Queensland Rail Innovative Flat Crossings

Queensland Rail is totally changing how rail lines cross each other!

Flat Crossings (or level junctions depending on where you’re from) have been a staple in railroading for ages. The reason of course, is they do their job, and they do it well. While many might tout the old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”  there are others who constantly seek improvement. The folks at QR are part of that school of thought.

Cape gauge track has a gauge of 3 ft 6 inches!

The cape gauge track you see in the clip below is cleared for speeds of up to 160km/h (99 mph)! With trains traveling at such high speeds this track, amongst others just wont do with a flat crossing! This high-speed line, along with many other narrow and cape gauge lines in Queensland, have had their flat crossings replaced with these drawbridge style crossings!

So how does it work?

• The Cane Driver operates a trackside switch to request a QR controller to let the ‘bridge’ down.
• If there is no QR traffic the controller sets a route for the Cane Driver.
• QR mainline signals change to ‘stop’ and the draw bridge lowers.
• Once the train passes, the drawbridge raises and QR mainline signals change to ‘proceed’.

Share your thoughts with us in the comments. We’d love to hear from you!