Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

Not a flat sounding bell, but here is a WCH Mechanical Bell that can barely ring.


I'm not sure if i am ruling out how long the signal was left activated for.

freebrickproductions wrote: Mon May 06, 2019 10:43 pm Here's a very flat mechanical bell in Poland, where, according to the description, the gong is fastened on too tightly:

Usually the case here in sweden too, apparently the line the crossing is on almost never gets used due to the aftermath of an economic crisis

The crossing shown at 1:24 has a pretty flat WCH mechanical bell.


Sticking to the SGR, this crossing at 8:29 has a flat Safetran bell, and the WCH bell on the side sounds rather clanky.

NathanFromEngland wrote: Sat May 11, 2019 4:39 pm The crossing shown at 1:24 has a pretty flat WCH mechanical bell.


Sticking to the SGR, this crossing at 8:29 has a flat Safetran bell, and the WCH bell on the side sounds rather clanky.

the SGR Sarasota branch is an accident waiting to happen.

ZachL wrote: Sun May 12, 2019 11:29 am

NathanFromEngland wrote: Sat May 11, 2019 4:39 pm The crossing shown at 1:24 has a pretty flat WCH mechanical bell.


Sticking to the SGR, this crossing at 8:29 has a flat Safetran bell, and the WCH bell on the side sounds rather clanky.

the SGR Sarasota branch is an accident waiting to happen.

What makes you say that?

NathanFromEngland wrote: Sun May 12, 2019 1:11 pm

ZachL wrote: Sun May 12, 2019 11:29 am

NathanFromEngland wrote: Sat May 11, 2019 4:39 pm The crossing shown at 1:24 has a pretty flat WCH mechanical bell.


Sticking to the SGR, this crossing at 8:29 has a flat Safetran bell, and the WCH bell on the side sounds rather clanky.

the SGR Sarasota branch is an accident waiting to happen.

What makes you say that?

It's severely underfunded! Tracks are in terrible condition, they're using an engine from the 1960s (maybe 1970s), and the signals collect dust and pretty much only receive maintenance if it borderline violates FRA regulations.

Watch these videos and you tell me now why it's an accident waiting to happen:

Well, on the bright side, the SGR does appear to retain a large amount of old SCL and CSX equipment, which is nice.

The Puffing Billy Railway has 2 crossings with really flat bells. Here is a flat Mck&h Teardrop on Selby - Aura Road https://youtu.be/nEmx03L7GAM and Long Pockitt Rd, Selby has a Westinghouse Hybrid Bell that sounds like the hammer has worn through the gong it’s just hitting the base of the bell now https://youtu.be/x8z7kZ16uco

Here's a pair of pretty bad sounding Safetran bells:

The nearside motorized-mechanical bell on this Italian railroad crossing sounds very flat.