Lincoln Street & 38th Street, Savannah, GA

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 6-29-21*

The lone signal at these two crossings features only a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell.

On June 29th, for our last full day in Georgia, Ethan and I went out to Savannah to do some more railfanning in that area, stopping to pick-up BNSFBishop along the way. Our main goal for the day was to try and go out and get the bell-only crossing along the SOFR documented, so we did just that and waited for their morning run. It turned out they were already down at CSX getting their train to take back to their own yard, so we set-up and waited for the return trip. After a little while of waiting though, they came north with a pair of Watco GP40-2LWs for power.
Also, due to the sheer number of crossings along the line, I left in the large amounts of horn usage before the crossing activates because I feel it's worth it.

This double crossing is a really cool install, especially since it's the first bell-only crossing I've finally been able to record! These set-ups are quite rare to find in service still, though the state of Illinois has a ton of these in use as pedestrian crossings, for some reason. It appears that this signal was put-up by the SCL back in the 1970s, though it could've replaced an older ACL install. Either way though, the bell was replaced either late-on in the 1970s or in the 1980s with a 1st Gen WCH mechanical bell, that would remain here for the next few decades. Unfortunately, sometime after 2019, the bell here died and was replaced with the current GS Type 3 e-bell.
The SOFR is full of classic SCL and SBD crossing equipment though, so I'm looking at getting back down here with Elliot at the end of this month to see about getting at least some of it recorded. While Ethan, Bishop, and I were waiting here, we were able to chat with the maintainer for the line who told us that apparently the city of Savannah wants to turn this line into a quiet zone, though they apparently have yet to cough-up the money for the necessary upgrades yet. However, I don't want some of the classic signals along the line to go unrecorded, so that's why I'm making a return trip so soon.