Sandswitch Road, Hixson, TN

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 2-22-25*

Signal on the far left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.
Signal on the near left: 1 pair of Safetran 12x20 inch 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 catching 123, I hung around a bit at Lower Mill Road watching the wayside signal there, to see if NS would send anything north out of Chattanooga. After a bit of waiting, the signal upgraded for a northbound so I hopped on up to this crossing. A little bit more waiting later, and I was able to get my fourth train of the day here: NS 224 with a pair of AC44C6Ms for power. The leader on this train had a great P5 on it as well.

This crossing is a pretty neat one, as it features a trio of signals at it with an off-side auxiliary signal due to a curve on the north side of the crossing. The signals here appear to have originally been installed by the NS back in the late-90s, but, sometime between 2014 and 2020 (and most likely no later than 2015/2016), the bell here was replaced with the current GS Type 2 e-bell. Thankfully, no other major changes have occurred to this crossing since then. The closest signal here is rather dirty for some reason, including the bell on top of it. It is nice to see that this crossing's still fully incandescent, however. This angle's also a pretty nice one for northbound trains as well, IMHO.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Tennessee/G-Q ... andswitch/