National Cemetery Road, Florence, SC

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 7-27-24*

Signal on the left: 1 pair of Harmon 8 inch lights, 3 pairs of Harmon 12x20 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, 1 pair of WABCO 8 inch lights, a WCH mechanical bell, a WABCO Model 75 gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 1 pair of WCH 8 inch lights, 3 pairs of Harmon 12x20 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, 1 pair of WABCO 8 inch lights, a WCH mechanical bell, a WABCO Model 75 gate mechanism, RECO LED gate lights, and an NEG LED gate light.

After catching M401, I continued north to Lake City, saw nothing was nearby, and went and got myself lunch. After lunch, I decided to continue north towards Florence, expecting to be waiting a while as the control point I passed showed nothing nearby either. However, as I was entering Florence, I saw what appeared to be a signal lined for a northbound train, so I decided to head for this crossing and get set-up. I thankfully didn't have to wait too long, as, a little while later, CSX M400 came through once again! No idea where this train was hiding between here in St. Stephen, AFAIK there ain't any yards between those two cities nor do I believe they'd work anywhere along there as well.

This crossing is another nice crossing, and I'm very glad I got to film it. The signals here are a late-70s SCL install that's still fairly original. It appears that in the 90s, CSX replaced the bell on the closer signal with the current WCH mechanical bell. Then, sometime between 2021 and 2024, CSX upgraded the overhead lights here to LED. Thankfully, no other major changes appear to have occurred to this crossing.
It's definitely nice to see that both of the WABCO Model 75 gate mechs are still in use here, as it doesn't seem like too many survive on the A Line these days. It's also nice to see that the far signal still retains its original 1st Gen WCH mechanical bell, though, strangely, it uses a 4 inch base on a 5 inch adapter. I also love seeing these older Harmon cantilevers still in use too, especially since they retain the classic set-up with the 12 inch overhead lights and 8 inch mast lights.
Strangely, and likely due to the utility poles here, rather than having the front mast lights on the cantilever mast, the closer signal here has them mounted to the gate mast, which looks a bit weird. The front mast lights are also slightly unusual, in that they're WCH heads rather than Harmon ones, no idea if this means that the front mast lights were replaced at some point or not though. Either way, this is still a great crossing, and I'm glad I got it filmed.