7th Street, Opelika, AL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 7-3-24*

Signal on the left: 4 pairs of Modern Industries 12x24 inch lights and a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell.
Signal on the right: 4 pairs of Modern Industries 12x24 inch lights and a General Signals Type 1 electronic bell.

After catching the Autauga County siren test, I made my way over to Opelika for Lee County's siren test. However, due to the partly cloudy skies, that test wound-up being cancelled so I decided to head out to downtown Opelika instead, and wait for a train before snagging lunch. After a little bit of waiting, I was able to catch my third and final train of the day, which was probably also my best catch of the day: CSX L833 with a YN2 AC44CW for power pulling two cars! After this, I got lunch here in Opelika before heading back over to Montgomery for that siren test.

This crossing is a very nice one, and I'm glad I got to finally record it. Originally, this crossing had an old gateless US&S mast signal install (complete with a US&S Teardrop bell), but, in the 1980s, the Seaboard System replaced it with the current pair of gateless cantilevers. Then, in the late-90s/2000s, CSX replaced both of the bells here with the current GS e-bells, I assume with the closer signal having its bell replaced first. Thankfully, since then, literally nothing else has changed to this crossing, which is very nice to see.
The closer cantilever here is very large, and, IMHO, is probably a bit oversized for the crossing. It does look rather cool though, which is why I prioritized it over the neighboring 8th Street crossing. It seems both of the gateless crossings on the A&WP Sub in downtown Opelika still have GS Type 1/2 pairs at this, which is rather nice to see, I'll have to see about filming 8th Street at some point.
Hopefully this one continues to remain largely unchanged for many more years to come. Either way, I'm glad to have finally been able to film this nice crossing in action.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/G-Q/Opelika/7/