Van Wert Road, Villa Rica, GA

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 7-26-24*

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

After catching 156 in Bremen, I continued east to Villa Rica for a couple of crossings. This was the next one I went to, and I wound-up managing to beat 156 to this crossing with a few minutes to spare. As such, here we see NS 156 once again.

This crossing is a nice one, featuring a rare SOU double-mast install from the early-70s. It appears that, in the 1980s, NS replaced the lights here with Safetran 12x24s. Next, in the 2000s, both gate mechanisms here were replaced with the current Safetran ones, and the bell was replaced by the current Safetran Type 3 e-bell. Then, in 2012, the Safetran 12x24s here were replaced by the current Safetran 12x20s, which were incandescent at the time. Finally, in the mid-2010s, this crossing was given an LED upgrade and it thankfully has remained unchanged since.
I'm glad to see these rare SOU double-mast signals are still around, even if NS has pretty well modernized this crossing otherwise. I believe this is the last install of this kind on the NS East End District, so hopefully these'll remain around here for many more years to come. Either way, I'm glad I was able to film them when I did.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Georgia/R-Z/V ... /Van_Wert/