Carraway Street, Bostwick, FL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 6-26-25*

Signal on the left: 3 pairs of WABCO 12x20 inch lights, an NEG electronic bell, a WABCO Model 75 gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of WABCO 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

After catching the Silver Meteor in Palatka, we got back on the road and continued on our way up towards Green Cove Springs to try and get the Auto Train. However, on our way north on US 17, we quickly caught back-up with the Silver Meteor, who were moving rather slow as they went north. As such, I decided to see if I could beat them to this crossing in Bostwick, and, thankfully, I was able to do so with a couple of minutes to spare! Here we get to see Amtrak 98 once again on this day, rolling past as they continue north towards Jacksonville.

This crossing is another pretty nice one, featuring a pair of early-SBD signals from the early-80s at it. It appears that, in the 1990s, CSX replaced the bell on the far signal with a WCH mechanical bell. Then, sometime in the early-2000s, CSX replaced the bell on the closer signal with the current GS Type 2 e-bell. After that, the crossing remained largely unchanged for well over a decade, but, finally, sometime between 2019 and 2024, the far signal once again had its bell replaced with the current NEG e-bell. At about the same time, CSX also replaced the gate mech on the closer signal with the current Siemens one. Thankfully, since then, nothing else appears to have changed to this crossing.
I'm quite glad to see that both signals here still retain all of their original WABCO 12x20s, and that all of them are still fully incandescent. The backgrounds on them are also pretty well faded, which honestly look rather nice. It's also nice to see that the far signal still retains its original WABCO gate mech too. Hopefully all of this older equipment remains here for many more years to come, but, either way, I'm glad I got the opportunity to film this crossing when I did.
It sounds like the next crossing north also has a GS Type 1 e-bell at it, along with a rather sick NEG e-bell.