worn or obstructed by a foreign object like spider webs or a wasp nest.
I have noticed many slight variations in the sound of these and other bells. Not all teardrop bells sound the same, and WCH mechanical bells can have different sounding gongs. I think it could have something to do with the metal composition of the gong, there are probably slight variations between each batch that is made, or the shape of the gong could vary slightly with each batch, specially if they are made from multiple moulds.
I also suspect that if the bolt securing the gong became loose it could alter the sound.
That's interesting. I know that early versions of the Safetran M-Bells used leftover parts from Griswold and RACO. I believe the old Safetran bell that used to be at Ripponlea had a
Griswold gong, as it had a higher pitch than the Safetran bells typically would.
Also, the bells at Toorak Road, Kooyong sound a lot worse now than they do in the video. There are a lot of big trees around the crossing. I suspect leaves have found their way inside the bell, as they just make a horrible "dink" noise and don't ring at all.
chris96 wrote:Also, the bells at Toorak Road, Kooyong sound a lot worse now than they do in the video. There are a lot of big trees around the crossing. I suspect leaves have found their way inside the bell, as they just make a horrible "dink" noise and don't ring at all.
I imagine that since they're removing the crossing in a few years time, they're not gonna bother replacing it with an e-bell. Does it sound the same as it does in this video? (Toorak Road crossing seen at 4:57)
Metro, why do you keep removing Mechanical bells?!
