Becky Linn Road Railroad Crossing, Graysville, AL

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Becky Linn Road Railroad Crossing, Graysville, AL

Post by freebrickproductions » Tue Nov 17, 2020 4:01 am



*originally recorded on 11-12-20*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 1 pair of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, and a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights and a Safetran mechanical bell.

After catching NS 329 and NS 74G in downtown Birmingham, I raced up to this crossing to see if I would be able to catch NS 329 here. Thankfully, I was able to beat it with plenty of time to spare, so here we see UP 1943 leading once again.

This crossing is another pretty nice one. It appears that the signals here were originally installed by the SOU in the 1970s, but at some point the closer one was replaced. I'm not entirely sure if it was in the 90s, and then had the mast replaced again in the 2000s (but the 90s equipment was reinstalled onto it), or if it was in the 2000s with re-used equipment on it. Either way though, it is a bit interesting as it's quite obviously a 5 inch mast meant for a gated crossing. In fact, there's a (badly) painted over DOT tag stuck to the mast which gives the DOT number of the crossing it was meant for: 20th Street #2 in Irondale. I'm guessing NS might've once planned on upgrading the early-to-mid 90s NS signals there with newer ones, but scrapped that upgrade project for whatever reason. Certainly a bit of an unusual signal here though.
However, on the far side, the signal remained pretty much unchanged from when it was installed, retaining its original Safetran/RACO 8 inch lights and 1st Generation(?) Safetran mechanical bell up through at least 2008. However, by 2014, the lights were upgraded to what they are currently, and the bell was replaced with a General Signals e-bell (most likely a Type 2). Since then, the only major change to this crossing appears to have been the General Signals e-bell being replaced with the current GS Type 3.
However, I'm just glad that the Safetran mechanical bell on the closer signal is still here and sounds like it's working great. With this video, I've also recorded all three active mechanical bells on the NS West End District!
The abandoned bridge on the right is for an old L&N/Alabama Mineral Railway branch line that appears to have originally connected to the Alabama Power-owned Plant Miller. However, in the 1990s (IIRC?), CSX abandoned and tore up the line, leaving only a few bridges, paved over crossings, the ROW, and a Searchlight signal in Fultondale (which I've documented) behind.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/G-Q/G ... ecky_Linn/
They/Them for me, please.

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