Pedestrian Crossing, Villa Park, IL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 6-5-22*

Signal on the far left: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a WCH gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the near left: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a WCH Type 3 electronic bell, a WCH gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the far right: a "Danger Another Train Coming" blank-out sign.
Signal on the near right: a "Danger Another Train Coming" blank-out sign.
This crossing is in a quiet zone.

After getting the crossing in Glen Ellyn filmed, I continued on over to this little pedestrian crossing at the Metra station in Villa Park, as I always like filming pedestrian crossings. After a little bit of waiting here, I got what was my favorite catch of the day: a westbound mixed freight with an SD70ACe leading a GP38-2 and an AC44CW elephant-style on the head-end being raced by a grain train(?) with a pair of CSX ES44AHs for power, with the trailing one being the "Spirit of our Law Enforcement" unit! It was honestly nice getting to see another train race like this, and it was also nice to catch one of CSX's specially-painted "Pride in Service" units, even if I'd've preferred to see one of the other units before getting the bootlicker-pride one, lol. The mixed freight also had a rear-DPU, though I don't know what it was. Sounded like it was just a GEVO though.

This crossing is another nice one, and features what are probably the newest signals I filmed while up in Illinois. The signals here appear to be a UP install from the late-2000s/early-2010s, but the original WCH e-bell on the far side was replaced by the current GS Type 2 sometime prior to 2015 if I had to guess.
Due to the tight space around the crossing, as the crossing is raised above the surrounding terrain, I just kinda had to go with the best angle I could. As such, I sadly wasn't able to get all of the signals in one shot, but I did point my camera towards the other signal on this side to show the "Danger Another Train Coming" sign in action while both trains were on the crossing. It was nice getting to see more of those in action, since I hadn't filmed any since I recorded the ones in New Jersey back in 2017.
It was also nice getting to film another little pedestrian crossing, which was the main reason why I came to this one, TBH. All in all, this is a pretty neat little crossing and I'm glad I decided to stick with it, even if the angle to film it with was pretty awkward.