Pecan Street #1, Cordele, GA

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 7-30-21*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, an NEG electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a Modern Industries mechanical bell, a WABCO Model 75 gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.

The second train I caught in Cordele was this eastbound CSX coal train that came through shortly after the mixed freight did, meeting it at the siding on the west side of town. The power on this train was a YN3 ES44AH leading a YN2 AC44CW on the head-end and a YN3b ET44AH working as the mid-train DPU.

This crossing is another pretty nice one, featuring an install that appears to have been put-up in the mid-70s by the SCL. The equipment used here is fairly unusual for an SCL install though, outside of the gate mechs anyways, as originally it featured all Modern Industries 8 inch lights, a pair of MI mechanical bells, and two WABCO Model 75 gate mechs. The gate mechs are probably the least unusual thing to see here, but I can personally say that these installs are probably quite rare to see, as I wasn't aware of the SCL using much MI equipment on mast signals like this. Also a bit odd to see is that both of the MI bells that were originally here used 4 inch bases with 5 inch adapters, which ain't something you really see all that often, at least here in the southeast.
However, it appears that this crossing was entirely original up through the late-2000s/early-2010s, when CSX replaced the gate mech on the far side with the current Safetran one. Then, in about 2014/2015, the original MI 8 inch lights here were all replaced with the current heads as CSX upgraded this line to LED. Finally, sometime after 2016, it appears that the original MI bell on the far signal died and was replaced with the current NEG e-bell.
Thankfully, the closer signal is still mostly original, and the Modern Industries bell on it still sounds quite healthy. Unfortunately, it does click a few times when it starts, so it might be starting to wear out. Hopefully CSX fixes this bell as well and doesn't let it die, or at the very least that it's hopefully able to hold on here for several more years to come. Either way though, this crossing is a rather neat one and I'm glad I was able to record it.