Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

TrickyMario7654 wrote: This picture taken by PJV in 1976 shows this crossing in Watsonia with no crossbucks what so ever! Sadly, this crossing is long gone as they grade separated it (along with three other nearby crossings) when they duplicated the line between Macleod and Greensborough.

PJV's site also has loads of pictures showing off the project.
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/pjv00674.htm
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/pjv00675.htm
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/pjv00676.htm

Some of those crossings had Safetran bells too! However they were most likely made by Griswold or RACO at that time (I'm not entirely sure when Safetran bought these companies):
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/bw04/0590_32.jpg
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/bw04/0590_46.jpg
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/bw04/0589_58.jpg

I love the old Eagle traffic signals in the background of that last photo too.

chris96 wrote:

TrickyMario7654 wrote: This picture taken by PJV in 1976 shows this crossing in Watsonia with no crossbucks what so ever! Sadly, this crossing is long gone as they grade separated it (along with three other nearby crossings) when they duplicated the line between Macleod and Greensborough.

PJV's site also has loads of pictures showing off the project.
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/pjv00674.htm
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/pjv00675.htm
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/pjv00676.htm

Some of those crossings had Safetran bells too! However they were most likely made by Griswold or RACO at that time (I'm not entirely sure when Safetran bought these companies):
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/bw04/0590_32.jpg
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/bw04/0590_46.jpg
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/bw04/0589_58.jpg

I love the old Eagle traffic signals in the background of that last photo too.

IIRC, Griswold merged with Transport Products Corp. to form RACO, who then later became Safetran.

chris96 wrote:Some of those crossings had Safetran bells too! However they were most likely made by Griswold or RACO at that time (I'm not entirely sure when Safetran bought these companies):
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/bw04/0590_32.jpg
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/bw04/0590_46.jpg
http://www.pjv101.net/film_bw/bw04/0589_58.jpg

Yeah, I noticed that too. IIRC, the Victorian Railways pretty much always used McK&H bells for new setups back then. I also caught a shot at that disused Corrigan Road teardrop bell yesterday.


BTW, for historical reasons, here's the line today.

Looking towards the city at Watsonia Road.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.712 ... 312!8i6656

Watsonia Station.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.707 ... 312!8i6656

Site of the Nell Street crossing.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.712 ... 312!8i6656

Grimshaw Street.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.703 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.703 ... 312!8i6656

Site of the former Willam Street crossing.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.699 ... 312!8i6656

Found this really unusual combination of bells that used to be at Gaffney Street in Pascoe Vale. One side has a Westinghouse Hybrid, nothing really special. But, on the other side, is a Safetran Type 1 E-Bell!
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.730 ... 1664?hl=en
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.730 ... 1664?hl=en

Such an unusual combo isn't it?

Oh dear, I've found some damaged Westinghouse lights.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-38.027 ... 6656?hl=en

In NSW, I've found a crossing with a '2 Tracks' sign above the crossbuck. Another signal at this location has big backgrounds for the lights and has a reversed crossbuck as well!
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-35.271 ... 6656?hl=en
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-35.271 ... 6656?hl=en

McK&H.Aust wrote:High St, Seymour (Hybrid x2) https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.018 ... 312!8i6656 https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.018 ... 312!8i6656

If you go back to 2008...
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.018 ... 328!8i1664
(Sorry for triple posting by the way!)

This E-Bell at Kensington sounds like it's on its last legs. This is one of the oldest E-Bells in Melbourne (being installed in the early 2000's). It appears that a custom made grill has been added to the enclosure of the bell since it was installed. This crossing is also notable for its use of Alstom lights (they are very rare in this part of Australia):

chris96 wrote:This E-Bell at Kensington sounds like it's on its last legs. This is one of the oldest E-Bells in Melbourne (being installed in the early 2000's). It appears that a custom made grill has been added to the enclosure of the bell since it was installed. This crossing is also notable for its use of Alstom lights (they are very rare in this part of Australia):

It almost sounds like a GS Type 2 e-bell with its pitch adjusted. However it has to be a Type-1 if you say it was installed in the early 2000s Just sounds like the speaker is blown,though.

Also, the shell hasn't been modified. It could just be the way that the sun is angled at the time they recorded that.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.794490 ... 312!8i6656

chris96 wrote:This E-Bell at Kensington sounds like it's on its last legs. This is one of the oldest E-Bells in Melbourne (being installed in the early 2000's). It appears that a custom made grill has been added to the enclosure of the bell since it was installed. This crossing is also notable for its use of Alstom lights (they are very rare in this part of Australia):

Some other Melbourne crossings which have E-Bells for quite a while include...

• Pier Street, Altona (Had Black & White gates until recently)
• Ascot Vale Road, Flemington
• Bondi Road, Bonbeach
• Puckle St, Moonee Ponds
• Gaffney Street, Pascoe Vale (Had a Safetran Type 1 until around 2009)
• Devon Road, Oak Park
• Heatherdale Road, Mitcham (will be removed in a few months time)
• Ferguson Street, Willamstown

Found some signals on display in a few places:

Some outside this house in Yarrambat, Victoria (although they have since been removed ):
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.623 ... 328!8i1664

Another with GRS lights outside the Don River Railway in Don, Tasmania:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-41.182 ... 312!8i6656

I love the old semaphore signals at these locations too!

And now for something completely different...

These signals for the street running cane train on Mill St in Nambour, Queensland appear in pretty good condition and ready to warn of an approaching train:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.626 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.626 ... 312!8i6656

Some unusual signals are located further along the road:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.626 ... 312!8i6656

But then, the tracks just mysteriously disappear:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.626 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.626 ... 312!8i6656

Turns out, these tracks haven't seen a train since 2003 when the Maroochy Sugar Mill closed down. The site was still there in 2008:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.626 ... 328!8i1664

Here are some historic images from when the line was still operational:
http://queenslandplaces.com.au/sites/qu ... PC0728.jpg
https://media.apnarm.net.au/img/media/i ... d_t620.jpg
http://www.lrrsa.org.au/LR175mo1-2.jpg

chris96 wrote: Some unusual signals are located further along the road:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-26.626 ... 312!8i6656

They probably used that signal instead of regular crossing signals because it is for street running and not for a level crossing. Kind of interesting that the signs specify that it is a sugar cane train that uses (or used to) the tracks.