Waddell Road, Wade Hampton, SC

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 12-23-21*

Signal on the left: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a Safetran mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.
Signal on the right: 5 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.

After catching NS 154, I went over to this crossing to try and get it filmed. After about an hour and a half of waiting (including me running off to get some food and use the bathroom partway through), I finally heard something approaching just as the sun was beginning to set. The last train I caught on this day, and my final train of the trip, was this short westbound NS intermodal train, I believe NS 237(?), with a pair of AC44C6Ms sandwiching an ES44DC.

This crossing is a rather nice one, and I'm glad I was able to end my trip off with it. The crossing here features what was originally a mid-70s SOU double-mast install, it appears. In the 1980s, however, NS appears to have given it a bit of an overhaul, replacing the far signal's light mast with the current one with the current Safetran 12x24s (though the 1st Gen Safetran mechanical bell was thankfully re-used onto it), while the closer signal was replaced entirely with the current Safetran cantilever (which still has its original Safetran 12x24 inch lights). Interestingly enough, though, the cantilever signal had the old mid-70s Safetran gate mech re-used onto its gate mast, which is nice to see.
Since then, no major changes appear to have occurred here outside of the far signal's gate mast having an extension fitted onto it, I believe in the 2000s. This is a rather nice crossing, and I'm certainly glad I got to end my trip off with it. Glad to hear the 1st Gen Safetran bell still sounds rather healthy as well, hopefully no major changes occur to this crossing for a good while yet. As you can see, one of the overhead lights on the cantilever signal was also out when I was here, though I'd imagine NS has since fixed it.
On the far side of the intersection just beyond the crossing, you can see the Belvue Road crossing on the CSX Belton Subdivision. That crossing features a still mostly-original SBD Safetran install from the 80s (I'm guessing done around the same time as this crossing's upgrade), but at some point between 2017 and 2021, CSX replaced two of the three original Safetran mechanical bells on it with NEG e-bells.