East Street #2, Talladega, AL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 4-2-20*

Signal on the left: 5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.

While A84 was working their other customer, I decided to head back in to Talladega and wait for them to head west. After almost half an hour of waiting, they came on back through, this time with the other SD40-2 leading the train west.

This crossing is another pretty decent one. The signals here were installed by the SOU in the early 70s (it appears), probably around the same time East Street #1 got its current signals. The crossing appears to have remained unchanged for years, but in the 2000s, NS replaced the bell on the closer signal with the current one, along with the original Safetran 12x20 inch overhead lights. Then, between 2013 and 2015, the remaining Safetran mechanical bell on the far signal and all of the original 8 inch lights were replaced as well. The only change since 2015 was that the gate lights here were all upgraded to LED.
As you can see, the main mast lights on the closer signal are spread rather far apart, for some unknown reason. Looking at Google Street View, the original 8 inch lights were mounted this way as well. Not entirely sure why this was done, as nothing appears to be blocking the lights. Certainly makes the crossing look a bit more unusual though.
Also, for some reason, the side lights on the mast are mounted differently on each signal. On the far one, they are located above the main lights, while on the closer one, they're below the main lights. Just another odd thing about this crossing...

Also, since I was last out here in Talladega, ALDOT has rerouted AL 77 and AL 21 out from the downtown area. As such, AL 77 no longer runs up East Street like it used to (will have to update the site to reflect these changes soon).

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/R-Z/Talladega/East2/