Rucker Road, Murfreesboro, TN

[freebrickproductions]

Signal on the left: 3 pairs of WCH 8 inch lights and a WCH mechanical bell.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of WCH 8 inch lights.

This crossing is rather neat to see, as it has all 8 inch lights, is gateless, and has a pair of mechanical bells, despite the crossing being on a (normally) busy mainline! The crossing is also the closest you can get to a pure gateless early 1980s CSX install in this area, as only the bell on the right-hand signal is slightly newer.

This was also my first time seeing WCH 8 inch lights in action.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Tennessee/Murfreesboro/Rucker

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 5-28-24*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs and an NEG electronic bell.
Signal on the right: 3 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs and an NEG electronic bell.

After I caught M648 at Old Salem Road, I decided to head down to this crossing to see if I could rerecord it. Thankfully, the Murfreesboro Hold-out signal was already lined for a southbound, so I went ahead and got set-up here. After a little bit of waiting, I was able to catch this CSX I141 flying south through the crossing with a CM44AC leading an ES44AH for power.
You can hear the defect detector just south of this crossing reading-out after the train passes as well.

As you can see, this crossing has also changed quite a bit since I last recorded it back in 2016. In 2020 (IIRC), both of the WCH mechanical bells here were sadly replaced by the current NEG e-bells. Then, in 2022, the crossing lost its original WCH 8 inch lights when the crossing was given an LED upgrade, and the current LEDs and WCH 12x24s were installed as a result. It appears that at some point as well, CSX replaced the base on the far side with a newer one (though apparently reused the old cover). This newer base is already damaged, however, as it's cracked on two corners, causing the signal to lean to one side noticeably. I imagine CSX will fix that at some point eventually.
Thankfully, this crossing still retains its old gateless signals, which is nice to see. I'm definitely glad I got to record this crossing when I did back in 2016 though, when it was still fully 8 inch and had a WCH mechanical bell pair.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Tennessee/G-Q ... ro/Rucker/