26th Street #2, Tampa, FL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 6-23-25*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, an NEG electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a WRRS gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.

After catching the northbound Floridian shoving into Union Station, I hopped on over to this crossing and set-up to wait for them to depart. After a little while of waiting, I was able to catch Amtrak 40 leaving from Tampa on their way to Chicago.

This crossing is another great one, and I'm glad I was able to record it. The signals here were originally installed by the ACL, probably back in the 1950s or 1960s if I had to guess. However, in the late-70s, the SCL replaced the far signal with the current one. Then, in the late-90s, CSX replaced all of the lights here with the current Safetran 12x24s. It appears that, at about the same time or shortly after in the early-2000s, CSX also replaced the bell here with a General Signals e-bell. The crossing was then left unchanged for over a decade, but then sometime between 2015 and 2018, CSX replaced the bell here again, this time with an NEG electronic bell. The crossing then remained relatively unchanged for several more years, but, finally, sometime after 2023, the NEG e-bell here was replaced as well, though this time it was with a newer, and the current, NEG e-bell.
Thankfully, despite all of these upgrades, the classic ACL signal on my side of the crossing still remains around here, which is great to see. I'm especially glad to see that it still has its original WRRS gate mech as well, as now I've gotten both of the surviving WRRS gate mechs on the A Line filmed! It's nice to see that the late-70s SCL signal on the far side still retains its original Safetran gate mech as well too. Hopefully these older signals remain largely unchanged for many more years to come, but, either way, I'm quite glad I got to film them when I did. Admittedly, it doesn't appear anyone's ever filmed this crossing before, despite it having a WRRS gate mech still. I'm guessing folks trying to shoot the Ybor City crossings just prefer ones like 31st Street to the east, or one of the other older installs to the west, especially the ones that still have mechanical bells.