AL 49, Franklin, AL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 8-2-21*

Signal on the left: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights and a General Signals Type 1 electronic bell.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights and a dead Safetran mechanical bell.

After catching Q605, I continued documenting the crossings on the AWP Sub. Once I got that finished, I checked Facebook and heard that Q601 was passing through Opelika, so I raced on over to Franklin to catch it. Here we see it pass through the lone crossing in the town with an ET44AH on the head-end and an ES44AH working as the mid-train DPU.

I decided to go to this crossing as I thought it appeared to have a GS Type 1 paired-up with the Safetran mechanical bell. Thankfully, I was right, but unfortunately, the Safetran bell here is in dire need of TLC, as it only clicks instead of ringing. Unfortunately, I suspect CSX will probably just replace it with an NEG e-bell rather than repairing it, but hopefully the maintainer for this part of the line repairs it rather than replacing it.
It appears that these signals were originally installed by the Seaboard System back in the 80s, but in the late-90s, the far signal was replaced with the current one. Since then, it doesn't appear that any major changes have occured here, thankfully, though IMHO it'd be a bit nicer if the Safetran mechanical bell still worked right. The GS Type 1 does still sound rather nice though, and hopefully it sticks around for a good while longer.