18th Street #1, Somers, WI

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 11-15-23*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of WCH 12x20 inch lights with Harmon Fading LEDs, an RSI electronic bell, a WCH gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of WCH 12x20 inch lights with Harmon Fading LEDs, a WCH gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

After I caught AMTK 336, AMTK 337 was starting to get close, so I went back down to this crossing to catch it. After a bit of waiting, I was able to catch this northbound Hiawatha, Amtrak 337, heading north with an SC-44 for power and an ex-F40PH NPCU "cabbage car" on the rear.

This crossing is another rather nice one, featuring an early-2000s CP install. Like with the other crossings on the C&M Sub, this crossing received an LED upgrade sometime between 2007 and 2009. The crossing then remained unchanged until about 2018 or 2019 (Brenton81 may know which year, at least better than I) when CP installed the current RSI e-bell to replace the original WCH mechanical bell with. Since then, however, no major changes have occurred to this crossing.
This crossing is one of two crossings on the C&M Sub to feature a rare RSI e-bell, which CP apparently briefly trialed back in the late-2010s, though it seems they didn't care for them, as these two are the only known ones CP ever used. It seems railroads in general didn't really ever care for them at all, given that only a handful have ever been known to be installed across the US, with at least one having since been replaced.
RSI (and OK Rail Signals, which I believe is technically the successor company to RSI after they went under in the latter-half of the 2010s and likely whom actually made the RSI e-bells on the C&M) wasn't the best company out there when it came to crossing equipment, as I've heard from signal maintainers that their equipment was of very low quality and rather cheaply made. RSI's "quality" is certainly well on display with this bell, as, despite only being a few years old, it's already skipping some while it's ringing. It seems to be the way these e-bells sound, however, as the other one on this line was filmed by Brenton81 within a few months of it being installed back in 2018, but was skipping a bit while it was ringing back then as well. The bell here also starts noticeably late, though, again, I ain't sure if that's just the way these operate or not. Either way, it's still nice to get another bell I hadn't heard in person before recorded as well.