McK&H.Aust wrote:On a different subject, does anyone know when Westinghouse stopped producing gate mechs? I have only seen the EB mechs used in NSW and the last ones were installed in the late 1990's.
I believe the EB mechs stopped production in 1998. This crossing in Cragieburn was the last new installation to use them and was installed in the same year. Sadly, the hybrid bells at this crossing were replaced last year. https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.571 ... 312!8i6656
Thanks for the information, it a shame the Cragieburn crossing has e-bells, otherwise it would still be an original "all Westinghouse" installation. It would be interesting to know why Westinghouse stopped making gate mechs, maybe the cost of producing them wasn't really worth the bother, specially with so many other gate mechs on the market.
The EB mechs were the only Westinghouse ones used in NSW and there were only ever about 7 crossings which used them. I think the first installation was at Molong in 1993, it is now one of the last two surviving installations. https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.091 ... 312!8i6656
Other now removed EB mechs were on these crossings:
Douglas Rd, Quakers Hill. The crossing was closed in the late 1990's although a pedestrian crossing survived here until about 2010. https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.726 ... 312!8i6656
Good find there. Another interesting thing about that shot is the train, those passenger cars are gradually being retired and are rarely seen on this line any more. https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.626 ... 312!8i6656
Here is an active shot of the crossing at Greenacre which has been posted previously, the locomotive 8208 has now been re-painted into the yellow Pacific National livery. https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.903 ... 312!8i6656
Only having a single bell actually dates back to when this was a gateless crossing. Originally there was a teardrop bell on the same side as the existing bell, it was later replaced by a WCH m-bell. I remember talking to a former signal maintainer and he said that even when the crossing was gateless there were numerous complaints from nearby residents about the bell being too loud. When the crossing was upgraded with gates in 1993/94 they decided to keep the single bell arrangement, most likely to avoid more complaints! The crossing now has a single WCH e-bell.
Only having a single bell actually dates back to when this was a gateless crossing. Originally there was a teardrop bell on the same side as the existing bell, it was later replaced by a WCH m-bell. I remember talking to a former signal maintainer and he said that even when the crossing was gateless there were numerous complaints from nearby residents about the bell being too loud. When the crossing was upgraded with gates in 1993/94 they decided to keep the single bell arrangement, most likely to avoid more complaints!
You seem to know a lot about crossings in your area as well as long gone crossings in Sydney. For instance, how did you know that the crossing in Quakers Hill had EB gate mechs?
Only having a single bell actually dates back to when this was a gateless crossing. Originally there was a teardrop bell on the same side as the existing bell, it was later replaced by a WCH m-bell. I remember talking to a former signal maintainer and he said that even when the crossing was gateless there were numerous complaints from nearby residents about the bell being too loud. When the crossing was upgraded with gates in 1993/94 they decided to keep the single bell arrangement, most likely to avoid more complaints!
You seem to know a lot about crossings in your area as well as long gone crossings in Sydney. For instance, how did you know that the crossing in Quakers Hill had EB gate mechs?
Was in my teens in the 1990's and often liked to travel around on train trips in my spare time, went for quite a few trips on the Richmond line and that's how I remember the crossing at Quakers Hill. It was gateless until 1994 and I remember seeing the EB mechs when they were first installed there, there were very few of those mechs around and I remember thinking that they looked odd compared to the GRS mechs that were on most other crossings in Sydney at the time.
Got my first camera about 1987 and talked my mum into driving me around to photograph crossings in the Wollongong area where I lived at the time, it was a cheap camera and the pictures were grainy but I still have most of them including a picture of Albion Park Rail in 1987 when it was gateless with a teardrop bell.
Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 2:07 am
by chris96
McK&H.Aust wrote:
Got my first camera about 1987 and talked my mum into driving me around to photograph crossings in the Wollongong area where I lived at the time, it was a cheap camera and the pictures were grainy but I still have most of them including a picture of Albion Park Rail in 1987 when it was gateless with a teardrop bell.
Would it be possible to upload some of those pictures? I'd love to see them!
