Elm Street (AL 99) #1, Athens, AL

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*originally recorded on 9-2-21*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs and a very quiet NEG e-bell.

After catching E015, the S&NA North Sub went quiet again, so I drove around a bit to see both sides of the signals at Athen Siding, when, over at Sanderfer Road, I stumbled upon a signal maintainer I'd seen earlier. While chatting with him, apparently M781's evening crew got on duty and began to work the N&D Branch, so I quickly got back-up to the other side of Athens, but unfortunately I missed getting them shoving up the branch. However, I decided to stick around, and, luckily enough, M781 finished their work and headed back towards the mainline running lite before it got too dark to record this crossing.
However, the dispatcher didn't let the train out onto the main, as there were a couple of trains on the way, so instead they went back-up the main a bit and tied down for the rest of the evening just south of the crossing.

This is a pretty decent little crossing, and one I'd wanted to get for a good while. This crossing is located on the CSX N&D Branch, which is the only surviving section of the original Nashville & Decatur mainline north of Athens, and is also the only signalized crossing along this little branch line. The signals here appear to have been put-up by the L&N back in the 1970s, though, in either the late-90s or early 2000s, CSX replaced all of the lights here with the current Safetran 12x24s (though incandescent when they were installed) and a General Signals e-bell (not sure if it was a Type 1 or Type 2 though). The next change for this crossing came in 2013, when CSX gave it an LED upgrade alongside the rest of the crossings on the S&NA North Sub. Then, in 2016, the General Signals e-bell here must've died and was replaced with the current NEG e-bell. Since then, no major changes have occured to this crossing, thankfully.
Speaking of that NEG though, this has to easily have been the quietest one I've ever heard. The one at Elm Street #2 is also pretty quiet, but that one I've only ever heard from the far side of the crossing from, and probably ain't too much quieter than any other NEG e-bell, TBH. However, this one I was on the same side of, yet I could still barely hear it. In fact, I couldn't even hear it from behind my camera, though thankfully my camera's mic seems to have picked it up pretty decently, at least compared to my own ears. However, you may need to turn your sound to hear it still. It honestly seems like when this was installed, the maintainer chose to turn it's volume all the way down for some reason, and I'm honestly not sure why. Either way though, this is the quietest working bell I've ever recorded, and I doubt I'll ever find anything quieter than this.
However, with this crossing recorded, I have finally gotten every railroad crossing in Limestone County filmed! Though, that being said, I did still have a few crossings I needed to rerecord at the time, which I have since done so. I'll probably see about getting the compilation video for this county out soon.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Athens/Elm1/

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No major changes here as of 3-24-22: