Democrat Road, Memphis, TN

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 10-15-25*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Harmon 12x20 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs, 2 pairs of WABCO 12x20 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs, 1 pair of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a US&S Model 95 gate mechanism, RECO LED gate lights, and an NEG LED gate light.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Harmon 12x20 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs, 3 pairs of WABCO 12x20 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a US&S Model 95 gate mechanism, a RECO LED gate light, and NEG LED gate lights.

After catching the northbound mixed freight at Castalia Street, I hopped on down to this crossing to see about recording it next. After a while of waiting, I was able to catch my second train of the day: CSX Y203 heading to interchange with BNSF with a pair of CSX ES40DCs for power.

This crossing is another nice one, featuring a pair of older Harmon cantilevers that feel a bit more like something you'd see on a BNSF crossing out in California than here in the southeast, IMHO. The signals here appear to have been a late-70s Frisco install or early-80s BN install, and are still largely original. Admittedly, I'm not sure if the WABCO light heads here (and the US&S base on the closer signal's gate mast) are from the Frisco or not. Regardless, in the mid-90s, it appears, BN replaced the far signal's gate mast was replaced with the current one. Then, in the late-90s or 2000s, BNSF replaced the gate mechanisms here with the current US&S Model 95s. At about the same time or shortly after, also in the 2000s, BNSF replaced the bell on the closer signal with the current GS Type 2 e-bell. After that, sometime between 2011 and 2013, BNSF upgraded this crossing to LED. Finally, sometime between 2015 and 2016, BNSF installed the current GS Type 3 e-bell on the far signal, which had been bell-less before.
Thankfully, since then, nothing else has changed to this crossing, which is nice to see. Nice to film these old Harmon cantilevers finally, especially since they appear to still retain most of their original light heads, even if the crossing's been pretty well modernized. I will admit, the signals here honestly kinda remind me of some of the ATSF installs MobileRailSpotterRxR has filmed out in California, probably due to how well modernized they are. Not sure why there's a mix of WABCO and Harmon heads here, admittedly, but I certainly ain't gonna complain either way. Hopefully these older signals remain here for many more years to come, but, either way, I'm glad I got to film this crossing when I did.