West Raines Road, Memphis, TN

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 3-18-26*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights and 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs, and a high-pitched Safetran Type 3 electronic bell.

After catching that short little mixed freight, vtgrxrman and I made our way over to Memphis to catch their weekly siren test. As we had a bit of time to spare, we decided to head over to this crossing and see if we could get anything. Thankfully, after a bit of waiting, we were able to catch our seventh train of the day: a northbound CN grain train with a BNSF ES44C4 leading a BNSF ES44AC and a CN Dash-9 for power. Unfortunately, the train wound-up stopping on this crossing for a while while they waited to get into CN's yard here in Memphis, but eventually they got moving and Harris and I were able to make it to the siren we wanted to get here in Memphis with plenty of time to spare after this.

This crossing is a pretty nice one, and is also the first gateless crossing I've filmed on the CN as a bit of a fun fact. It appears that the signals here were installed in the 1980s by the IC, but, in the mid-2000s, CN upgraded the overhead lights here to LED. Then, sometime between 2008 and 2011, the original Safetran mechanical bell here was replaced with a WCH mechanical bell. After that, sometime between 2016 and 2019, CN replaced the bell here once again, this time with the current Safetran Type 3 e-bell. Finally, sometime after EthantheRailfanner visited here in 2021 and 2025, CN replaced the front-left mast light on the far signal with a brand new incandescent Safetran 12x24 inch light.
Thankfully, this crossing still retains its incandescent mast lights, which is nice to see. This crossing is one of at least two crossings I'm aware of on the CN Shelby Subdivision with incandescent lights, with the other that I'm aware of being Milton Avenue on the other side of Memphis (it turns-out that the Fulton Sub ends on the north side of Memphis where the Memphis Subdivision splits off to head to downtown Memphis, and this also means that the Fulton Sub also only has five Hybrid bells for those keeping track). I will admit, I was very much not expecting the Safetran Type 3 here to be a high-tone one, but I certainly ain't gonna complain! This means I've now filmed five different crossings with high-tone Safetran Type 3s, and none of them have been gated so far, amusingly. Hopefully this crossing remains unchanged for many more years to come, but, either way, I'm quite glad I got to record it when I did.

https://www.rxrsignals.com/Tennessee/G- ... /W_Raines/