Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Gen LEDs.
Signal on the right: Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Gen LEDs and a WCH mechanical bell.

Oddly enough, CSX recently installed the WCH m-bell here, replacing a General Signals e-bell that had been here. This now brings the total number of mechanical bells on the CSX S&NA North Sub UP to 5. You can see the post in which I discussed this in here: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=3132
This is also the only gateless crossing on the mainline for the S&NA North Sub to have a mechanical bell now.

*originally recorded on 9-27-20*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs and a WCH mechanical bell.

After work on September 27th, I went down to the Cullman area to get a crossing I forgot to document documented. When I got there, I saw this local freight finishing up working a customer next to the crossing, so I returned back north to this crossing to catch it. After a bit of waiting, we see this CSX local returning to the small yard here in Cullman with a GP38-3 for power.

As you can see, no major changes have occured to the signals here since I last recorded this crossing, thankfully. Sadly, although not seen in the video, new orange tubing has gone in around the crossing, so these classic L&N signal's days are sadly numbered. According to a police officer I encountered earlier, Cullman's planning to put in a quiet zone, at least in the downtown area, so that's probably why this crossing's getting upgraded. Given the fact that the WCH mechanical bell here was apparently installed as the pet project by the local signal maintainer, I'm hoping it gets re-used on the new signals, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Cullman/Arnold/

No major changes here as of 8-24-21. The classic L&N signals and WCH mechanical bell are still in place, along with the orange tubing around the crossing. Kinda surprised the new signals haven't gone in yet, TBH.

No changes here as of 6-8-22 either. Dunno if the planned upgrade is still going to go through, or if CSX has decided to delay it for one reason or another. The conduit is still in place though.

No major changes to the signals here as of 3-19-23 as well:


I will note, however, that the new conduit around the crossing has since vanished, seemingly having been buried. The relay case here has a bit of new conduit poking out of the side of it as well and running into the ground, so I suspect CSX may have just been rewiring these signals or something. Strange that it seemingly took them a few years to do it though.

Still the same as of 8-13-23, thankfully:

No changes yet to the equipment here as of 5-15-24. However, three of the four new foundations for the new signals here (along with the relay case and its foundation) are now in around this crossing, along with the conduit.

Only change here of note as of 5-23-24 was that the new relay case had had its platform delivered, but it, nor anything else, had been installed yet:

*originally recorded on 6-20-24*

New signal on the far left (non-functional): 1 pair of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, an NEG electronic bell, and a Siemens gate mechanism.
Old signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs.
New signal on the near left (non-functional): 1 pair of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series(?) LEDs and a Siemens gate mechanism.
New signal on the far right (non-functional): 1 pair of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series(?) LEDs and a Siemens gate mechanism.
Old signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs and a WCH mechanical bell.

On the afternoon of June 20th, I decided to head-out and check-up on a couple of upgrades on the S&NA North, before heading over to the Memphis East to try and shoot some trains. I was originally going to head for Thach first, but as I was heading west on I-565, I heard of an M521 heading south through Decatur over the scanner, so I decided to go south to Cullman instead. Thankfully, I was able to get ahead of them at N.E. Holmes Gap as I was getting onto US 31, and I continued on to this crossing in Cullman. After a bit of waiting, I was able to get my first train of the day: CSX M521 with an ES40DC leading an SD70MAC, another ES40DC, and an SD40-3 for power.

As you can see, since I last filmed this crossing, three of the four new signals here have been installed. While I was waiting for the train here, I chatted with one of the signal maintainers who was working in the new relay case, and was able to confirm that there are indeed going to be quad-gates here. Apparently Cullman is making this crossing a quiet zone, from what I understand they also want to make 8th and 9th Streets into quiet-zones as well but don't have the money for it yet. Regardless, I believe this will be the first quad-gate crossing in the state, which will be a bit neat at least. The foundation for the new entrance signal on this side has also been put in place, though the signal for it had yet to be installed. According to the signal maintainer I chatted with, they were going to have to remove the old relay case and signal on this side to install the new signal, essentially going-ahead and cutting over the signals here, the following week, so this is my last video of these classic gateless signals here at Arnold Street. Definitely glad I've gotten a good few videos of them over the years.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Cullman/Arnold/

Surprisingly, the old gateless signals were still in use here as of 7-7-24:


I suspect they'll be replaced soon though, as the new entrance signal and all four gate arms were laying nearby, awaiting installation.