The New Street railway crossing in Brighton, no longer open to cars, still has a gatekeeper.

Gates of wrath

January 31, 2011

The New Street railway crossing in Brighton, no longer open to cars, still has a gatekeeper. 

A heritage-listed railway crossing dating back to 1882 has got a community worked up and may embarrass the state government, writes Geoff Strong.

THIS is a story about a relic from another age that has divided a community, could embarrass the Baillieu government and commands one of Melbourne's best bayside views.

It is the disused railway level crossing at the end of New Street, Brighton, on the junction with Beach Road, across from Hampton Beach. Intersecting a stretch of the Sandringham line that gives one of the most pleasant suburban train vistas in the country, the crossing is the last in Australia to have gates operated by human hand and dates from when trains were either pulled by black things that belched smoke or, if electric, were red, wooden and rattled.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/melbourne-life/gates-of-wrath-20110130-1a9qm.html