Great video. Love the MK&H Bell on the 2nd crossing. I'm over in WA and the only teardrop bells I know of (a side from the ones on tourist lines) over here are on Disused lines. All the equipment (signals, Crossing's ect) is still there and would properly still work if operated but trains haven't run there for years.
I live in Easton, Pa and it nice to see wishbone gates again. They don't have them here anymore, and most of the crossings have ebells. Very nice video. Have a nice day 😊🌈
Love how Ivanhoe crossing has a separate mast for the gate mechanisms! Very reminiscent of the L&N set-ups here in the US! Also, I've noticed that the McKenzie & Holland Teardrops (and later, the Westinghouse ones) have some slight differences from the US ones, such as a slightly different rain shield. Love the incandescent lights on that crossing as well! One of the LEDs on the crossing after it had some trouble I noticed.
From some of these clips, it looks like both bells are ringing, but when the barriers are down, only one of them will ring and they’re both off before the barriers are up
I enjoyed what you did with this video, you certainly covered a lot of different equipment. My favourite crossing would be the one at Ivanhoe, I hope they don't "upgrade" it any time soon.
Wow! I didn't know Australia used the same types of crossings as America. That's cool! Also, I enjoyed hearing the old bells. I live in Easton, PA and neither of the crossings here, or in Bethlehem or Allentown have them. They only have those new bells.
Australian crossings are basically the same as the U.S! The old mechanical bells are disappearing fast here as well, as the new Electronic Bells or "E-Bells" are taking over. The E-Bells are really just a speaker and a circuit board and don't have any moving parts. Not long ago, most rural crossings had mechanical bells, but today there are barely any. Most of them now have E-Bells.
Not to mention, the one with the Safetran Mechanical bell at Ripponlea has been replaced with a BS (GS) E-Bell. There is still two crossings in my town with Westinghouse Hybrid bells. Two others use to have them, but they now have E-Bells.
I once lived close to the Woy Woy crossing I liked the sound and hearing the trains going at speed, I miss this, I can remember when there was a little house nearby & the woman would open and shut the gates, Bayer Garrets hauling coal? Australia day 1960, the official start of electric trains to Woy Woy ..
A crossing i recommend checking out is McMahons Road Frankston. It's on the Stony Point Line so it isn't part of the suburban network (not yet anyway), and it has some very healthy sounding Westinghouse bells on it. Only problem is, there are proposals to electricify the line down to Baxter, which means the bells will almost certainly be replaced with E-bells (It happened on all the crossings between Sydenham and Sunbury when that section was electrified) , either that or the crossing will be removed completely given it's on such a busy road that used to be main road down to the Mornington Peninsula until Peninsula Link was built
I would suggest checking out the Main Street crossing in Pakenham. Last time I checked, there were still Westinghouse Hybrid bells on them (and they still sound healthy). The nearby Racecourse Road crossing has some neat sounding ones too.
Nice video! I'm always on the lookout for crossing with mechanical bells, now that i know what they look like, and where they are mounted! 3:22 There are still some wigwag crossings in Arizona, also on a section which is mostly semaphores! the Southwest chief runs through there! 6:38 what's making that non-clanging sound? is that for pedestrians? 9:47 we don't see those in the USA! 9:59 almost sounds like a Japanese crossing! But what's with the old british-style gates that don't move? 15:07 you can easily hear the difference! mechanical bells make a more ticking-like sound!
I can answer a few of the questions for you... 6:38 The non-clanging sound you're likely referring to is probably from a nearby pedestrian crossing. 9:59 The old wooden gates have been statically persevered at this location. A lot of Melbourne crossings used to have these. These gates were still being used at the crossing until 1995, which at that point they were fixed away from the road and replaced with the current signals.
We used to have wigwag signals in Australia too, but sadly the only place you can see them today are in museums or on tourist railways. The same can be said about our old semaphore signals as well. 6:38 That is a yodalarm (the same type that British crossings often use) built into the pedestrian gate. 9:47 Those are Barker Technics electronic bells. They were made here in Australia! 9:59 As TrickyMario7654 said, these were the original gates that were used all over Australia before the modern barriers were introduced. They were indeed based on a British design. 15:07 Yeah, electronic bells really lack the character of mechanical bells!
+TrickyMario7654 Is the problem related to the gate activation? I own several GRS (General Railway Supply) and US&S (Union Switch and Signal) glass-bottomed flasherelays which flash the mee-mool lights alternately. Their "seesaw" armatures cannot flash left and right lamps simultaneously. Interesting seeing the old "A" gates.
I think it has something to do with gate activation. I've seen it happen at other crossings too, but it always clears up after the gates begin lowering. It sometimes happens when the gates rise as well.
I'm starting to miss the traditional mechanical bells now, and it's sad to see them rapidly disappearing in favour of the American E-bells. in Victoria, mechanical bells are rarely found outside of Melbourne now, and the northeast (Sydney-Melbourne) line is pretty much the only line in Victoria that still has lots of crossings with mechanical bells (I live near the Tocumwal line, which is all e-bells now, and the last crossing to have mechanical bells on the Tocumwal line was High St, Shepparton, which used to have two lovely sounding M&H m-bells, but were replaced in 2012) Even in WA, (I was there for 2 weeks in 2008, not a single e-bell in sight) they're finally starting to fit their controlled crossings with Safetran e-bells. By the way, have you seen Pier St in Altona? That's possibly the only crossing left in Australia that still has black and white boom gates (Street view images from 2013 show the crossing still has the old black and white gates, but also has e-bells and LED lights. Not sure if the gates have since been replaced though)
+James Michael Harding I completely agree. The traditional mechanical bells sound so much better and have a real "character" to them, over the new synthetic E-Bells. Even in Melbourne, mechanical bells are disappearing fast with some lines only having one or two crossings still with M-Bells. The thing that is often overlooked is that these bells are just as much a part of railway history as vintage locomotives. They should be preserved, especially as mechanical bells are quickly becoming a thing of the past. The Teardrop in particular is a very historic bell, but today there is only one Teardrop bell still operating on a commercial line in Melbourne (as shown in this video). Nothing is being done to save it! The transition to solid-state E-Bells has also been really sudden. About five years ago you would be lucky to see even a single crossing with an E-Bell installed. Now it's the exact opposite! By the way, I actually live near the Pier St crossing, but unfortunately the black and white gates are now gone. Another interesting thing about this crossing is that it was one of the first to receive E-Bells in Melbourne (they were installed in 2004). At least they didn't replace the gates way back then!
+James Michael Harding It's the same sad story in New Zealand now too....the traditional Griswold and Western-Cullen Hayes Mechanical bells are being replaced with E-Bells (Western-Cullen Hayes, though there are a few Safetran's, which are extremely rare, and there's also one crossing with EBA's). The lights are being done up here now too, with most crossing now have LED's (quite often it is the original frame with LED's retrofitted). I only know of one crossing in wellington that still has one set of lamp-style lights (Plimmerton), the rest are few and far between, usually in more rural areas, where very few trains and cars come.
@@martinithaib7676 Appears there may be a short allowing electricity to go into the left *(o)* . So Australia copies American mee-mool lights *(o)T(o)* ! American-madequipment? Some believe the *(o)T(o)* representhe flagman's red lantern swinging to and fro!
It varies widely. In the area of the country I live in, they are never wired that way... they always sound as long as the lights flash. But some railroads or divisions did things differently, and you can find differences crossing to crossing. The bells may: - Sound the whole time the lights are flashing. - Sound as the gates descend, silence, and start when the gates ascend. - Sound as the gates descend and while the gates are down, but silence when the gates start to ascend. - Sound only as the gates descend.
Not true. Kingdom of Commonwealth of Australia or Australiagal and Kingdom of New Zealand or Aotearoa has independent manufacturers for level crossing.
Because most of the Teardrop Bells in Melbourne were replaced with Hybrid Bells in the 90's. Only a handful survived into the 2000's. However, by 2014, all of the remaining bells had been scrapped for E-Bells. Ivanhoe was the only exception.
+The_ALEX_ELLIS_Channel I kind of like the Barker Technics Bells as I think they have a nicer tone than the American E-Bells. But everyone has their own opinion.
Nolman0001 Too high pitched.....but more concerning is that they don't appear to be loud enough....a problem NZ has been having on some of it's WC Hayes E-Bells.
14:03 oldgate is still there is cherry swamp road no new gate is cannot no enter because is still there life of oldgate is here good Old stole gate who next 26:47 is railway crossing so far way is new gate is old Years
Crossing locations...
0:00 Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea
1:43 Marshall Street, Ivanhoe
6:02 South Road, Brighton
7:56 Cherry Street, Werribee
9:37 Anderson Street, Yarraville
14:03 Cherry Swamp Road, Little River
17:45 Edgars Road, Little River
20:38 Poplar Road, Parkville
21:54 Giffard Street, Williamstown
26:30 Werribee Street, Werribee
29:03 Greville Street, Prahran
32:43 Maidstone Street, Altona (near Westona station)
I forgot to mention, Greville Street, Prahran has McKenzie & Holland gate mechs!
TrickyMario7654 17:45 is actually You yangs rd not Edgar’s
Yessssssss
29:03
Great video. Love the MK&H Bell on the 2nd crossing. I'm over in WA and the only teardrop bells I know of (a side from the ones on tourist lines) over here are on Disused lines. All the equipment (signals, Crossing's ect) is still there and would properly still work if operated but trains haven't run there for years.
I live in Easton, Pa and it nice to see wishbone gates again. They don't have them here anymore, and most of the crossings have ebells. Very nice video. Have a nice day 😊🌈
Love how Ivanhoe crossing has a separate mast for the gate mechanisms! Very reminiscent of the L&N set-ups here in the US! Also, I've noticed that the McKenzie & Holland Teardrops (and later, the Westinghouse ones) have some slight differences from the US ones, such as a slightly different rain shield. Love the incandescent lights on that crossing as well!
One of the LEDs on the crossing after it had some trouble I noticed.
From some of these clips, it looks like both bells are ringing, but when the barriers are down, only one of them will ring and they’re both off before the barriers are up
I enjoyed what you did with this video, you certainly covered a lot of different equipment. My favourite crossing would be the one at Ivanhoe, I hope they don't "upgrade" it any time soon.
Same. I find it surprising that he didn't film at one of the tramsquare crossings in Melbourne.
This was the video that teached me all about Railway Crossings
Really? Wow, that's great to hear and I'm so glad you got so much out of it!
It's interesting to see that each pair of railway signals crossings are different here in Austrailia
Wow! I didn't know Australia used the same types of crossings as America. That's cool! Also, I enjoyed hearing the old bells. I live in Easton, PA and neither of the crossings here, or in Bethlehem or Allentown have them. They only have those new bells.
Australian crossings are basically the same as the U.S! The old mechanical bells are disappearing fast here as well, as the new Electronic Bells or "E-Bells" are taking over. The E-Bells are really just a speaker and a circuit board and don't have any moving parts. Not long ago, most rural crossings had mechanical bells, but today there are barely any. Most of them now have E-Bells.
Not to mention, the one with the Safetran Mechanical bell at Ripponlea has been replaced with a BS (GS) E-Bell. There is still two crossings in my town with Westinghouse Hybrid bells. Two others use to have them, but they now have E-Bells.
Only one U.S. state mandates the use of the STOP ON RED SIGNAL sign that you commonly see in Australia. That would be Michigan.
Not evermore now in Australia.
Well done! My favourite is the crossing at Ripponlea. The crossing’s Safetran mechanical bell sounds very clean! Shame it was upgraded.
The teardrop bell and the westernhouse bell both got replaced by general signals e bells
I once lived close to the Woy Woy crossing I liked the sound and hearing the trains going at speed, I miss this, I can remember when there was a little house nearby & the woman would open and shut the gates, Bayer Garrets hauling coal? Australia day 1960, the official start of electric trains to Woy Woy ..
A crossing i recommend checking out is McMahons Road Frankston. It's on the Stony Point Line so it isn't part of the suburban network (not yet anyway), and it has some very healthy sounding Westinghouse bells on it. Only problem is, there are proposals to electricify the line down to Baxter, which means the bells will almost certainly be replaced with E-bells (It happened on all the crossings between Sydenham and Sunbury when that section was electrified) , either that or the crossing will be removed completely given it's on such a busy road that used to be main road down to the Mornington Peninsula until Peninsula Link was built
I would suggest checking out the Main Street crossing in Pakenham. Last time I checked, there were still Westinghouse Hybrid bells on them (and they still sound healthy). The nearby Racecourse Road crossing has some neat sounding ones too.
Those wrrs mechanisms are becoming quite rare
Nice video! I'm always on the lookout for crossing with mechanical bells, now that i know what they look like, and where they are mounted!
3:22 There are still some wigwag crossings in Arizona, also on a section which is mostly semaphores! the Southwest chief runs through there!
6:38 what's making that non-clanging sound? is that for pedestrians?
9:47 we don't see those in the USA!
9:59 almost sounds like a Japanese crossing! But what's with the old british-style gates that don't move?
15:07 you can easily hear the difference! mechanical bells make a more ticking-like sound!
I can answer a few of the questions for you...
6:38 The non-clanging sound you're likely referring to is probably from a nearby pedestrian crossing.
9:59 The old wooden gates have been statically persevered at this location. A lot of Melbourne crossings used to have these. These gates were still being used at the crossing until 1995, which at that point they were fixed away from the road and replaced with the current signals.
We used to have wigwag signals in Australia too, but sadly the only place you can see them today are in museums or on tourist railways. The same can be said about our old semaphore signals as well.
6:38 That is a yodalarm (the same type that British crossings often use) built into the pedestrian gate.
9:47 Those are Barker Technics electronic bells. They were made here in Australia!
9:59 As TrickyMario7654 said, these were the original gates that were used all over Australia before the modern barriers were introduced. They were indeed based on a British design.
15:07 Yeah, electronic bells really lack the character of mechanical bells!
Massive fan of the Westinghouse hybrid bells. Unfortunately there's not many left due to getting replaced by electronic e bells.
R.I,P. No more teardrop bells in Ivano
It looks like australian crossing signals are the result of british and north american signals mating
Also Japanese signals because some have one bell stop when the gates are down while the other keeps ringing.
TheBrantfordRailfan I it up utterly flu is it I I I ki in I I I 7th 7 7 7iiiiii4😆
TheBrantfordRailfan Ha agreed
at6:54 it sounds like a E2S ALAM FROM ENGLAND
Bryan Schlipp Jr it is It’s a yoda alarm
16:07 that reminds me of a bunch of crossings in the states with the e bell and mechanical bell mix!!
Thanks for sharing! Are there any Griswold rail products where you're at?
I like the railway crossing.
the bell is soft for the different e bell
Interesting! 6:31 What is wrong with the left mee-mool light *(o)T(o)*?
Might be a malfunction with the lights. I think I saw a similar thing at a crossing in Clayton once...
+TrickyMario7654 Is the problem related to the gate activation? I own several GRS (General Railway Supply) and US&S (Union Switch and Signal) glass-bottomed flasherelays which flash the mee-mool lights alternately.
Their "seesaw" armatures cannot flash left and right lamps simultaneously.
