3rd Street, Lane, SC

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 7-27-24*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, a Safetran mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 1.5 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, 1 Safetran 12x24 inch light with a WCH 2nd Generation LED, a Safetran mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, RECO gate lights, and a RECO LED gate light.

After I caught M400, I continued on north to this crossing in Lane. After about 3 hours of waiting, I was able to get my fourth train of the day here: CSX M491 with an ES40DC leading an AC44CW and an SD70MAC for power.

This crossing is another nice one, featuring either a very-late 70s or very-early 80s SCL install at it, assuming the 80s-style Safetran gate mech on the far side is original (and not installed in the early-90s by CSX). Sometime between 2013 and 2022, CSX replaced the original Safetran 8 inch lights here with the current Safetran 12x24s, although they were incandescent originally. The crossing was largely left unchanged after this, but, sometime after April of this year, CSX upgraded this crossing to LED. Admittedly, I'm not entirely sure why they mixed in a lone WCH 2nd Gen on the closer signal during this upgrade, I guess they didn't have enough Leoteks?
Either way, it's nice to see that both of the original Safetran bells here still survive. They honestly sound quite nice as well, they kinda remind me of a faster version of the pair that used to exist at Renfroe Tower Road #1 on the Lineville Sub. Sadly, these ones are definitely starting to be on their way out as well, given how they noticeably struggle when the gates begin to descend. It's great to see a surviving pair of incandescent gate lights on the closer signal though, there don't seem to be very many left along this line. Hopefully CSX gives the bells here some needed TLC, but, either way, I'm glad I got this filmed when I did.