Hamilton Avenue (US 27 Business) #2, Bremen, GA

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 7-26-24*

Signal on the far left #1: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the far left #2: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the near left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs and a dead Safetran Type 3 electronic bell.
Signal on the right #1: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right #2: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.

After catching A25 in Waco, I continued my way east, heading to this crossing in downtown Bremen next. After a while of waiting, I was able to get my second train of the day: NS 156 with an NS AC44C6M leading a BNSF ES44AC and an NS SD70ACe on the head-end, with another NS AC44C6M working as the train's DPU.

This crossing is quite an interesting one, being squeezed between two intersections and located right next to the diamond between the NS East End and Cedartown Districts. Although the Cedartown District was originally owned by the Central of Georgia while the East End was originally owned by the Southern Railway, I believe the SOU would've originally installed the first set of signals here back in about the 40s or 50s or so. Then, in the mid-70s, the SOU replaced most of the signals here with the current ones, but leaving the old GRS cantilever in place. In the early 1980s, however, the late-SOU would replace the lights on this cantilever with a set of Harmon 12x24s. Later on in that same decade, or in the early-1990s, NS would replace the lights on the signal on the right with a bell with some Safetran 12x24s. In the mid-90s, the gate mechs on the two signals on the right were replaced by the current Safetran ones.
Moving into the 2000s, NS would replace the lights on the bell-less signal on the right with more Safetran 12 inch lights, with most of these being 12x20s save for a lone 12x24. Then, sometime between 2008 and 2009, the WRRS (I believe) and Safetran mechanical bells on the left here were replaced by a pair of Safetran Type 3 e-bells. The remaining Safetran mechanical bell on the right would hold-on for a few years longer, but, in 2011, that bell too would finally die and get replaced by the current GS Type 2 e-bell. Sometime between 2011 and 2012 as well, the remaining 8 inch lights on the far side were replaced with Safetran 12x20s, with the one 24 inch background on the right-hand bell-less signal being swapped-out for another 20 inch one. The crossing then remained unchanged for a few more years, but between 2013 and early-2014, the rear lights on the signal on the right with a bell were swapped-out with some more Safetran 12x20s. Then, in 2015, NS upgraded this crossing to LED, along with the rest of the crossings on the East End in Georgia, replacing all of the remaining 12x24s with 12x20s in the process. Finally, sometime after November of 2023, the Safetran Type 3 on the far side died and was replaced by the current GS Type 3 e-bell. Unfortunately, the remaining Safetran Type 3 e-bell here has also died, though the signal maintainers who were here at the time are aware of the dead bell so I imagine it'll soon be replaced, if it hasn't been already.
Thankfully, despite the various upgrades here over the years, the old SOU signals still stand, with all four of the mid-70s gated mast signals still being in use. The far pair even still still retain their original Safetran gate mechs, which are nice to see. Of course, the star of the show here is easily the classic GRS cantilever here, which is why I set-up for the angle that I did here. It's great to see that this classic signal is still here after all these years, and hopefully it'll continue to serve for many more years to come. It's definitely a bit of an oddball though, with the design of the arm. Normally on cantilevers of this design, the mast is a bit taller and the supports for the arm extend up from said arm, but, on this one, the supports are between the arms. Not helping its oddball appearance is how closely spaced the lights on it are. All in all, however, this is a rather cool crossing and I'm glad I finally got to record it.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Georgia/A-F/Bremen/Hamilton2/