Selvidge Street, Dalton, GA

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 7-1-23*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs.
Signal on the far right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs and a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell.
Signal on the near right: 1 US&S 8 inch light and 1 US&S 14 inch "No Left Turn" light.

On July 1st, I went out to Dalton, GA, for a day of railfanning, as there are a good few older crossing signals around there I had wanted to record. This was the first one I went to, which, after a little under an hour of waiting, this northbound CSX coal train came rolling through with an ET44AH leading an AC44CW on the head-end, and an ES44AH working as the mid-train DPU. Kind of wanted a southbound here, but, as the CSX W&A Subdivision isn't exactly the busiest mainline out there, I was gonna take what I could get.

This crossing's a pretty nice one, being I believe the only gateless crossing left in Dalton. It appears that originally, there were a pair of gateless NC&StL-era signals here. I don't know what upgrades these signals would've had done to them and/or about when, as, sometime in the early-2000s (or maybe late-90s for the left-hand signal), CSX replaced both of the main gateless signals here with the current ones. Since then, the only major change here was an LED upgrade given to both of those gateless signals sometime between 2017 and 2019, with thankfully no major changes to the crossing since.
Amazingly, and quite thankfully, the original NC&StL "No Left Turn" signal still remains here, pretty much still fully original as well! Believe this is the only fully-original NC&StL signal left in service anywhere, as all of the other surviving NC&StL signals are either (at least partially) modernized, abandoned, or preserved. This signal also retains both the last incandescent lights and 8 inch light along the CSX W&A Subdivision, due to the LED upgrade that CSX did to the line back in early-2022, sadly yeeting all of the other remaining 8 inch (and incandescent) lights along the line. This signal is also why I picked the angle that I did.
I suspect the GS Type 2 here may be on its way out, as it was sounding fairly quiet and scratchy when I recorded this crossing. Surprisingly, despite how it sounded, the tone of it was able to carry fairly well towards the two crossings to the east when I heard it later. Quite strange.
Hopefully, the signals here remain fully unchanged for many more years to come, other than maybe the bell here being replaced at some point. Either way, this is definitely still a nice crossing, and I'm glad I was able to record it.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Georgia/A-F/Dalton/Selvidge/