Owen Circle, Heflin, AL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 9-28-24*

Signal on the left: 4 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.

After I caught 346 in Choccolocco, I decided to try and chase it east over to Heflin, as I wanted to try and get this crossing in action as well. Thankfully, I was able to beat it here with plenty of time to spare, and here we get to see NS 346 for the third and final time on this day.

This crossing is another nice one, featuring a pair of modernized SOU signals at it. The signals here were originally installed by the Southern Railway back in the late-70s, and presumably remained largely unchanged for a while after. In the early-2000s, however, all of the lights here were replaced with the current Safetran 12x20s, the bell(s) here were replaced by a pair of GS Type 2s, and the closer signal had its gate mech replaced with the current Safetran one. The crossing equipment here then remained almost entirely unchanged, until sometime after 2022, when NS replaced the bell on the far signal with the current GS Type 3. Thankfully, despite these upgrade, the far signal does still retain its original late-70s Safetran gate mech, which is rather nice to see.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/G-Q/Heflin/Owen/