Whitlock Avenue, Marietta, GA

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 1-11-24*

Signal on the left: 1 Modern Industries 12x24 inch light with a Leotek EV Series LED, 1 Harmon 12x24 inch light with a Leotek EV Series LED, 1 pair of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, a WRRS mechanical bell, a WCH gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, a WCH gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.

This was the third and final crossing I chased M647 to. After I shot them in Kingston, I got back onto I-75, hearing M647 meeting another northbound in Cartersville, and made my way south to this crossing. Admittedly, thanks to heavy traffic on I-75 and around Marietta, I wasn't entirely sure if I'd be able to beat the train to this crossing in downtown Marietta, but, thankfully, I was able to do so with plenty of time to spare. Here we see CSX M647 for the final time on this day, blowing through downtown Marietta for all five crossings along here.

This crossing is a great one, featuring a nice 1980s CSX install that's still largely original. It appears that, originally, these signals directly replaced some older L&N ones, based on the positioning of the base on the closer signal. In addition, the bell here is a classic WRRS mechanical bell, undoubtedly reused from the L&N signals these replaced. Either way, at some point, I suspect in the late-90s, the front lights on the far signal were replaced with the current mix of a reused MI head and a Harmon head. The crossing thankfully remained largely untouched until early-2022, when CSX upgraded this crossing to LED alongside the ones on the CSX W&A Subdivision. Thankfully, since then, no further changes have occurred to this crossing.
These signals honestly look great, as I always love seeing older WCH signals like this. Especially if they still retain their classic older WCH gate mechs, which are always a treat to see. It seems like the CSX W&A Subdivision, and the part of the Atlanta Terminal that leads to the W&A, still retain quite a few WCH gate mechs, which you don't typically find as easily on ex-L&N lines, in my experience. The WRRS mechanical bell here also still sounds quite nice and healthy, which I'm glad to see. Admittedly, I'd been wanting to film this crossing for years, ever since I first documented it back in 2016, so I'm glad I was finally able to do so. Hopefully it continues to remain largely untouched for many more years to come, but, either way, I'm glad to have been able to get a video of it.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Georgia/G-Q/M ... /Whitlock/