Update: Clifton Level Crossing, NSW, Australia.

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7 жыл бұрын

Located between Coalcliff and Scarborough stations, this is the Clifton School Parade crossing at Clifton NSW, Australia.
Over the weekend of January 7 & 8, 2017 the crossing was upgraded with new gates. All of the old signals were removed and replaced by new ones. To see the crossing before the upgrade you can click here • Clifton Level Crossing...
All of the old signals had Western Cullen Hayes bases and Alstom lights, there was also a Western Cullen Hayes mechanical bell on the western side of the crossing.
All of the new signals have Western Cullen Hayes bases and United Group lights, while the gates are operated by Western Cullen Hayes mechanisms. The crossing now has two Western Cullen Hayes electronic bells. The bell on the western side rings from start up until the gates have lowered, while the bell on the eastern side rings from start up until the gates begin to rise. Both bells were originally switched off at night between 22:00 and 06:00 hours, although for some reason they now are switched back on throughout the night.
The video starts on Friday January 6th and shows the old signals on their last day of operation. The freight train shown is 4BW4 empty steel from Brisbane to Port Kembla, with locomotives NR112 and NR84. The train is operated by Pacific National.
The second part of the video was filmed on Monday January 9th and shows the first day of the new signals in operation. The track had been closed over the weekend for maintenance work at various locations between Sydney and Wollongong.

Пікірлер: 141

@davidplumb9549 Жыл бұрын

it's really cool that Australian train crossings can sometimes be silent from 22:00 to 06:00, in America, they just go on for a whole 24 hours!

@tux_the_astronaut 6 ай бұрын

Tho in most cases they do silence after the gates have lowered so guess they decide not to bother

@menameisdaniel 2 жыл бұрын

That WCH m-bell really sounds like a teardrop bell - It even has the clicking sound! Also, the sunset/sunrise shots are amazingly beautiful!

@Coldpurplerailfans 2 жыл бұрын

hi daniel

@PlyingKibbles89 5 жыл бұрын

I really like the sound of the Western Cullen Hayes mechanical bell! Great video!

@McKHAust 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@maxstrainsfanssmash687 5 жыл бұрын

Excellent video! I love the echoing sound the bells make.

@McKHAust 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@darrenmiles-morland8038 4 жыл бұрын

This level crossing is very close to the Sea Cliff Bridge. You can walk from the level crossing to the bridge and it takes about 5 minutes.

@the_alex_ellis_channel6923 7 жыл бұрын

At least the new bells are Western Cullen-Hayes! One of the nicest sounding of E-Bells (in my opinion). Nothing new to me of course, as New zealand has thousands of these bells!

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

The_ALEX_ELLIS_Channel yes I don't mind the WCH e-bells either. There are quite a few of them around Sydney too.

@letter9933 2 жыл бұрын

I live in Canada and is called "RailRoad Crossing" but i like the idea of "Railway Crossing"!

@trainman758 7 жыл бұрын

Great video good job of getting the old signals

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Trainman 7 Thanks. They have actually kept 2 of the old signals, including the one with the bell. They are standing up on the eastern side of Wollongong yard. Must have kept them as spares.

@louisemagee5832 2 жыл бұрын

This new signal looks quiet and cool and calm

@n.f.railphotography7185 4 жыл бұрын

Hi from New Zealand, very similar equipment

@TheBCRailfan 5 жыл бұрын

Great Video!

@vincentking3514 7 жыл бұрын

Great video. The bells turning of at night is something I have not seen before but I do know that a few crossings in New Zealand have this feature and I did hear that in Australia the soon to be upgraded/newly built crossings in built up areas will have this feature so that don''t disturb people at night. (I could be wrong with that last bit of info so do correct me if you know any different)

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Thank you. As far as NSW crossings go, they have been turning the bells off at night on some of them since at least the 1980's, although it's only done on crossings with gates. Crossings with lights only must have the bells left switched on.

@benradford6467 7 жыл бұрын

In NZ, when the "bells off" setting is on, the bells ring until the barriers go down and then they go silent. There is also a new "quiet bells" setting, which i think is stupid since in a car, you can hardly hear them.

@darrenmiles-morland8038 4 жыл бұрын

This crossing has got a private road on the side where the mountain is, so very little if any cars would go along there during the times when the bells are turned off. That is probably the reason why they get turned off during those times.

@stephanburgess654 4 жыл бұрын

I remember going over that one years ago,

@McKHAust 4 жыл бұрын

Cool

@dyl46225 7 жыл бұрын

Imagine if the bell timer deactivated while the crossing was down lol

@kyleb06 6 жыл бұрын

That'd be cool

@VictorianRailHeritage 5 жыл бұрын

Gametrain Productions well that never happens here in Australia the Bells always sound till the gates go up

@somerandomdudelol 4 жыл бұрын

Victorian Rail Heritage not true as in South australia bells stay on until the lights stop flashing and some in NSW and one QLD crossing stays until gates are lowered and in QLD most dont have bells

@ImFirstPlace 4 жыл бұрын

Its strange the way in Australia all the flashing lights are not in sync like American ones they all go left then right at exactly the same time while Australian ones are randomised.

@PebsBeans 4 жыл бұрын

It does in France

@freebrickproductions 7 жыл бұрын

Nice video! Shame the old signals were removed.

@TrickyMario7654 7 жыл бұрын

Agreed. They did the same at Cardinia Road last year due to road widening works...

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

freebrickproductions thanks. It was a fairly rare setup and it's sad to see it gone. I actually like the new setup but I miss the old bell. The WCH e-bells are not too bad though.

@aydenholton1743 5 жыл бұрын

@@McKHAust Yeah, at least they don't 'die' like Safetran ones tend to do.

@McKHAust 5 жыл бұрын

Sydney Trains doesn't use Safetran e-bells, which probably isn't a bad thing.

@nawphaw4687 6 жыл бұрын

It is looking good

@trainman758 7 жыл бұрын

Took them long enough!!!!!! A bit sad though that the gate less signals are gone

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Yes it was a nice setup. I'm surprised that they put gates here, it's a very quiet road. Sydney Trains have removed almost all of their gate-less crossings now.

@HazptMedia 3 жыл бұрын

8:48 why was the first car of the tangara without its lights?

@McKHAust 3 жыл бұрын

The first car was locked off and not available for passengers, so the lights were turned off.

@somerandomdudelol 5 жыл бұрын

The bell is probably a type 3 gen 1

@NBVideosPresents 7 жыл бұрын

I'm sorry, but I think its a bit too quiet for crossings that can't ring the bell. That's just mu opinion since I don't know how crossings work in your country. Sad to see the old be replaced

@liftrailphotographyinnz3992 7 жыл бұрын

We use some of the same crossing equipment used in Austrailia In New Zealand.

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Lift & Rail Photography In NZ you guys have some nice crossings in NZ, I specially like the old Griswold equipment.

@liftrailphotographyinnz3992 7 жыл бұрын

Do you have Griswold equipment in Aussie?

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Lift & Rail Photography In NZ sadly we don't. I think there used to be a few Griswold bells but they're gone now.

@Chris-xk3bp 7 жыл бұрын

Apparently Griswold bells were really common in Queensland until they decided to remove all of their bells from their crossings. Even in Melbourne there were a few around back in the day. For example, Devon Rd in Oak Park had one before the crossing was upgraded with E-Bells.

@JamesJimmaHarding 7 жыл бұрын

I still don't get why New South Wales and Tasmania (Well, ok, there's also one in Adelaide too) are the only states in Australia that has WCH E-bells

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Out of all the current E-bells on the market the WCH would be my favourite. I think they are more expensive, which is probably why they are not used in more places.

@jovetj 7 жыл бұрын

Ugh... the new lights out of sync look absolutely terrible. Gonna give someone a seizure. And I'm not kidding about that. Anyone else notice that, looking downhill, the left-hand Narrow Marker sign is upside down? Ooops. I was hoping that would be fixed after the upgraded crossing was put into effect, but...nope! Nice video though.

