Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs, a Safetran Type 3 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs, a dead NEG electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

This crossing is a pretty modern one, with a pair of CSX signals installed in the mid-2000s (by 2007, certainly). The right-hand signal originally had a Safetran Type 3 e-bell installed on it, but was replaced with the current e-bell sometime between 2009 and 2014. However, it seems that it can't keep a working bell as the current NEG e-bell died as well, though the 10 year old Safetran on the far side is still working fine. This crossing is located right next to CP ALATEN, which was guarded by a set of old L&N Searchlight signals up until the end of 2015 when CSX installed the current Safetran "Vader" signals seen to replace them. This crossing is also the only signalized crossing between the Alabama State Line and Wauhatchie (near Chattanooga, TN), along with being the only at-grade crossing along this single-track section of the Chattanooga Sub between New Hope, TN and Guild, TN. Not sure why they haven't double-tracked through here yet, though I suppose Lake Nickajack being located along this section may have something to do with it.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Tennessee/G-Q ... pe/Moores/

*originally recorded on 11-28-23*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, an NEG electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, NEG LED gate lights, and a RECO LED gate light.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, an NEG electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.

After I caught NS 286 in Scottsboro, I decided to chase them on over to New Hope, TN, as I'd heard that CSX had added a second track and upgraded the crossing there. When I got here, I heard a nearby defect detector give the entry message over the radio, so I got set-up. It turned-out to be for this northbound autorack train (CSX M202?) which came flying through with a CM44AC leading an ES40DC for power.

After the northbound CSX autorack train came through, I checked the signals at Alaten and saw that CSX had another northbound lined through. As such, after a bit of waiting, I was able to catch this NS 735 rolling through New Hope with a pair of BNSF SD70ACe sister units pulling on the head-end and another BNSF SD70ACe working as the train's DPU! It'd definitely been a little while since I'd last seen an all-SD70ACe lash-up on one of these coal trains. Also a bit unusual seeing just three locomotives on a Scherer coal, I wonder if they had to drop one somewhere?
I also decided to get another crossing video here this time around as I still needed to get action shots of these signals for the site at the time. You can also hear the Shellmound defect detector reading-out before the signals here activate.

Once CSX L441 had passed, I saw 286 had crested the hill just to my southwest, so I quickly grabbed my camera and set back-up for a third, and final, video of this crossing. Here we see NS 286 for one final time, ending off my afternoon of chasing the Lehigh Valley heritage unit leading it.

It seems that, sometime within the past two years, the customer to the southwest of the crossing decided to get rail service, and a new yard was built to the northeast of it. As a result, a second track was put in here, with CSX replacing the mid-2000s Safetran signals here in the process with the current ones, unfortunately. Interestingly, it seems the Sequatchie Valley Switching Company is the one who got the contract for switching this industry and the associated rail infrastructure, so they have one of their SW1500s parked out here as a result. I think this is one of the few crossings in my area that three different freight railroads operate through, and is also technically the first SQSC crossing I've filmed (as I haven't had the chance to film the two they have in the neighboring city of South Pittsburg yet).

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Tennessee/G-Q ... pe/Moores/