41st Street #2, Birmingham, AL

[freebrickproductions]

Southbound signal: 5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a Safetran Type-3 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.
Northbound signal: 5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a weak WCH mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.

Sounds like the WCH mechanical bell here is nearing the end of its life. It rang rather weakly. It's also the last mechanical bell on this stretch of the NS line through downtown Birmingham, as far as I'm aware.

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 4-3-19*

Signal on the left: 5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a weak-sounding WCH mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.
Signal on the right: 5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.

This crossing hasn't changed much since I last recorded it back in 2016, though interestingly enough, the Safetran Type 3 that had been here has since died and been replaced by the GS Type 3 here now. Honestly, I hadn't expected the Safetran Type 3 to die before the WCH bell, as the WCH bell here doesn't sound too great...
41st Street #1 can also be seen in the background.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Birmingham/41_2/

[freebrickproductions]

No major changes to this crossing as of 5-19-20:

[freebrickproductions]

No major changes here as of 11-19-21:

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 9-7-24*

Signal on the left: 5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.
Signal on the right: 5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a WCH mechanical bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.

After getting the lite power move filmed, we decided to head back across downtown Birmingham to my usual haunts in Birmingham. Here, we found that something was lined west off of the passenger main and onto the NA/West End, so Zach and I decided to set-up here and wait for whatever it is that's coming. Sure enough, after a bit of waiting, we were able to get our fourth train of the day: NS 75G with an SD70ACe leading an AC44C6M on the head-end and another AC44C6M working as the train's DPU! The train also had a rather friendly crew aboard, which was nice to see.

Sometime between 2022 and 2023, it appears, NS replaced both of the original SOU-era gate masts here with a pair of newer, much taller, ones. As a result, both of the Safetran gate mechanisms that had been here were replaced by the current Siemens ones. Thankfully, nothing else here appears to have changed since I last recorded this crossing back in 2021, with the closer signal thankfully still retaining its WCH mechanical bell. The gate lights on the closer signal are messed-up now, however, as the tip gate light now flashes with the base one. Not that it's the easiest to see, however, as the closer signal's wiring seems to be a bit messed-up. For whatever reason, all of the lights on the closer signal wired to the normally-closed (right-hand) side of the flasher relay aren't getting enough power, so these lights are all extremely dim as a result. The rest of the lights here work perfectly fine, however.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Birmingham/41_2/