I'm staying for two nights at Portland so hopefully I can check out the remaining crossings and try to photograph them. I've been fortunate enough to film a train at Cliff St, Portland where the teardrop sounds like it's dying, and Mt Clay Rd, Heywood where the Safetran bell still sounds nice.
That is fantastic news! I wonder how/why the Portland line has escaped equipment 'upgrades' when all other lines in the state are constantly having signals replaced? To my knowledge, there is only one E-Bell on the entire line, located at Burgins Rd in Hamilton: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.782 ... 328!8i1664
The Portland line seems as though it's stuck in the early 2000's, before boom gates, E-Bells and even LED lights dominated rural crossings!
BTW, if you're still planing on visiting Geelong, there are a couple of interesting disused crossings in the area that might be worth checking out. One of them is this bell-less crossing on Abery Rd in North Shore: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-38.099 ... 312!8i6656
The missing signal has since been replaced and has incandescent lights!
I can't wait to see some of the photos/videos from your travels!
Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 7:30 am
by McK&H.Aust
chris96 wrote:
I wonder how/why the Portland line has escaped equipment 'upgrades' when all other lines in the state are constantly having signals replaced? To my knowledge, there is only one E-Bell on the entire line, located at Burgins Rd in Hamilton: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.782 ... 328!8i1664
The Portland line seems as though it's stuck in the early 2000's, before boom gates, E-Bells and even LED lights dominated rural crossings!
BTW, if you're still planing on visiting Geelong, there are a couple of interesting disused crossings in the area that might be worth checking out. One of them is this bell-less crossing on Abery Rd in North Shore: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-38.099 ... 312!8i6656
The missing signal has since been replaced and has incandescent lights!
I can't wait to see some of the photos/videos from your travels!
It sure is amazing how the Portland Line has escaped the usual "upgrade fever", the only recent changes are LED's which seem to have been fitted to most of the crossings, but apart from that they seem untouched. Mt Clay Rd at Heywood still has the inverted SORS signs and old style crossbucks, and I don't think I've seen any red-background crossbucks so far
I think one of the reasons could be the low number of trains which use the line. Even after the train went through Heywood this afternoon, the rails still looked quite dull and rusty. The nearby highway is in poor condition with hundreds of trucks using it daily (lots of logging trucks), and it seems such a waste while the railway line just sits there idle most of the time.
I do want to visit the Geelong area but still not sure where I'm going after leaving Portland. There is a chance I could be able to film a grain train going past the teardrop bell at Swan Hill, and it's very hard to decide what to do next
Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 7:40 am
by trainman7
McK&H.Aust wrote:Finally made it to Portland, haven't checked all of the crossings on the line yet, but so far I haven't seen any e-bells
I'm staying for two nights at Portland so hopefully I can check out the remaining crossings and try to photograph them. I've been fortunate enough to film a train at Cliff St, Portland where the teardrop sounds like it's dying, and Mt Clay Rd, Heywood where the Safetran bell still sounds nice.
It’s incredible that the Portland line has remained pretty much untouched! Hopefully as long as the line remains under ARTC ownership, they’ll remain for many years to come!
Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 7:48 am
by McK&H.Aust
trainman7 wrote:
McK&H.Aust wrote:Finally made it to Portland, haven't checked all of the crossings on the line yet, but so far I haven't seen any e-bells
I'm staying for two nights at Portland so hopefully I can check out the remaining crossings and try to photograph them. I've been fortunate enough to film a train at Cliff St, Portland where the teardrop sounds like it's dying, and Mt Clay Rd, Heywood where the Safetran bell still sounds nice.
It’s incredible that the Portland line has remained pretty much untouched! Hopefully as long as the line remains under ARTC ownership, they’ll remain for many years to come!
Yes I think the Portland Line will probably be the last line where you will still be able to see plenty of m-bells and older crossings, and maybe a few on the Melbourne - Sydney line also. Good old ARTC and their limited budgets
Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 10:34 am
by freebrickproductions
Any Safetran mechanical bells left along the line?
And I'd go after the grain train going through the Teardrop in Swan Hill. You never know when that's gonna get replaced!
Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 3:03 pm
by McK&H.Aust
freebrickproductions wrote:Any Safetran mechanical bells left along the line?
And I'd go after the grain train going through the Teardrop in Swan Hill. You never know when that's gonna get replaced!
Also had a quick look at Burgins Rd, Hamilton which still has a Safetran Type 3 e-bell, the nearby Iluka Minerals siding looked very rusty so I guess that traffic has stopped completely. https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.782 ... 328!8i1664
All crossings now have LED's.
Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Sat May 19, 2018 5:04 am
by TrickyMario7654
McK&H.Aust wrote:Checked out more crossings on the Portland line today. First are the two crossings not on GSV...
Also had a quick look at Burgins Rd, Hamilton which still has a Safetran Type 3 e-bell, the nearby Iluka Minerals siding looked very rusty so I guess that traffic has stopped completely. https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.782 ... 328!8i1664
All crossings now have LED's.
Wonder what happened to the hybrid bell at South Boundary Road? It was still in service in 2015...
Great to see that another Teardrop bell has been discovered at Strathkellar, good thing I alerted you about the crossing.
Did you photograph the other crossings you visited?
Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Sat May 19, 2018 5:29 am
by McK&H.Aust
TrickyMario7654 wrote:
McK&H.Aust wrote:Checked out more crossings on the Portland line today. First are the two crossings not on GSV...
Also had a quick look at Burgins Rd, Hamilton which still has a Safetran Type 3 e-bell, the nearby Iluka Minerals siding looked very rusty so I guess that traffic has stopped completely. https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.782 ... 328!8i1664
All crossings now have LED's.
Wonder what happened to the hybrid bell at South Boundary Road? It was still in service in 2015...
Great to see that another Teardrop bell has been discovered at Strathkellar, good thing I alerted you about the crossing.
Did you photograph the other crossings you visited?
I guess the hybrid bell died, looking at the other crossings on the line, I don't think they would have replaced it unless really necessary.
I'm certainly am glad you reminded me about the crossing at Strathkellar, otherwise I probably would have missed it.
Sadly the weather wasn't the best this morning, there were frequent showers which seemed to happen every time I got out of the car at a crossing
I did manage to ptotograph the two disused crossings at Portland (Garden St and Kennedy St) which still have their incandescent lights. Also photograped Hamilton - Port Fairy Rd and the WCH m-bell there, plus the Henty Hwy at Moutajup which has a McK&H teardrop. I'm leaving Portland tomorrow but will photograph some more crossings on the way, probably won't get them all but will try to photograph the teardrop crossings at a minimum.
Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Sat May 19, 2018 5:43 am
by TrickyMario7654
McK&H.Aust wrote:Sadly the weather wasn't the best this morning, there were frequent showers which seemed to happen every time I got out of the car at a crossing
I did manage to ptotograph the two disused crossings at Portland (Garden St and Kennedy St) which still have their incandescent lights. Also photograped Hamilton - Port Fairy Rd and the WCH m-bell there, plus the Henty Hwy at Moutajup which has a McK&H teardrop. I'm leaving Portland tomorrow but will photograph some more crossings on the way, probably won't get them all but will try to photograph the teardrop crossings at a minimum.
I wonder how/why the Portland line has escaped equipment 'upgrades' when all other lines in the state are constantly having signals replaced? To my knowledge, there is only one E-Bell on the entire line, located at Burgins Rd in Hamilton:
