They Flash!

It’s a done deal, the lights and bells at Bendigo Road are fully installed and working!

After what seemed like a whole army of V/Line technicians descended on the site, suddenly lights were on posts, signs were erected and bells were ringing.

Just after lunch a call was put through asking for a test train, which of course was happily provided.

Initially a low speed run either way was undertaken to ascertain that everything functioned correctly, which of course it did.

This was then followed by a full line speed run of 40km/h, the track speed limit now in place here. Until today, we had restricted the speed of trains to 15km/h due to the dangerous nature of the umprotected crossing.

A view from the loco during the testing, one of the tests involved sitting in the approach sections to simulate a failed train, to ensure the lights responded correctly.

A big thank you to everyone who has been a part of this project, from politicians, government departments, V/ Line and our volunteers for all the many months of work that have gone in to making this a reality. We’re extremely grateful and much happier now that this isn’t such a high risk crossing, it’s a big win for everyone who uses it, road and rail.

Besides the fun and games of having the lights working, today’s gang did achieve a few things. One of which was removing all the old signage, which we’ll cascade to another crossing or keep as spares.

The all important job of removing the speed restriction signs was done with great enthusiasm.

As part of the welding in of the insulated joints some time back, we had a whole stack of short rails with fishplates attached, that needed recovering, which was successfully achieved today.

We had a good number of sleepers laid out at Maldon which still had dogspikes and plates attached, so these were removed and the sleepers were bundled and strapped for later use.

A lot of sorting and tidying of general stuff was also undertaken, helping to make use of the quiet moments between major activities.

Tomorrow, we’ll be meeting at Maldon from 8am. We’ll be doing a range of jobs, including a full track inspection prior to regular trains returning this weekend.