Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

That gate light is a WCH LED gate light.

freebrickproductions wrote: Thu Apr 25, 2019 12:51 am That gate light is a WCH LED gate light.

Ah ok, thanks for that!

chris96 wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2019 11:53 pm Hey guys! Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I've been working in Queensland for the past 8 months and haven't really had the time to participate in this forum. Now that I'm back though, I have a lot of things to share from up north!

There are many different gate mechs employed around Brisbane's train network including a few vintage Mck&H, WRRS and Westinghouse units. They don't seem too concerned about replacing them either (unlike some other railway operator)! A Safetran mech is used at this crossing:


Something not really seen in other states is the use of US&S equipment, with quite a few crossings using lights and gate mechs from the company (as seen here):
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-16.927 ... 312!8i6656

So that's my little update for now. As interesting as Queensland's crossings can be, I'm glad to be back in the land of the bells!

Welcome back to the land of the bells, mostly e-bells though. It's a shame about Dreamworld but I guess that's a sign of the times

Queensland sure has some interesting equipment. One thing I've noticed when looking on street view is there seems to be very few WCH gate mechs in QLD, so it must have been a nice change from the WCH mechs which have flooded the southern states.

Looks like Metro has approved the use of the flat gates for a trail somewhere on the network. Wonder if it’s on an actual crossing or somewhere in a stabling yard?

The trail concludes in early 2020 so I wonder if we’ll actually see these become fully approved (they got withdrawn a few years back) and start eventually replacing all the wishbone gates.

Username1 wrote: Thu Apr 25, 2019 9:53 pm Looks like Metro has approved the use of the flat gates for a trail somewhere on the network. Wonder if it’s on an actual crossing or somewhere in a stabling yard?


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The trail concludes in early 2020 so I wonder if we’ll actually see these become fully approved (they got withdrawn a few years back) and start eventually replacing all the wishbone gates.

I wonder if the cost of making wishbone gates has increased, so in the long term Metro could be looking for a cheaper alternative?

The flat gates have been used in electrified areas around many other parts of the country for quite some time, so can't really see there being any problems with the trial.

I'm thinking maybe the trial will be conducted on one of the crossings up for removal, will be interesting to see which type of gate lights they use, but would be sad to see the end of an era with wishbone gates.

McK&H.Aust wrote: Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:14 am
I wonder if the cost of making wishbone gates has increased, so in the long term Metro could be looking for a cheaper alternative?

The flat gates have been used in electrified areas around many other parts of the country for quite some time, so can't really see there being any problems with the trial.

I'm thinking maybe the trial will be conducted on one of the crossings up for removal, will be interesting to see which type of gate lights they use, but would be sad to see the end of an era with wishbone gates.

Yeah it will be interesting to see what gate lights they use. There used to be a couple crossings back in 2008 with Unipart rail LED gate lights on the Upfield line (I think at Batman station) so Metro possibly could use those lights as there is nothing in the approved product list about gate lights. I’m still not even sure who makes the wishbone gates seen around Melbourne, as I cannot find any company that still makes them, even a local one.

I noticed this while on the Werribee Line today. A crossing has been installed on the QUBE Logistics siding at Altona North. However, it uses car park boom gates instead of regular crossing signals:


Here's a satellite view of the siding on google maps:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/We ... !4d144.664

Quite an unusual setup. I wonder how activation works?

Interesting find there, Chris96.

Unfortunately, the bell nazis have been at work again and have targeted two crossings along the line.

The first victim is Poplar Road, Parkville (Royal Park). The hybrid bells have been replaced with General Signals e-bells (both of which are adjusted Type 1s ) and the Westinghouse gate mechs have been replaced with WCH ones.


They also targeted Boundary Road, Hadfield with similar replacements.

TrickyMario7654 wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:30 pm Interesting find there, Chris96.

Unfortunately, the bell nazis have been at work again and have targeted two crossings along the line.

The first victim is Poplar Road, Parkville (Royal Park). The hybrid bells have been replaced with General Signals e-bells (both of which are adjusted Type 1s ) and the Westinghouse gate mechs have been replaced with WCH ones.


They also targeted Boundary Road, Hadfield with similar replacements.

Yes it’s a real shame to see the bell Nazis have been let loose again. It would’ve been a little better if they used GS Type 3s instead of ajusted Type 1s... It seems Metro is now also turning it’s attention to the Westinghouse gate mechs

I have some more sad news to share. Was reading the latest issue of Railway Digest magazine today and in the “level crossing news” section, I noticed that it mentions the crossing on the Henty/Princes Highway, Heathmere (on the Portland Line) has been upgraded to boom gates on the 11/4/19.
https://goo.gl/maps/3fxcZPxy6T2EPaJZ6

I can’t find anything on the ARTC website to suggest this so hopefully it’s a misprint although that’s quite unlikely. It’s very sad to have likely lost those signals and the teardrop bell. An upgrade certainly seems hardly necessary given the line has had no trains for months and see’s hardly any in the good times. I’m also hoping this isn’t the start of an upgrade program on the line.

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