Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

This is the Docker St crossing at Wagga Wagga, in southern NSW, Australia. It is located on the main line from Sydney to Melbourne.

Modern Industries bells are very rare in Australia, and this crossing has two of them! The current signals were installed some time around 1983/84 and replaced the original gated signals from 1969 (equipment unknown). The previous Harmon gate mechs have been replaced by Safetran ones in recent years, and the gated signals have more of the strange looking Harmon 8x24 lights. The median signals have equipment which was most likely recycled from the original crossing, the northern signal having a pair of Westinghouse lights while the southern signal has a pair of McKenzie & Holland lights.

The crossing on GSV https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-35.121 ... 312!8i6656

An earlier view from 2009 showing the previous Harmon gate mechs and wishbone gates https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-35.121 ... 312!8i6656

Very nice!

Not trying to offend anybody, but the first thought of when I saw the town name was this. (Don't know how popular the muppets are over there)

cabman701 wrote:Very nice!

Not trying to offend anybody, but the first thought of when I saw the town name was this. (Don't know how popular the muppets are over there)

The name comes from the Wiradjuri language, the language is an aboriginal language. You kind kind of tell that Wagga Wagga is name of aboriginal origin as names of Australian aboriginal origin tend to sound something like that.

ToledoRailfan wrote:

cabman701 wrote:Very nice!

Not trying to offend anybody, but the first thought of when I saw the town name was this. (Don't know how popular the muppets are over there)

The name comes from the Wiradjuri language if i'm not mistaking, the language is an aboriginal language. You kind kind of tell that Wagga Wagga is name of aboriginal origin as names of Australian aboriginal origin tend to sound something like that.

Yeah, there's loads of odd town names in this country which are of aboriginal origin.

In Victoria, we've got names like Koo Wee Rup, Nar Nar Goon, Lang Lang, Narre Warren, Bet Bet, Cope Cope, etc.

TrickyMario7654 wrote:

ToledoRailfan wrote:

cabman701 wrote:Very nice!

Not trying to offend anybody, but the first thought of when I saw the town name was this. (Don't know how popular the muppets are over there)

The name comes from the Wiradjuri language if i'm not mistaking, the language is an aboriginal language. You kind kind of tell that Wagga Wagga is name of aboriginal origin as names of Australian aboriginal origin tend to sound something like that.

Yeah, there's loads of odd town names in this country which are of aboriginal origin.

In Victoria, we've got names like Koo Wee Rup, Nar Nar Goon, Lang Lang, Narre Warren, Bet Bet, Cope Cope, etc.

Here in the United States and Canada many names are of aboriginal origins. Ottawa is named after the Odawa people, Ohio comes from the Iroquoian languages which means "great river" or "large creek", Michigan come from the Ojibwe word Mishigamaa which means "large water" or "large lake", Michigan is the French form of Mishigamaa, Ojibwe is still spoken by many Ojibwe people in Michigan (and outside of Michigan in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ontario, and a couple other states and provinces), the University of Michigan has Ojibwe language classes too. There are also a lot more place names of aboriginal origin.

I think I may have drifted a bit off topic!

cabman701 wrote:Very nice!

Not trying to offend anybody, but the first thought of when I saw the town name was this. (Don't know how popular the muppets are over there)

I don't think many people would be offended, most people call the town "Wagga" instead of using the full name. Even the sign on the relay bungalow says Wagga.

Not sure If the muppets are on TV here any more, but I remember they were big here in the 1980's. I really liked them and thought they were very funny and entertaining, something which seems to be lacking in many of today's TV shows.