Commerce Avenue, Indianapolis, IN

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 4-9-24*

Signal on the left: 4 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a WCH gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 4 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights, 4 pairs of WCH 12x20 inch lights, a WCH gate mechanism, NEG LED gate lights, and a RECO LED gate light.

After catching SAAVT, I returned back over to the CSX Indianapolis Line to try for a couple more crossings that I had wanted to get in this area. After a couple hours of waiting, I was able to get my third train of the day: CSX M313 with a pair of SD70MACs for power! This was easily my second best catch of the day, and probably would've been my best, had I not caught the INRD by chance earlier.
Sadly, one of Indy's busses came through the intersection just as the locomotives were passing and mostly obscured the lead locomotive. Thankfully, you can still see the front and back of that unit, along with the entire trailing engine, but it was still a bit annoying. It is what it is, I suppose though.

This crossing is another great one, featuring another pair of older cantilever signals installed by Conrail. I'm not entirely sure what the exact history of the equipment here is, though I suspect most of the equipment here would've been installed in the early to mid-90s at the latest. In the late-90s, it appears that Conrail replaced the original gate mechanism on the closer signal with the current WCH 3957 gate mech, but, otherwise, nothing has really changed to this crossing since the 90s it appears. This crossing is another gated bell-less one, which is nice to see, as I always do enjoy recording them. The WCH lights here have also had their backgrounds fade rather nicely over the years, giving a nice aged look to the WCH 12x24s. The backgrounds on the WCH 12x20s are even more spectacularly faded and oxidized, with most of them having turned almost completely yellow/gold in color. I ain't seen too many backgrounds that've done that in person, especially with the fronts of them remaining like this.