BTW, on an unrelated topic, I witnessed one of the Westinghouse gate mechs on McIntyre Rd in Lara have a serious malfunction today. When raising the gate, it got stuck half way and remained in that position for about ten seconds until it slowly crept up further before becoming stuck again in a higher position. It then moved extremely slowly (with short little stops and starts) until it eventually reached the top. Overall, it took almost a minute to fully raise the gate! Another train soon followed and it did the same thing. I called Vline to report the problem, so it will be interesting to see what happens to the gate now. Hopefully they can repair the gate on site and not have to replace it.
chris96 wrote:BTW, on an unrelated topic, I witnessed one of the Westinghouse gate mechs on McIntyre Rd in Lara have a serious malfunction today. When raising the gate, it got stuck half way and remained in that position for about ten seconds until it slowly crept up further before becoming stuck again in a higher position. It then moved extremely slowly (with short little stops and starts) until it eventually reached the top. Overall, it took almost a minute to fully raise the gate! Another train soon followed and it did the same thing. I called Vline to report the problem, so it will be interesting to see what happens to the gate now. Hopefully they can repair the gate on site and not have to replace it.
That reminds me, there's a video from 2012 which shows one of the Westinghouse gate mechanisms at the Hallam level crossing malfunctioning and the getting stuck mid-way while rising.
A cop actually had to give the gate a nudge before it started rising again.
Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 3:27 am
by ToledoRailfan
TrickyMario7654 wrote:
chris96 wrote:BTW, on an unrelated topic, I witnessed one of the Westinghouse gate mechs on McIntyre Rd in Lara have a serious malfunction today. When raising the gate, it got stuck half way and remained in that position for about ten seconds until it slowly crept up further before becoming stuck again in a higher position. It then moved extremely slowly (with short little stops and starts) until it eventually reached the top. Overall, it took almost a minute to fully raise the gate! Another train soon followed and it did the same thing. I called Vline to report the problem, so it will be interesting to see what happens to the gate now. Hopefully they can repair the gate on site and not have to replace it.
That reminds me, there's a video from 2012 which shows one of the Westinghouse gate mechanisms at the Hallam level crossing malfunctioning and the getting stuck mid-way while rising.
A cop actually had to give the gate a nudge before it started rising again.
I wonder if some sort of relay was stuck.
Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 5:28 am
by chris96
ToledoRailfan wrote:
TrickyMario7654 wrote:
chris96 wrote:BTW, on an unrelated topic, I witnessed one of the Westinghouse gate mechs on McIntyre Rd in Lara have a serious malfunction today. When raising the gate, it got stuck half way and remained in that position for about ten seconds until it slowly crept up further before becoming stuck again in a higher position. It then moved extremely slowly (with short little stops and starts) until it eventually reached the top. Overall, it took almost a minute to fully raise the gate! Another train soon followed and it did the same thing. I called Vline to report the problem, so it will be interesting to see what happens to the gate now. Hopefully they can repair the gate on site and not have to replace it.
That reminds me, there's a video from 2012 which shows one of the Westinghouse gate mechanisms at the Hallam level crossing malfunctioning and the getting stuck mid-way while rising.
A cop actually had to give the gate a nudge before it started rising again.
I wonder if some sort of relay was stuck.
It seems to be a fairly common problem with those types of mechanisms. Maidstone St in Altona has also developed a similar problem as seen at 5:45 in this video (although it's nowhere near as bad as some of the other examples):
Re: Australian Railroad Crossing Signals
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 6:15 am
by TrickyMario7654
chris96 wrote:
ToledoRailfan wrote:
TrickyMario7654 wrote:
chris96 wrote:BTW, on an unrelated topic, I witnessed one of the Westinghouse gate mechs on McIntyre Rd in Lara have a serious malfunction today. When raising the gate, it got stuck half way and remained in that position for about ten seconds until it slowly crept up further before becoming stuck again in a higher position. It then moved extremely slowly (with short little stops and starts) until it eventually reached the top. Overall, it took almost a minute to fully raise the gate! Another train soon followed and it did the same thing. I called Vline to report the problem, so it will be interesting to see what happens to the gate now. Hopefully they can repair the gate on site and not have to replace it.
That reminds me, there's a video from 2012 which shows one of the Westinghouse gate mechanisms at the Hallam level crossing malfunctioning and the getting stuck mid-way while rising.
A cop actually had to give the gate a nudge before it started rising again.
I wonder if some sort of relay was stuck.
It seems to be a fairly common problem with those types of mechanisms. Maidstone St in Altona has also developed a similar problem as seen at 5:45 in this video (although it's nowhere near as bad as some of the other examples):
When I was photographing the crossing at Progress Street earlier this year, I noticed that the one on the north side of the crossing makes a lot of noise when operating. Other than those, they seem to work flawlessly.