Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Low Wattage LEDs, 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with Dialight Low Wattage LEDs, a Safetran mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, 1.5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with Dialight Low Wattage LEDs, 1 Safetran 12x20 inch light with a Dialight Ball LED, a dead Safetran mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/R-Z/T ... _J_White1/

Been some changes since I last visited this crossing. The overhead lights were upgraded to LED and CSX replaced the 12x24 inch light that was on the overhead with a 12x20 inch one for some reason.

*originally recorded on 12-2-19*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Low Wattage LEDs, 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with Dialight Low Wattage LEDs, a Safetran mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, 1.5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with Dialight Low Wattage LEDs, 1 Safetran 12x20 inch light with a Dialight Ball LED, an NEG electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, NEG LED gate lights, and a RECO LED gate light.

While waiting on A714 at Spring Street, I had heard another train stack up behind him, so I quickly made my way over to this crossing. The train turned out to be an eastbound CSX mixed freight with an ET44AH leading an ES40DC. The line seemingly went dead after this guy, so he wound-up being my last train of the day as I documented a few crossings around Waldo, AL, ate lunch, and went on home after this.

This crossing has had a couple of changes since I last recorded it back in 2015. Sometime within the past year or so (as I don't recall any changes when I swung by this crossing in 2018), CSX finally replaced the dead Safetran mechanical bell on the closer signal with a new NEG e-bell. Also, two of the gate lights on the closer signal were replaced with NEG LED gate lights for some reason. Thankfully, the Safetran mechanical bell on the far signal still works and still sounds pretty healthy.
One final change to this crossing, which can't really be seen on camera, is that the closer signal now has a new signal foundation in front of it. Talking with a signal maintainer who was here before the train showed up, I was able to confirm that the foundation is for a gateless mast, most likely to make the front mast lights more visible as the new utility pole located right in front of the signal is rather thick and almost completely blocks the mast lights at a distance.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/R-Z/T ... _J_White1/

*originally recorded on 5-11-22*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, 1.5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with Dialight Low Wattage LEDs, 1 Safetran 12x20 inch light with a Dialight Ball LED, an NEG electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, NEG LED gate lights, and a RECO LED gate light.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Low Wattage LEDs, 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with Dialight Low Wattage LEDs, a Safetran mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, NEG LED gate lights, and a RECO LED gate light.

After the northbound intermodal train came through, I figured the third northbound was running right behind it as well, so I left my camera rolling after it'd passed. Thankfully, I was correct, so I was finally able to get a proper video of this crossing on the side with the mechanical bell. Here we see another northbound intermodal train, this time with an ES44AH pulling on the head-end and an ET44AH working as the mid-train DPU. This train also had a friendly crew, which was nice.

As you can see, nothing too much has changed here since I last recorded this crossing. The empty foundation on the far side of the crossing is still there and unused, and is now filled with trash. Dunno why CSX installed it and why it's gone unused, but I'm guessing they thought the newer utility pole there might block the lights before realizing they didn't need to worry about that, as the signal on that side is a cantilever. The only change I noticed since my last video here is that the closer signal has also had two of its RECO LED gate lights replaced with NEG LEDs, with no other major changes having occurred here, thankfully.
Dunno if it was a thing on previous trips, but I noticed on this one that the remaining Safetran mechanical bell here is a bit loose, which is especially noticeable when the gates rise. Thankfully, it being loose doesn't seem to affect the sound at all, as it still sounds very healthy. Hopefully it remains around here for many more years to come, especially since it's now the last remaining mechanical bell on the Lineville Sub between Westover (assuming the WRRS bell there is still around) and Roanoke, along with being one of the last two mechanical bells in Talladega and the only remaining Safetran mechanical bell on the Lineville Sub in Alabama.
Also only just noticed on this day that one of the rear overhead lights on the far signal actually features a Dialight Ball LED, though it appears that it's been there since the overhead lights got upgraded to LED in 2015.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/R-Z/T ... _J_White1/