Unsurprisingly, everything was still the same the following morning on 5-21-24:
Re: Mooresville Road, Belle Mina, AL
Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2024 11:10 am
by freebrickproductions
*originally recorded on 9-2-24*
Signal on the left: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a Safetran Type 3 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.
After catching W087 in Decatur, I decided to start making my way back towards Huntsville. As I did so, however, I heard something approaching on the Memphis East over my scanner, so I quickly hopped off of I-565 and raced on up to this crossing. Thankfully, I was able to beat the approaching train with about barely a to spare, and here I was able to catch my seventh train of the day: NS 733 with a BNSF ES44AC leading a BNSF SD70ACe on the head-end and another BNSF SD70ACe and an NS AC44C6M working as the train's DPUs. You can also hear the defect detector just west of this crossing reading-out after the train has passed.
Finally, after over two years since it was hit and bent, NS has *finally* replaced the signal on the far side of the crossing with a new one. Interestingly, this one is all LED and features a pair of side lights for the side street in that corner of the crossing. It appears the only piece of equipment to come from the previous signal was the Safetran Type 3 e-bell, everything else is brand new. This now makes two crossings on the Memphis East with a mix of incandescent and LED lights at it though.
Signal on the left: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a Safetran Type 3 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.
After catching I129, I continued east to this crossing in Belle Mina, since a recent-ish video from @CameraBryan had showed that NS had upgraded it since I was last here. Here, I was also able to get my second train of the day: NS 286 with an SD70ACe leading an ES44AC for power.
Since I was last here, NS upgraded the lights on the closer signal to LED. Nothing else appears to have changed to the crossing, however, and the closer signal even still retains its incandescent gate lights.