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Thanks. Not many crossings do have the lights in sync, I'm not sure what the NSW standards are (if any). Haven't heard of anyone having seizures due to the lights being out of sync, but keeping with Australian tradition they will wait until it happens before anything is done. That's also how many crossings got their signals in the first place, somebody was killed so they decided to install signals!

@jovetj 7 жыл бұрын

That's how it tends to work in the States too. But often it takes more than one person getting killed. I am not sure how it works there, but here railroad crossing equipment is extremely expensive (because it has to be designed so strongly against failure) and it's generally up the municipality to foot most of the bill. The federal government does put aside a stash of cash every year which all of the states can apply for to use on upgrading their most problematic crossings, but when a single crossing is $150,000-250,000, that doesn't go that far.

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Crossing equipment is very expensive here too. The respective state government usually pays for upgrades, although the federal government will sometimes contribute.

@NextbotExpert 3 жыл бұрын

Where is Clifton

@ElectraProductions225 7 жыл бұрын

nice video

@VictorianRailHeritage 7 жыл бұрын

They should of kept the signal with no gates on the right because that would of been ok

@ImFirstPlace 4 жыл бұрын

Its strange the way in Australia all the flashing lights are not in sync like American ones they all go left then right at exactly the same time while Australian ones are randomised.

@geaeliska858 4 жыл бұрын

well my hypothesis is that there is two different flasher relays. You can see that one set of masts and the lift gate are completely in sync. The other set of masts and lights aren't in sync which would suggest there is a second flasher relay controlling those. Its a matter of what level of current the relay could handle. So using the two separate relays reduces the risk of burnout of the flasher relay. At least that's my thought.

@AgentTiger 2 жыл бұрын

In australia, the not in sync lights thing it actually quite rare. Usually they are like the American ones, where they all flash at the same time

@TrickyMario7654 7 жыл бұрын

Well, there goes the old signals!

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Yep they certainly did a good job removing any trace of the old signals. I like the new setup but I miss the old bell, I thought it sounded really nice.

@TrickyMario7654 7 жыл бұрын

As does the LXRA with their crossing removals. When we drove over North Road in Ormond on Boxing Day, I couldn't find any remains of the crossing!

@MumsyBuckson 7 жыл бұрын

Nowadays, (i checked and asked a few months back) you can ask the LXRA for any parts. First you gotta give them your address, then put in a reason why you want it. Then they send it to you. So they probably sold the parts or re-used them somewhere else.

@baileypetriegaming113 7 жыл бұрын

you finally got a Tangara yay

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Yeah I think it was because of the weekend closedown, probably trying to get back to normal working.

@baileypetriegaming113 7 жыл бұрын

oh ok

@NextbotExpert 3 жыл бұрын

XD Clifton is near Canberra

@dyl46225 7 жыл бұрын

This has the same everything to the Kempsey crossing. Just here we have WCH mechanical bells.

@dyl46225 7 жыл бұрын

And safetran gate mechs.

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Sounds like an interesting crossing. Usually if a crossing has WCH bells the gate mechs will be WCH too. You don't often see Safetran gate mechs paired up with WCH bells.

@dyl46225 7 жыл бұрын

McK&H Aust Agreed, we have a second crossing too. It I think is paired up with the WCH bells and mechs, all i know is it's WCH mechs. Don't know about bells though. The main crossing actually was non gated, But then it was replaced in somewhat February 2008, Found out by seeing the old crossing on google maps.

@dyl46225 7 жыл бұрын

Another unusual thing with the 2nd crossing is it has a set of lights above a set of lights, forming an X pattern, and the switched the light wires around, so right light goes to left, and left goes to right. The other set has normal wiring. I also like how they added a extra set of lights facing towards the road to turn left onto the crossing science it's a bit of a weird layout.

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

xXSlimeHunterXx had a look at the second crossing on street view, looks like an interesting setup. I noticed that one of the bells (the black one) is much older than the other. Might add that crossing to my list.

@xoxlillian Жыл бұрын

its mutch safer if the crossings have gates on all lanes

@JMANWiSS 7 жыл бұрын

Why aren't the lights in sync?

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

The crossing has 2 different flasher relays, one for each side.

@jovetj 7 жыл бұрын

Another interesting difference from the USA, as that would never happen in the US. They'd use a master flasher relay to drive two or more subordinate relays for all the lights they need. The mix of lights (especially ones this bright) could give someone who's prone to them a seizure.

@willpower3544 4 жыл бұрын

quite a shame they were replaced. do you know the reson of them being replaced or is it just another one of the silly decisions big companies tend to make? also, why was the mechanical bell facing the wrong way?

@McKHAust 3 жыл бұрын

It was just a standard upgrade whether needed or not.

@nicodo123 3 жыл бұрын

That quiet mode is stupid. Satisfying a couple people near the crossing doesn't mean killing off several more people

@Elevatorguy09_YT 7 ай бұрын

Aaaaahhhhhh the year I was in kindy

@MrBnsftrain 7 жыл бұрын

I wonder what happened to the old signs and bell? they would be perfect for any railfan's home! 2:07 I thought that horn was from another EMU, not a diesel loco! 2:17 I've never seen that green livery before! what company is it for? 4:58 I thought the new crossing set would have Astlom lights! 5:13 I see no reason why the ungated poles should be replaced! 7:55 I had no idea WCH e bells were able to do that! 8:13 i thought one bell would only sound quieter, like a Japanese crossing with its gates lowered! This silence reminds me of some German crossings too! 8:53 are the first two cars empty, or just have different windows? 9:52 I see why they switched the bells off! The area sounds so peaceful! 10:42 I thought it was past 06:00 hours here! the sun is pretty high up! 11:50 now this sounds like the sequence of a Japanese crossing! the sounders go quiet when the gates are lowered! 15:35 I can hear the bells go out of sync! first day on the job, and they're already not working together!

@trainman758 7 жыл бұрын

MrBnsftrain i believe in Australia all locomotives must have a town and country horn. The driver used the town horn at this crossing. The green locomotive is painted after a passenger train called the southern spirit however this train folded up a couple of years ago. Here in Australia especially in New South Wales it seems to be standard practice to replace signals that are in perfectly good condition. I believe that Alston was bought buy united group

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

They have kept at least two of the old signals including the one with the bell. They are in storage, most likely for spares. The ungated poles were replaced because the signals were moved to allow the road to be widened, I guess it was easier to install new ones so they were ready to go on the day. The bells are connected to a timer inside the relay case, it cuts power to the bell circuit between 22:00 and 06:00. Many crossings over here have the bells switched off at night, but only on gated crossings. There have been crossings where residents have complained about the noise of the bells, so most of the new installations are now set up to switch off the bells at night. It's summer time here and the sun comes up quite early, at the moment it starts to get light around 05:00. The bells are out of sync because they are set on slightly different ring rates, as the WCH bells can be adjusted.

@dyl46225 7 жыл бұрын

McK&H Aust a bit like UK level crossings. Some of the YODalarms they have have a 'night mode'. It doesn't turn them off but it quiets them down.

@dyl46225 7 жыл бұрын

Don't ask why I am up at 11pm lol

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

That's not a bad idea, I wonder how long until they come out with an e-bell which does the same thing.

@swedishlevelcrossingchanne2745 7 жыл бұрын

What was the noise at 5:41?

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

That's a bird.

@swedishlevelcrossingchanne2745 7 жыл бұрын

Sounds a lot different than a Swedish bird

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

It's a Whipbird. They are native to Australia and are named after their call which sounds like a whip cracking.

@swedishlevelcrossingchanne2745 7 жыл бұрын

McK&H Aust ok. I first thought the overhead wires made the sound.😂

@maxstrainsfanssmash687 7 жыл бұрын

McK&H Aust Sometimes I get asked what is that warbling sound and I have to tell them it's a aussie magpie

@TCJ_YT 4 жыл бұрын

Awesome video, This crossing doesn’t deserve Gates as far as I can tell there is not many cars going through it why did the crossing need gates anyway seriously 😒

@McKHAust 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks! The crossing certainly doesn't see much traffic, but it seems to be Sydney Trains policy to put gates everywhere.

