Cottage Street, Century, FL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 5-20-22*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a General Signals Type 1 electronic bell, a GRS gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a GRS gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

While documenting crossings around Flomaton, AL, I decided to hop down to the neighboring town of Century, FL, to get the northernmost crossing on the CSX PD Sub documented, since I knew it had some decent equipment. Just as I was getting out of my car, this local freight with a GP40-3 was making its way out of the CSX Flomaton Yard and onto the PD Sub, so I quickly set-up and started recording, thankfully with a bit of time to spare. I was then able to film this local freight going across the crossing to pick-up some cars just south of it. No idea how far south they were going on the PD Sub, but the signal to my north upgraded shortly after they cleared the crossing, so I doubt it was too far south. If I knew for sure they were going farther south though, I might've tried for a couple of the other more interesting crossings in Century.

This crossing is a rather nice crossing though, and I'm still quite glad to have been able to record it. These signals were originally installed in the 1970s by the L&N, it appears, but in the 1990s, CSX replaced all of the lights here with the current Safetran 12x24s and the bell was replaced with the current GS Type 1. Then, sometime in the early-2010s (or late-2000s), CSX gave this crossing an LED upgrade, with no major changes to it since then, thankfully.
I'm quite glad to see that this crossing still retains its GS Type 1. I did know there was a GS Type 1 here beforehand though, as, IIRC, there is a video from a few years back (before CSX sold off the P&A Sub) showing a coal train crawling through this crossing, and the activation of the signals was shown in it.
Of course, in addition to a nice GS Type 1, there's also a pair of GRS gate mechs here still, which are rather cool to see as well. Both GRS gate mechs here are also the rare-ish Type D variant where the WRRS logo on them was blanked-out (but not completely removed yet), so that was a neat little surprise to see as well.
All in all, even with this crossing being somewhat modernized, it's still a rather nice one. Hopefully these signals continue to remain unchanged for many more years to come, but either way, I'm glad I was lucky enough to get this crossing recorded.