Hawthorne Street #2, Dalton, GA

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 7-1-23*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 1 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, an Invensys Rail gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.

The northbound NS grain(?) train I saw down in Carbondale went into the siding just north of there, so I figured it was gonna be meeting a southbound. As I didn't know where said southbound was, I just decided to continue back north to this crossing. At Industrial Boulevard, I wound-up seeing the southbound, which was NS 732 with the "Barcode Unit" leading, but I chose not to record it as it was already right on top of me and I wouldn't be able to get set-up in time, so I just snapped a few photos of the head-end power instead. After doing that, I continued on up to this crossing where, after a little bit of waiting, the northbound grain(?) I'd seen earlier came through.

This crossing is another rather nice one, even with the inconvenient utility pole that partially blocks the cantilever here. The signals here appear to have originally been a mid-70s SOU install, but, in the 1980s, the mast lights here were replaced with the current Safetran 12x24s. Then, in the late-90s, the far signal was replaced entirely with the current one. Finally, sometime between 2011 and 2013, the cantilever's gate mast was replaced with the current one, with the current Invensys Rail gate mechanism replacing the original Safetran one at the same time.
Thankfully, since then, no major changes appear to have occurred to this crossing. The cantilever signal here still retains its original overhead lights, while the mast signal still has its original GS Type 1 e-bell, both of which are great to see. The crossing even still has mostly diagonally-striped gate arms, with only the tip section of the closer one featuring any vertical striping, which is also nice to see. Hopefully these signals continue to remain unchanged for many more years to come, but, either way, I'm glad I got to film them when I did.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Georgia/A-F/D ... awthrone2/