57th Street, Birmingham, AL

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57th Street, Birmingham, AL

Post by freebrickproductions » Wed Jul 03, 2019 11:05 pm




*originally recorded on 6-27-19*

Far signal on the far left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.
Far signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights.
Near signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights.
Near signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.

As mentioned above, this crossing features something a bit unique for the area, a "double crossing" set-up. However, unlike other crossings, this is entirely one crossing. Due to the angle that this road crosses at, there's just enough room between the tracks to warrant a pair of gateless signals on the inside, which makes for a rather neat look. The way the crossing is set-up, the "inside lights" (the lights that face traffic inside the crossing) on the signals don't light-up unless the train is on that that side of the crossing. As seen in the second video, the "inside lights" will also deactivate when the gates start to rise, which is a bit of another cool feature about the crossing.
The signals themselves aren't the most interesting signals out there though. They are pretty much a typical mid-1990s NS install, though both of the bells were replaced by 2008 with the current GS Type 2s. According to Google Street View, at some point between 2012 and when I recorded this video, the gateless signal guarding the single-track line was struck and had one of the lights on it replaced. One of the gate lights on the southern gated signal is also dead. Also, interestingly enough, the southern gated signal has an incorrect track count on it, claiming there's only two tracks when it should be three. According to GSV, it had the correct count on it in 2012, just like the northern one has always had, which tells me that at some point after 2012, NS replaced the correct sign with a wrong one! Both gate arms also whack the signals they're mounted on, and in the case of the southern gated signal, it also rubs up against the wind guard as it raises, which has caused it to have a hole rubbed in it!
I had wanted to record all of the lights facing the camera being lit-up, hence why I had set-up on the side of the crossing that I did in the first video, as I was thinking the train would be on the far track, but I did get to show the far signal's lights that face the camera were off, which is neat. At the end of the second video, you can see (and hear) the crossing do a brief tail-ring malfunction as the gates start to rise.
They/Them for me, please.

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Re: 57th Street, Birmingham, AL

Post by freebrickproductions » Sat Nov 13, 2021 6:52 pm

No major changes to this crossing, as of 10-10-21, however the gate arms were both replaced and the bells here now ring until the gates rise:


http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Birmingham/57/
They/Them for me, please.

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Re: 57th Street, Birmingham, AL

Post by freebrickproductions » Fri Jan 07, 2022 1:49 pm

Caught this crossing malfunctioning on 11-19-21:


It seems that the bells shut-off while the gates are down again now.
They/Them for me, please.

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