Davey Allison Boulevard, Bessemer, AL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 2-8-20*

Far crossing (CSX):
Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a General Signals Type 1 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights.
Near crossing (BHRR):
Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Safetran Non-Fading LEDs.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Safetran Non-Fading LEDs, a Safetran Hybrid bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

After catching the BHRR train, I continued on into Bessemer (stopping in Hueytown to document a crossing we'll see later) to try and catch CSX M730. Thankfully, this time around, they had a crew and were actively switching the intermodal terminal. After a while, they finished working the ramp, and got going on back to Boyles. As they were leaving the intermodal terminal via the BHRR, I had thought about trying to get them at a nice crossing the BHRR has, but I didn't want to miss them here so I decided to skip that guy on this trip. However, he wound-up sitting just south of this crossing for close to an hour before getting on the CSX Mineral Sub, so I probably could've gotten that other crossing as well. Either way though, he eventually got permission back onto the CSX and we see him start to crawl back to Boyles Yard with a single YN2 AC44CW for power running long-hood forwards (which was probably the main reason why he was moving so slowly).

This crossing has been one I've been wanting to get for a long time, and is a pretty nice one. It appears that all of the signals here were installed in the late-1990s, and have thankfully remained largely unchanged since then. The far signals were installed by CSX and features a typical installation from that era, complete with a working GS Type 1! However, the closer signal is easily the more interesting one, featuring a nice pair of signals from the Birmingham Southern that have also remained largely unchanged. I had thought the LEDs here were just typical Safetran Fading LEDs, but it turns out that these are actually the seemingly-rarer non-fading variant of these LEDs, so now I can say I've seen both kinds of them.
However, the LEDs weren't the main reason why I set-up here, that was easily the bell on the BHRR's side: a Safetran Hybrid bell! As far as I'm aware, this is the only Hybrid bell on the BHRR (as well as the entire Birmingham Metro area), and is actually the closest one to my house. It's not the only one in Alabama, thankfully, as there's at least a few on the CN (and former CN) lines down in and around Mobile, but I want to say CN's replaced many of the ones down there over the past few years. Thankfully, this guy still sounds quite healthy (if a bit rough at points), so hopefully he hangs on for many more years to come.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/B ... y_Allison/

[SirKrunch]

Looks like a rather rough crossing surface on the near side as well.
Did they place the signals that far off from the road surface thinking the road would be widened shortly?

[freebrickproductions]

Did they place the signals that far off from the road surface thinking the road would be widened shortly?

I honestly have no idea, TBH.

Also, got a video of the CSX side on 1-29-22: