18th Street, Indianapolis, IN

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 4-8-24*

Signal on the left: 4 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a WCH gate mechanism, NEG LED gate lights, and a RECO LED gate light.
Signal on the right: 6 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a Safetran Type 3 electronic bell, a Safetran Model 85 gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

On April 8th, I got on up at 3 AM (Central Time), picked-up a friend of mine, and drove the more than 6 hours to Indianapolis to watch the solar eclipse, as well as I myself doing a bit of railfanning. Unfortunately, I missed my only train before the eclipse, due to having to run off to find a bathroom. However, over three hours after the eclipse had happened, I was able to catch my first train of the day: A southbound CSX mixed freight with a CSX ES44AH leading a UP AC44CW, a UP ET44AH, and a UP AC45CCTE for power.

This crossing is a rather nice one, featuring what appears to be a Conrail install from the early-90s, which is still mostly original. Sometime between 2009 and 2011, CSX replaced the base on the far signal with the current double-sided Safetran one. Then, sometime between 2018 and 2019, the original Safetran Hybrid bell here died and was replaced by the current Safetran Type 3 electronic bell. Thankfully, no further major changes appear to have occurred to this crossing, which is nice to see. Easily the star of the show here is the Safetran Model 85 gate mech on the cantilever, which is one of several around Indianapolis still. Sadly, due to being on a cantilever mast, it, along with a few others on this part of the CSX Indianapolis Line, doesn't have the unique counterweight arms that these gate mechs are known for. Either way, it's still pretty nice to see.