Interesting seeing the old "A" gates.
I think it has something to do with gate activation. I've seen it happen at other crossings too, but it always clears up after the gates begin lowering. It sometimes happens when the gates rise as well.
Nolman0001 Would be interesting to see the circuit diagram to discern why this insignificant event happens.
Robert Gift а
Very similar to railroad crossings in the USA, have you ever seen trains in the U.S?
No. I don’t think so that Australian Level crossing sounds the same as usa.
nice the US&S teardrop bells here in the US are just as good as the MK&H bells
I ment to say are changing them into electronic bells in Marion Ohio I found the last us&s mechanical bell on the csx main line track 1
At 24:30 what type of bell is that?
That's a Barker Technics Electronic Bell. They were made locally here in Melbourne.
i filmed one at hoppers crossing.
its where i live hoppers crossing
Also the hybrids At You yangs rd for Replaced along with the others after then regional rail link Was built
I'm starting to miss the traditional mechanical bells now, and it's sad to see them rapidly disappearing in favour of the American E-bells. in Victoria, mechanical bells are rarely found outside of Melbourne now, and the northeast (Sydney-Melbourne) line is pretty much the only line in Victoria that still has lots of crossings with mechanical bells (I live near the Tocumwal line, which is all e-bells now, and the last crossing to have mechanical bells on the Tocumwal line was High St, Shepparton, which used to have two lovely sounding M&H m-bells, but were replaced in 2012)
Even in WA, (I was there for 2 weeks in 2008, not a single e-bell in sight) they're finally starting to fit their controlled crossings with Safetran e-bells.
By the way, have you seen Pier St in Altona? That's possibly the only crossing left in Australia that still has black and white boom gates (Street view images from 2013 show the crossing still has the old black and white gates, but also has e-bells and LED lights. Not sure if the gates have since been replaced though)
+James Michael Harding I completely agree. The traditional mechanical bells sound so much better and have a real "character" to them, over the new synthetic E-Bells. Even in Melbourne, mechanical bells are disappearing fast with some lines only having one or two crossings still with M-Bells.
The thing that is often overlooked is that these bells are just as much a part of railway history as vintage locomotives. They should be preserved, especially as mechanical bells are quickly becoming a thing of the past. The Teardrop in particular is a very historic bell, but today there is only one Teardrop bell still operating on a commercial line in Melbourne (as shown in this video). Nothing is being done to save it!
The transition to solid-state E-Bells has also been really sudden. About five years ago you would be lucky to see even a single crossing with an E-Bell installed. Now it's the exact opposite!
By the way, I actually live near the Pier St crossing, but unfortunately the black and white gates are now gone. Another interesting thing about this crossing is that it was one of the first to receive E-Bells in Melbourne (they were installed in 2004). At least they didn't replace the gates way back then!
It's really annoying that they're just replacing all mechanical bells with electronic ones just for the sake of 'keeping up with technology'
+James Michael Harding It's the same sad story in New Zealand now too....the traditional Griswold and Western-Cullen Hayes Mechanical bells are being replaced with E-Bells (Western-Cullen Hayes, though there are a few Safetran's, which are extremely rare, and there's also one crossing with EBA's).
The lights are being done up here now too, with most crossing now have LED's (quite often it is the original frame with LED's retrofitted). I only know of one crossing in wellington that still has one set of lamp-style lights (Plimmerton), the rest are few and far between, usually in more rural areas, where very few trains and cars come.
+James Michael Harding There's another crossing in Preston, Victoria with black and white boom gates. (I saw it in 2014).
Well, E bells have an easier upkeep so I kind of see the logic.
Nice one
Why is it that Westinghouse only makes hybrid bells and Safetran quit making their hybrid bells
They've stopped making them now...
check out our Railway Crossings in Canada they are like the USA one but the Crossing X is red white striped
6:33 What is wrong withe left mee-mool light *(o)T(o)* ?
maybe malfunction
@@martinithaib7676 Appears there may be a short allowing electricity to go into the left *(o)* .
So Australia copies American mee-mool lights *(o)T(o)* ! American-madequipment?
Some believe the *(o)T(o)* representhe flagman's red lantern swinging to and fro!
man these old gates are mostly all gone here in the USA
In Melbourne, they're everywhere! Even on new installs!
Ya everywhere in Melbourne you'll see wishbone gates
I Like It
20:58 the comeng crying out to its non existent mummy the hitachi
It sounds like a westing housing hybrid bell
Its funny that crossing bells in America stop when the gates are completely down
It varies widely. In the area of the country I live in, they are never wired that way... they always sound as long as the lights flash. But some railroads or divisions did things differently, and you can find differences crossing to crossing. The bells may:
- Sound the whole time the lights are flashing.
- Sound as the gates descend, silence, and start when the gates ascend.
- Sound as the gates descend and while the gates are down, but silence when the gates start to ascend.
- Sound only as the gates descend.
Some of Australian railway crossings are completely silenced when the gates are down. Trust me, I am a Australian.
That crossing at 15:05 is cool
Nice!
WERRRIBEE AND YARRIVILLE IS MY TRAIN LINE TO HOPPERS CROSSSING
ivenhoe is not the only teardrop bell puffin billy also has one
True, but Ivanhoe's teardrop is the only one left on Melbourne's suburban rail network.
Yay
20:38 is my favourite
I've always thought Australian cantilever (over-the-roadway) level crossing signals are.... weird. 9:53
Nah. They always just look like a poorly-bent light pole or something! :D
0:23 you meant hybrid bell
6:41 who also hear a e2s alarm
so many countrys use use crossings
Filmed in 16k resolution
In Perth the lights are mounted onto a back plate which looks much better.
32:43 also nice
if u go before werribee its hoppers crossing so thats where i live the crossing at where i live is a lil loud
Why my contery
Railway crossing nolman
most of the crossings in both Australia and New Zealand are made frome american crossing parts
Not true. Most of the parts are manufactured in Australia following principally-American designs.
Not true. Kingdom of Commonwealth of Australia or Australiagal and Kingdom of New Zealand or Aotearoa has independent manufacturers for level crossing.
dont know is it the only yarriville e bell
there is a teadrop bell at hoppers crossing that doesnt stopwhen gates lowered
The bells at Hoppers Crossing are actually Westinghouse Hybrid Bells. The only Teardrop Bell left in Melbourne is at Ivanhoe.
oops
Nolman0001 what about the one attached to the mast at corrigan road?
How did you know that the last Teardrop bell was in Ivanhoe
Because most of the Teardrop Bells in Melbourne were replaced with Hybrid Bells in the 90's. Only a handful survived into the 2000's. However, by 2014, all of the remaining bells had been scrapped for E-Bells. Ivanhoe was the only exception.
so you went to all Railway Crossings in Melbourne
No, it was easy to keep track of the remaining few (as most of them were on the Hurstbridge line).
ok
Grange Road in Carnegie still had a Teardrop bell in 2013. But by 2015, it was replaced with a Hybrid bell...
7:56
Sounds like the American crossing
It does not.
0:00
20:38
that Bell sounds like the one in united states
I don’t think so.
00:0
That Barker-Technics E-Bells sound crap!
+The_ALEX_ELLIS_Channel I kind of like the Barker Technics Bells as I think they have a nicer tone than the American E-Bells. But everyone has their own opinion.
Nolman0001
Too high pitched.....but more concerning is that they don't appear to be loud enough....a problem NZ has been having on some of it's WC Hayes E-Bells.
14:03 oldgate is still there is cherry swamp road no new gate is cannot no enter because is still there life of oldgate is here good Old stole gate who next
26:47 is railway crossing so far way is new gate is old
Years
1:43
0:32
29:03
26:30
6:02
32:43
3:34