Oak Avenue, Greenwood, SC

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 12-15-21*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of WABCO 8 inch lights, 2 pairs of RACO 12x20 inch lights, a RACO mechanical bell, a RACO gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of RACO 8 inch lights, 2 pairs of RACO 12x20 inch lights, an NEG electronic bell, a RACO gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

On December 15th, I got up and got on out to the CSX Monroe Sub out here in Greenwood to see if anything was running. I decided to set-up here and wait at this crossing, and fortunately I didn't have to wait long before anything would come through. Quickly, I started hearing an approaching train, and, before too long, this southbound coal train came through the crossing with a pair of CM44AC rebuilds, one of which was in fresh YN3 paint, sandwiching an ES44AH. Unfortunately, the train stopped on the crossing with the rear of it only being about 10 or so cars away, and didn't seem like it'd be moving anytime soon, so I went ahead and left after a bit of waiting. As such, unfortunately I didn't get the deactivation of this crossing recorded, but do plan on coming back here in the near-ish future to hopefully correct that.

Despite the train stopping on it, this is still a very nice crossing and I'm glad I got it recorded, even if partially. The signals here appear to be a late-60s/very early-70s SCL install which haven't changed much since they were put-up. It appears that in the 70s (or early-80s), the mast lights on the far signal were replaced at some point with the current WABCO 8 inch lights. Then, sometime between 2012 and 2021, CSX replaced the original RACO bell on the closer signal with the current NEG e-bell. Thankfully, the crossing still remains the mostly unchanged otherwise, and features a rather excellent selection of RACO equipment. The closer signal has some RACO 8 inch lights on the mast, both signals use RACO 12x20 inch overhead lights, the far signal features a RACO mechanical bell, and, of course, the stars of the show here are a pair of RACO gate mechanisms! It seems like the Monroe Sub has a lot of RACO equipment left around Greenwood, including lights, bells, and gate mechanisms, as y'all'll see in my next few videos, so this was definitely a great area to start-off in SC with on this trip.

[freebrickproductions]

Got a full video of this crossing in action on 2-27-22: