Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

chris96 wrote:I just got back from a drive to Maryborough to check out the vintage equipment on some disused crossings in the area.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing them. It's sad to see all of those nice crossings just wasting away and being neglected. I guess if the track was ever reopened then all of this lovely equipment would be torn out and replaced. Hopefully it ends up being saved and not scrapped, specially the WABCO bell and the teardrop bells.

McK&H.Aust wrote:

chris96 wrote:I just got back from a drive to Maryborough to check out the vintage equipment on some disused crossings in the area.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing them. It's sad to see all of those nice crossings just wasting away and being neglected. I guess if the track was ever reopened then all of this lovely equipment would be torn out and replaced. Hopefully it ends up being saved and not scrapped, specially the WABCO bell and the teardrop bells.

I'm glad you liked them! Your'e right, unfortunately there's no way any of this equipment will remain if these lines are re-opened. In this day and age, all of the above crossings would require boom gates and it would be a lot simpler for the railways to just tear out and replace, rather than attempt to bring the existing equipment up to scratch.

chris96 wrote:

McK&H.Aust wrote:

chris96 wrote:I just got back from a drive to Maryborough to check out the vintage equipment on some disused crossings in the area.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing them. It's sad to see all of those nice crossings just wasting away and being neglected. I guess if the track was ever reopened then all of this lovely equipment would be torn out and replaced. Hopefully it ends up being saved and not scrapped, specially the WABCO bell and the teardrop bells.

I'm glad you liked them! Your'e right, unfortunately there's no way any of this equipment will remain if these lines are re-opened. In this day and age, all of the above crossings would require boom gates and it would be a lot simpler for the railways to just tear out and replace, rather than attempt to bring the existing equipment up to scratch.

You're right, I'm getting sick and tired of these over the top crossing upgrades and vintage equipment massacres. Out of all of the crossings slated for upgrade on the Melbourne-Sydney line, only the Springhurst crossing seems justified (based off what I've heard about this crossing). The others seem a bit over the top (surely flashing lights signals are enough protection). Then again, politicians always seem to do crossing upgrades in key seats. Same can be said for the 'Level Crossing Removal Program' (especially with Eel Race Road, Carrum).

TrickyMario7654 wrote:You're right, I'm getting sick and tired of these over the top crossing upgrades and vintage equipment massacres. Out of all of the crossings slated for upgrade on the Melbourne-Sydney line, only the Springhurst crossing seems justified (based off what I've heard about this crossing). The others seem a bit over the top (surely flashing lights signals are enough protection). Then again, politicians always seem to do crossing upgrades in key seats. Same can be said for the 'Level Crossing Removal Program' (especially with Eel Race Road, Carrum).

I agree, looking at some of the crossings on the list it does seem like a waste. The Cemetery Rd crossing at Benalla is a good example https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.557 ... 312!8i6656 It's on the list to get gates, but looking at google maps it seems like it's just an access road for the cemetery and I doubt that it would be very busy. Surely the money would be better spent on upgrading other passive crossings.

Didn't see this one on the list, Old Hume Hwy, Glenrowan https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.469 ... 312!8i6656 It's a really nice crossing with a teardrop bell, I wonder if it's still there?

McK&H.Aust wrote:Didn't see this one on the list, Old Hume Hwy, Glenrowan https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-36.469 ... 312!8i6656 It's a really nice crossing with a teardrop bell, I wonder if it's still there?

It's already been established that the Teardrop has been replaced by a hybrid bell.

I bet they're upgrading all the good crossings just to annoy us.

Found something interesting in a Herald Sun newspaper article on the Cheltenham & Mentone level crossing removals. Turns out that there's another variation of McK&H lights' junction boxes which are shaped like Westinghouse ones. (I know it's hard to see, but it does say McK&H on it.)


Here's an overview showing all the properties near the rail line that need to be acquired in Cheltenham. I find it odd that they used American Crossbucks to represent the crossings in the area.



Here's the final tally in terms of properties.


It just goes to show, politicians don't back down from election promises (I know this is hard to read).


Seriously, both Daniel Andrews & Jacinta Allan never shut up about this. They keep calling them 'relics of the past', and it's starting to get on my nerves. Take a look at what our premier said about the St Albans crossings (stating the obvious).

BREAKING NEWS! Apparently the famous Marshall St, Ivanhoe Teardrop has been replaced with an E-Bell! I'll visit the crossing tomorrow to check it out and see if the rumors are true (hopefully not)!

chris96 wrote:BREAKING NEWS! Apparently the famous Marshall St, Ivanhoe Teardrop has been replaced with an E-Bell! I'll visit the crossing tomorrow to check it out and see if the rumors are true (hopefully not)!

Oh Please No! If that's the case, then heads will roll!

chris96 wrote:BREAKING NEWS! Apparently the famous Marshall St, Ivanhoe Teardrop has been replaced with an E-Bell! I'll visit the crossing tomorrow to check it out and see if the rumors are true (hopefully not)!

That's really sad news, it must have been one of the last crossings to have nearly all original equipment. It sounded fine in the recent video that Stuart Hunt posted, Metro must really hate mechanical bells. It's like TrickyMario7654 said in a recent post, they replace the nice vintage equipment just to annoy us, well they are doing a good job of that

McK&H.Aust wrote:

chris96 wrote:BREAKING NEWS! Apparently the famous Marshall St, Ivanhoe Teardrop has been replaced with an E-Bell! I'll visit the crossing tomorrow to check it out and see if the rumors are true (hopefully not)!

That's really sad news, it must have been one of the last crossings to have nearly all original equipment. It sounded fine in the recent video that Stuart Hunt posted, Metro must really hate mechanical bells. It's like TrickyMario7654 said in a recent post, they replace the nice vintage equipment just to annoy us, well they are doing a good job of that

Now honestly, I don't mind a bit of variety. But if everything is the same, then it just gets boring. I hope the government does not renew their contract as a result of this...