Monticello Road (US 29), Banks, AL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 7-28-19*

Signal on the left: 4 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of WABCO 8 inch lights.

After catching A724 in Brundidge, I was able to race on up to Banks and beat them to this crossing, which was another very high priority one for me to get. It appears that originally, this crossing had a pair of gateless (and bell-less, of course) ACL signals. However, it appears that in the 1970s, the SCL had replaced both signals with newer ones, or at least replaced the right-hand one and upgraded the lights on the other (it's hard to tell on the old street view imagery). Then, according to Google Street View, the far signal was replaced (again?) with the current signal, likely due to the older signal being hit. However, the right-hand signal has managed to remain almost completely unchanged from when it was installed, even retaining the original cats-eyed crossbuck! In fact, the only changes ever done to the signal have been the changing of the ENS information that CSX has on the signal. Either way, I was quite glad to record this crossing, as it has one of the last two cats-eyed crossbucks along the line, AFAIK, with the other one being at Troy Street in Brundidge (which I was lucky enough to record last year on my way down to Florida). In fact, the cats-eyed crossbuck is the reason why I set-up on this side of the crossing, even though it was backlit at the time.