Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 7-18-23*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, and a non-functional Siemens gate mechanism.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights and 1 pair of Safetran 12x20 inch lights.

On July 18th, having heard from another railfan that NS was gonna be replacing the signals here on this day the night prior, I went out to see what was running on the Memphis East. This was the first train I caught on this day: NS 287 (IIRC) with a pair of AC44C6Ms for power.

As you can see, NS had just replaced the far signal here with one of the new gated signals the morning this was filmed. The workers had just gotten back from lunch and were finishing-up the installation of that signal, having temporarily hooked it into the old relay case here, when the train came through, so it was a very fresh install at the time. One guy was sitting at the base with an umbrella propped-up to give him shade, which the wind from the passing train caused to fold inside out. Kind of impressed that they remained sat there, given how close the train was to them and how fast it was going.
According to one of the workers I spoke with, the closer signal would be due to be replaced the following morning.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/G-Q/Paint_Rock/AL65/

*originally recorded on 7-23-23*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, and a non-functional Siemens gate mechanism.
Signal on the right: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a non-functional General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, and a non-functional Siemens gate mechanism.

After catching 101 here, I saw it was going into the siding at Asa to meet NS 286, so I returned back over to this crossing and set back-up. After a bit of waiting, NS 286 came flying through with an AC44C6M leading an SD70ACe for power.

A few days prior, NS had installed the closer signal here, along with the new relay case for the crossing. As the new relay case had yet to be cut-over, the signals were temporarily wired into the old one, which you might be able to notice if you look closely at their bases. As such, at the time, the closer signal's bell did not work, but I'm not too surprised by that as the old wiring likely didn't include any for a bell on this side.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/G-Q/Paint_Rock/AL65/

*originally recorded on 8-18-23*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

On August 18th, having seen that NS had finally finished the upgrade at AL 65, I went out to go get that shot. After waiting here for over four hours, I was finally able to get my first train of the day: NS 283 with a trio of BNSF ES44C4s leading a "fakebonnet" BNSF Dash-9, elephant-style, for power!

As you can see, the upgrade has been finished here and the new signals are now fully functional. The gate arms NS installed feature RECO LED gate lights on them, and, as the new relay case was cut-over, both bells here now work. Will miss the old gateless signals here, especially the WCH bell, but, for now, these are the newest signals on the Memphis East.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/G-Q/Paint_Rock/AL65/

No changes here as of 5-15-24:

Still the same as of 11-6-24:

No changes here as of 6-29-25 either: