Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

Looking at GSV from 2010, this crossing in Western Australia looks like a fairly new installation with WCH m-bells https://www.google.com/maps/@-31.206234 ... 6656?hl=en
Fast forward to 2015 and both WCH bells have been replaced with teardrop bells https://www.google.com/maps/@-31.206286 ... 6656?hl=en

I wonder what happened? I know in the newer WCH m-bells that some of the moving parts are now made from plastic. The area where this crossing is looks quite dusty, my guess would be that dust got inside the bells and chewed out the plastic parts, causing the bells to fail. What's amazing is that they did not replace them with e-bells, maybe they had some spare teardrops recovered from an older crossing.

2 high wind brackets for this gate, sure must get windy here https://www.google.com/maps/@-31.296214 ... 6656?hl=en

Another newer crossing with a teardrop bell https://www.google.com/maps/@-31.641478 ... 6656?hl=en

Signal maintainers are testing this crossing https://www.google.com/maps/@-31.797197 ... 6656?hl=en

Nearly all crossings in Western Australia have large rectangular backgrounds for the lights, so it was interesting to find this crossing with a pair of normal 8 inch incandescent lights, they look like WCH https://www.google.com/maps/@-30.728019 ... 6656?hl=en

Safetran mechanical bell, in Australia they are almost as rare as teardrops https://www.google.com/maps/@-32.133126 ... 6656?hl=en

Tall masts https://www.google.com/maps/@-32.276234 ... 6656?hl=en

You should get out and photograph/video some of these crossings you've found, at least for the ones closest to you. They'd make for some neat additions to the site!

freebrickproductions wrote:You should get out and photograph/video some of these crossings you've found, at least for the ones closest to you. They'd make for some neat additions to the site!

I have some holidays coming up in July and I am hoping to go on a road trip to record some crossings. I don't yet have a video camera but I'm looking around for one. I don't know much about them and I'm trying to find a good one for a fair price. I really need to get out there before the older crossings get replaced. I would be happy to contribute to the website whatever photos or videos I end up getting.

McK&H.Aust wrote:

freebrickproductions wrote:You should get out and photograph/video some of these crossings you've found, at least for the ones closest to you. They'd make for some neat additions to the site!

I have some holidays coming up in July and I am hoping to go on a road trip to record some crossings. I don't yet have a video camera but I'm looking around for one. I don't know much about them and I'm trying to find a good one for a fair price. I really need to get out there before the older crossings get replaced. I would be happy to contribute to the website whatever photos or videos I end up getting.

If you have a smart phone (or even a phone with just a decent camera) that'll work pretty well. There are plenty of railfans here in the US (including me) who have used their phones for photos and videos. In fact, these pages have photos that were taken with my cellphone:
http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/Decatur/Lenwood/ (all of them on this one)
http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/Decatur/Memorial/ (pictures 14-25 and 27)
My friend also took these with his cellphone:
http://www.rxrsignals.com/Tennessee/Rockwood/Rockwood/

freebrickproductions wrote: If you have a smart phone (or even a phone with just a decent camera) that'll work pretty well. There are plenty of railfans here in the US (including me) who have used their phones for photos and videos. In fact, these pages have photos that were taken with my cellphone:
http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/Decatur/Lenwood/ (all of them on this one)
http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/Decatur/Memorial/ (pictures 14-25 and 27)
My friend also took these with his cellphone:
http://www.rxrsignals.com/Tennessee/Rockwood/Rockwood/

Thanks for that information, unless you had told me I would not have guessed those pictures were taken with a phone. My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S5, and while the still pictures are quite good I would like a video camera as well. I also have a Samsung tablet, never really tried out the camera but I should.

McK&H.Aust wrote:

freebrickproductions wrote: If you have a smart phone (or even a phone with just a decent camera) that'll work pretty well. There are plenty of railfans here in the US (including me) who have used their phones for photos and videos. In fact, these pages have photos that were taken with my cellphone:
http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/Decatur/Lenwood/ (all of them on this one)
http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/Decatur/Memorial/ (pictures 14-25 and 27)
My friend also took these with his cellphone:
http://www.rxrsignals.com/Tennessee/Rockwood/Rockwood/

Thanks for that information, unless you had told me I would not have guessed those pictures were taken with a phone. My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S5, and while the still pictures are quite good I would like a video camera as well. I also have a Samsung tablet, never really tried out the camera but I should.

The phone I took those pictures with was also a Samsung Galaxy S5, so you shouldn't have to worry about getting a camera, but it won't matter if you do get one.

Found a Safetran Mechanical Bell in Prahran, VIC:

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Pr ... 98!6m1!1e1

A super rare Westinghouse-branded teardrop bell in Portland, Victoria! (I know the logo is hard the see, unfortunately this is the best image Google has of it):
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-38.355 ... 56!6m1!1e1

Some other setups along the line. Notice the mix of old and new equipment:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-38.349 ... 56!6m1!1e1
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-38.331 ... 56!6m1!1e1

Something you don't see everyday. This is a private crossing inside a farm (leading from one paddock to another), with active protection!
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.594 ... 56!6m1!1e1

Another identical setup further up the line:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.596 ... 56!6m1!1e1

Remains of an old hand operated crossing near Royal Park (including gatekeeper's hut). The crossing now has WCH gate mechs, Westinghouse lights and Barker Technics E-Bells:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.777 ... 56!6m1!1e1

chris96 wrote: Remains of an old hand operated crossing near Royal Park (including gatekeeper's hut). The crossing now has WCH gate mechs, Westinghouse lights and Barker Technics E-Bells:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.777 ... 56!6m1!1e1

What do those e-bells sound like?

Here's a video of one working: