CR 49, Beaverton, AL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 3-21-21*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights and a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights.

After catching the autorack train, I went back east to Beaverton to wait for whatever came next since it has a nice gateless crossing that's located the south end of Beaverton Siding along the line. While waiting here, the signals at the siding lit-up for another northbound, so I tried to head down to Winfield to catch it (and then maybe chase it back up here), but sadly, the train just barely beat me to the crossing I tried to get it at. As such, I turned back around and was able to successfully chase it back up to this crossing, where we see this northbound empty coal train come flying through with a pair of H3 SD70ACes on the head-end, and an H2 SD70MAC, an H2 AC44CW, and another H3 SD70ACe working as the rear-end DPUs! Certainly quite a nice catch, IMHO!

This crossing is also another pretty nice one. The far signal appears to be an old Frisco install from the 1970s, though I'm not entirely sure if the lights on it are original or not, while the closer signal is a newer a replacement signal from the Burlington Northern or early BNSF, not entirely sure which. Either way, this is still a pretty nice little gateless crossing, and the only signalized crossing in Beaverton, so I'm glad I got it recorded.

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 5-11-24*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs and a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs and a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell.

After we caught the northbound intermodal train, Zac and I grabbed some lunch at a nearby Subway before returning back to Beaverton to try and get a train there. When we got there, we saw a southbound was already lined through the siding there, and, after just a bit more waiting, we were able to catch our fourth, and best, train of the day: a southbound loaded coal train with a BNSF ET44ACH (with a K5HLA) leading a BNSF ES44ACH on the head-end, and a BNSF SD70ACe and an MRL SD70ACe working as the DPUs!
Definitely nice seeing another MRL ACe again, I'd heard they'd started roaming the rest of BNSF's system earlier this year after they took over the MRL at the start of the year. In fact, a few have even recently gone through on the Scherer and TVA coals on the Memphis East, though I hadn't had a chance to catch any of them yet. Sadly, most of them most likely won't lead due to being thundercabs, but there are a few newer ones (IIRC) that have the isolated cabs so I suppose there is a chance one of those could lead.

Sometime after my last video here, either later-on in 2021 or in 2022, BNSF upgraded this crossing with a pair of new gateless signals. I'm not entirely sure why the older gateless signals here were replaced, but I'm definitely glad I caught them when I did. Nothing appears to have changed to this crossing since these signals were installed, however.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Beaverton/CR49/