Seminary Avenue (IL 54), Onarga, IL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 11-20-25*

Signal on the left: 5 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Safetran Fading LEDs, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 5 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Safetran Fading LEDs, a WRRS mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

After catching the northbound mixed freight, I got on the road to head for Milwaukee, WI, for Ponyville Ciderfest. However, as I was heading into Onarga, I saw that there was a southbound lined through the town, so I decided to set-up and see if I couldn't get one more train before it got too dark. Thankfully, a little bit after sunset, I was able to catch my sixth and final train of the day: a southbound CN autorack train with a lone IC SD70, still wearing its original "Death Star" paint, pulling it! Definitely another great catch on this day, and easily tied for my best train of the day as well. After ending off with this great catch, I got back on the road and made my way up to Milwaukee, WI, for the weekend.

This crossing is another great one, and I'm glad I got to record it. It appears that these signals were originally installed in the 1970s by the ICG, and have been fairly modernized over the years. I will admit, I suspect these signals replaced some older WRRS ones with the bell being reused onto the closer signal, but it's also just as possible that the bell was installed with the signals here. Either way, in the 1980s, almost all of the lights here were replaced with the current Safetran 12x24s by the IC, which were originally incandescent. Thankfully, for some reason, the IC left the overhead lights on the closer signal alone, though they did swap-out the backgrounds for 12x24 inch ones. Then, in the mid-90s, the IC replaced both gate masts here with the current ones, though the rear lights were remounted onto the current gate masts. Finally, sometime in the early-2000s, CN upgraded this crossing to LED. Thankfully, since then, nothing else too major appears to have changed to this crossing. It's nice to see that the closer signal still retains its original overhead 12 inch Safetran light heads from the 1970s, even if they are now 12x24 inch and LED. I'm especially glad to see that the WRRS mechanical bell is still here as well and still going decently strong too! I believe this is now the last WRRS bell on the Chicago Sub, and the northernmost WRRS bell on the former IC main between Chicago and New Orleans, so hopefully this crossing remains entirely unchanged for many more years to come. Either way, I'm glad I got to record this crossing when I did, especially with another IC-painted locomotive hauling a train through it, and now I've recorded the northernmost and southernmost remaining CN-owned WRRS bells on the former IC main!

https://www.rxrsignals.com/Illinois/L-Q/Onarga/54/