Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

This is my first ever attempt at making a crossing video. I thought I would start with one of my favourite crossings, it has an interesting mix of old and newer equipment. I also like the peeling paint, rusty lights and spider webs, I think they give the crossing a bit more character. I started the video with an overview of the crossing, while the first activation is shown at about 3:10. I managed to get 3 trains within the space of 40 minutes.

I don't yet have a tripod and I'm still getting used to the camera, so I apologise if you find the video a bit shaky. It was also a windy day so there is a fair bit of wind noise. I would appreciate any feedback (good or bad) but one thing I don't apologise for is the lack of emphasis on the trains, there are heaps of train videos out there so I wanted to focus mainly on the crossing itself.

The road crossing signals were installed in June 1961, while the pedestrian crossing was added much later in December 1991.
Both signals have Safetran gate mechanisms (installed in 1994 to replace WRRS Type B mechs) and McKenzie & Holland 8 inch lights (converted to LED).
The signal on the northern side (first one shown in the video) has a WRRS mechanical bell, while the signal on the southern side has a WCH mechanical bell. This bell was installed in 2015 to replace a WRRS bell that had died. The WCH bell only rings from start up until the gates have lowered, while the WRRS bell rings from start up until the gates begin to rise. I like the sound when both bells ring, they sound good together. The pedestrian crossing has GRS semaphore signal motors and Alstom LED lights.

The crossing on GSV https://www.google.com/maps/@-34.183125 ... 6656?hl=en

I also have some still pictures, and would be happy to send to the website.

That's a neat crossing! I wonder if the other WRRS bell had operated the same way.

freebrickproductions wrote:That's a neat crossing! I wonder if the other WRRS bell had operated the same way.

Thanks. I'm fairly certain that the bells were always set up to operate that way. It's been a long time since I've been to that crossing in person, but I have travelled through on the train plenty of times and could only hear the same WRRS bell that is still there now. It's interesting that the bell which rang the least actually died before the one that rang all the time, but I have seen this on another crossing in the past. I found this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEuR6Y3w-JY and it seems that the second WRRS bell had already died, as you can only hear one bell even before the gates have lowered.

It's actually a pleasant surprise that they replaced the dead WRRS with a new mechanical bell. This is the next crossing down the line and it used to have 2 WCH m-bells until a few years ago when one of them was replaced by a Safetran type 3 e-bell https://www.google.com/maps/@-34.190950 ... 6656?hl=en https://www.google.com/maps/@-34.191042 ... 6656?hl=en

Maybe there was a shortage of e-bells and all they could get was an m-bell?

You did an exceptional job on that video for no tripod. And the wind noise was very minor. I especially enjoyed the attention to detail since older equipment that is still being used on a regular basis is getting very hard to find in the US.

Keep them coming!

cabman701 wrote:You did an exceptional job on that video for no tripod. And the wind noise was very minor. I especially enjoyed the attention to detail since older equipment that is still being used on a regular basis is getting very hard to find in the US.

Keep them coming!

Thanks for your kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Crossings like that are becoming rare here as well, most of the good ones are a 4 or 5 hour drive away. I have a tripod now so hopefully the next video will be a little better, at least my arms will get a rest lol.