Riverview Drive, Bowling Green, KY

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 12-7-23*

Signal on the left: 3.5 pairs of Modern Industries 12x20 inch lights, 1 Safetran 12x24 inch light, an Invensys Rail gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, an NEG electronic bell, a GRS gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

After catching the two autorack trains in Gallatin, I continued on north to Bowling Green for some more crossings. I decided to go for this crossing, as I felt that the closer signal looked rather nice. After 20-ish minutes of waiting, I was able to catch this CSX M523 (apparently) going south through Bowling Green with a pair of ET44AHs pulling and a third ET44AH working as the DPU.

This crossing is a rather nice one, and features what is the only cantilever signal in Bowling Green. The signals here were installed by the L&N back in the 1970s, but, in the mid-2000s, CSX replaced the lights and the bell on the closer signal with the current Safetran 12x24s and a Safetran Type 2 e-bell while CSX replaced the front-left mast light on the far signal with the current Safetran 12x24. Then, in the early-2010s, it appears that CSX replaced the gate mast on the far signal (though kept the original base) and replaced the original GRS Type D gate mech with the current Invensys Rail one. Since then, the only change to this crossing was the replacement of the bell here, which CSX did sometime between August of 2022 and May of 2023.
Thankfully, no other changes have occurred to this crossing, with the cantilever here retaining most of its original MI 12x20s and the closer signal retaining its classic GRS Type D gate mech. The mast lights on the cantilever are also mounted a bit strangely, with the front lights being rather off-centered. The side lights are also mounted to the same bracket, which may explain the unusual mounting. Rather unusually for CSX as well, the bell here rings until the gates rise, which is definitely a bit nice to see.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Kentucky/A-K/ ... Riverview/