Washington Street, Smyrna, TN

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 7-12-24*

Signal on the left: 4 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, an NEG electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 1 pair of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, an Safetran Type 2 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Pedestrian signal on the left: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, a Siemens gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Pedestrian signal on the far right: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, a Siemens gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Pedestrian signal on the near right: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, a Siemens gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.

After I caught the unexpected L443, I made my way up to this crossing right in downtown Smyrna for my next video. After a few minutes of waiting here, I was able to get my fourth train of the day: CSX I025 flying through Smyrna with a pair of ES44AHs pulling on the head-end, and CSX 1871 (the ACL heritage unit, a third ES44AH) working as the mid-train DPU! This was definitely quite a nice surprise to get.

This crossing is a pretty neat one, even if CSX has pretty well modernized it. It appears the signals here were originally installed by the L&N back in the 1970s. However, in the 1980s, CSX replaced the cantilever on the far side with a newer one, and replaced the bell here with a WCH mechanical bell. The crossing was left relatively unchanged for at least a decade, but, in the early-2000s, CSX replaced the mast lights on the closer signal with the current Safetran 12x24 inch heads (which were originally incandescent). Then, sometime between 2011 and 2013, the bell on the closer signal was replaced by the current Safetran Type 2 e-bell, and its gate mech was also replaced with an Invensys Rail one. After that, sometime between 2017 and 2018, CSX upgraded the Safetran 12x24s here to LED, though only those lights strangely.
The crossing was then left unchanged for a few more years, until 2023, when CSX upgraded this crossing, though in a much larger way this time around. This time, three new pedestrian gates were put in, presumably in preparation for some sidewalks here, and the far cantilever was replaced entirely with the current one, adding a second bell to this crossing in the process. The closer signal also had its original MI 12x20 inch overhead lights replaced with the current LED WCH 12x24s. Thankfully, the old L&N cantilever here survived regardless. Since then, however, the only change I've seen to this crossing was that the gate mast on the closer signal was replaced with a newer one, with the Invensys Rail gate mech here also being replaced with the current Siemens gate mech.
Admittedly, I do find it a bit amusing that CSX went ahead and installed new pedestrian signals here, as there still ain't any new sidewalks in here yet. Even funnier, where the sidewalks would be are completely fenced off on both sides, meaning that the trio of pedestrian signals here protect absolutely nothing! In CSX's defense, the fences have been here for years, having been put in by the City of Smyrna sometime between 2007 and 2009, and the ped signals going in here was likely a requirement in the funding that TDOT gave CSX to upgrade this crossing, if I had to guess. Still though, it definitely looks rather strange.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Tennessee/R-Z ... ashington/