@saturn7244 2 жыл бұрын

@@McKHAust 😳

@saturn7244 2 жыл бұрын

😳

@saturn7244 2 жыл бұрын

What bout now 😜

@STUAA2024 7 жыл бұрын

Gateless Crossing To A Gated Crossing.

@trans-continentalrailfan6328 7 жыл бұрын

Those crossing gates covered with yellow bags, are those the ones yet to be installed or the old ones?

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

They are the new ones yet to be installed.

@jovetj 7 жыл бұрын

They _are_ installed; they're waiting to go into service.

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Yes.

@VictorianRailHeritage 7 жыл бұрын

I Think With No Sound At this Crossing at Times Someone Might Get Killed Here

@darrenmiles-morland8038 4 жыл бұрын

There is a private road on the side of the crossing where the mountain is. Very few if any cars would use it during the times when the bell tones get turned off. The lights looked bright enough anyway that in the unlikely event that the crossing did become busy with traffic then cars would definitely notice them.

@lckdwn478m 4 жыл бұрын

2:17 ONO, TEH DONUTZ IZ GONE

@McKHAust 4 жыл бұрын

Yes rip, is empty donuts. Thanks THJR :)

@lckdwn478m 4 жыл бұрын

Yes rip bell, ur wellcom bell

@lckdwn478m 4 жыл бұрын

WiFi: * Drops by 1 bar* KZfaq Video quality: ⎛‾⎞ ⌒ ⌢ • 0:00 ⌒ ⌢ • 0:14

@lckdwn478m 4 жыл бұрын

BTW, great vid, I've seen dis vid in E years ago

@McKHAust 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks THJR :)

@lckdwn478m 4 жыл бұрын

ur wellcom

@lckdwn478m 4 жыл бұрын

@@McKHAust ALLALALAALALA

@EJG48706 4 жыл бұрын

Not sure if i like the cross bucks like that.. Printed on a sign.. Rather have the real cross bucks cut out.. its rail ROAD not railway..

@therailrangervmtg8658 4 жыл бұрын

Australians use ‘Railway’ most of the time.

@zhiqiangshao5364 3 жыл бұрын

Cratrara. Irregular Etisviuvive. Gariuhaw. State. Crash

@underswappap3593 5 жыл бұрын

Hey is Australia copying us!??!??!?!?!??!

@deanl4575 5 жыл бұрын

tammy wedgewood Who’s us? If you mean US as in the United States, then, I would say yeah, somewhat. I wouldn’t say completely copying the US’s level crossings though. Some features are different.

@McKHAust 5 жыл бұрын

Australia has used equipment made in the US for many decades now, as far back as wig-wags. There have been a few modifications here and some equipment was made locally. Australian crossings and railroads are basically a mixture of American and British technology.

@VT29steamtrain 4 жыл бұрын

The wch es sound horrible

@ImALittleKittyKat 7 жыл бұрын

I appreciate your interest would have been in the crossing, but next time you set up a camera on private land (yes my nana owns the land you've been filming on), you should ask the landholders permission first....... you've essentially stalked the front of our driveway and published it on the internet.

@McKHAust 7 жыл бұрын

Yes you are right, I was only interested in the crossing. I didn't believe at the time that it was private property as the map shows it as a public road, there is a gate up further but I never went that far. I stayed on the road only. It sure looks like a public road so maybe you should move the gate closer to the crossing.

@Vaughn-nu9xp 7 жыл бұрын

Ki tty isn't it a public road though, because there's an access road on the side behind the camera that leads to a nearby substation, so are you lying?

@762Media42 7 жыл бұрын

Vaughn's Trailing yeah that is what I thought and also looking at this marvellous video update the gate is like 500 metres from the crossing

@tonybailey7037 6 жыл бұрын

Things you can't see on Google - I've still got a 2006 UBD that seems to show it as a public road for its whole length - certainly Wollongong Council should be able to state if its a declared public road, certainly for the distance mentioned to the gate.

@redhen334 4 жыл бұрын

Actually, your house has been viewed by many people passing on the train, and also Google Street View, so what difference does it make? This isn’t stalking, lol. Besides, there’s an access road to something on your supposed “driveway”, definitely a public road up to that gate.