Viera Boulevard, Viera, FL

[freebrickproductions]

Note: all crossing equipment listed is relative to the angle of the first video. Given how complex this crossing was, I didn't feel like trying to re-write it for this post for both angles.

*originally recorded on 1-21-22*

Pedestrian signal on the far left: 1 pair of WCH 12x20 inch lights with Leotek IL Series LEDs, 1 pair of WCH 12x20 inch lights with RSI LEDs, a WCH gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the left: 3 pairs of WCH 12x20 inch lights with RSI LEDs, 2 pairs of Modern Industries 12x24 inch lights with RSI LEDs, a WCH mechanical bell, a WCH gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the far right (non-functional): 1 pair of bagged lights (I believe WCH 12x24 inch with Leotek IL Series LEDs), a General Signals electronic bell, a WCH gate mechanism (bagged).
Pedestrian signal on the far right: 2 pairs of WCH 12x20 inch lights with RSI LEDs, a WCH gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Pedestrian signal on the near left: 2 pairs of WCH 12x20 inch lights with RSI LEDs, a WCH gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Median signal: 2 pairs of WCH 12x20 inch lights with RSI LEDs, a WCH mechanical bell, a WCH gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the near right: 3 pairs of WCH 12x20 inch lights with RSI LEDs, 3 pairs of Modern Industries 12x24 inch lights with RSI LEDs, a WCH mechanical bell, a WCH gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Pedestrian signal on the near right: 2 pairs of WCH 12x20 inch lights with RSI LEDs, a WCH gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.

On January 21st, my mom and I got on up and finished helping load up my sister's stuff into the three cars we were driving back (my sister and her girlfriend drove together while my mom drove back-up the car my sister had driven down). On my way back-up to Huntsville though, I happened to see an FEC local freight sitting in the siding just south of this crossing, so I quickly pulled-off here and set-up. After a little while of waiting here, FEC 204 wound-up coming through this crossing with a pair of their ES44C4s sandwiching an LNG tender. This was actually my first time catching the FEC, so this was nice to get.
After FEC 204 came through, the local freight was lined out of the siding, so I decided to set-up on the eastern side of the crossing as I wanted to see the Leotek IL Series LEDs in action. Here we see the local freight heading north through the crossing, with a GP40-2 running lite (and a nice RS3L on it). The train stopped on the north side of the crossing to pick-up a few cars and I guess head back south, but I continued on to Cordele, GA, for the night after this. This was also my last video from this little excursion, as I didn't record anything the following day on my way back up to Huntsville.
After the train passed in both videos, you can hear the defect detector next to the crossing going off.

This crossing is a pretty nice one. The signals here are some older FEC signals, I believe installed back in the 1980s or 1990s, and seem to be largely original. A few of the lights here were replaced at some point with slightly newer WCH 12x20s, including both pairs of lights on the cantilever masts and the front-right light on the median signal. At some point in the early 2010s, the FEC upgraded this crossing entirely to LED, though one of the pedestrian signals here later had the LEDs in its front pair of mast lights replaced with the current pair of Leotek IL Series LEDs, first time I'd ever seen any of those in person. One of those LEDs has also fallen into the head, I'm guessing the lens tabs in that light had just simply failed.
All three of the original(?) WCH mechanical bells are still here though, and sound quite nice together. Mechanical bell trios aren't exactly common up in Alabama, so I'm glad I was able to get this recorded.
As you can see as well, this crossing is in the process of being double-tracked and upgraded for the Brightline project on the southern part of the FEC going into Miami. It appears that at least the signals on the eastern half of the crossing are planned to be replaced, and a new exit signal has gone-up on that side of the crossing (though has yet to be activated). I also found another new signal, a relay case, and a few new foundations (both installed and waiting to be installed) around this crossing as well. The individual ped signals in all four corners of the crossing were rather neat to see as well, especially given how rare they are up in my area. All in all, this was a rather neat crossing and I'm glad I got to record it.