Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

Signal on the left: 4 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type-1 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.
Signal on the right: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type-1 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.

The e-bells here are really quiet for some reason.

Got a video from the other side on 7-9-19:


Turns out the GS Type 1 on the signal with three pairs of lights is dead, which it probably also was back when I recorded this last time, which would explain why the bells were so quiet.

*originally recorded on 6-14-21*

Signal on the left: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.
Signal on the right: 4 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.

Once I got out to the Shoals, I went over to this crossing since I knew the bells at it had been replaced. I documented the bells and then left to head west and check the nearby signals to see if anything was coming, when I heard a defect detector about 12 miles to my west go off. As such, I quickly hopped back over to this crossing and set-up, and a little while later, NS 16A came through with a pair of BNSF SD70ACes for power.

As you can see, since I last recorded this crossing a couple of years back, it appears that the remaining GS Type 1 here must've died, so NS replaced both with GS Type 3s. No other notable changes have occured here though, but it is a shame to see more GS Type 1s go.

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

*originally recorded on 4-12-25*

Signal on the left: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 4 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.

On the morning of April 12th, vtgrxrman and I were passing through the Shoals on our way to Germantown, TN, for a siren test, when we saw there was something lined west out of the Shoals on the NS Memphis District West End, so we decided to stop at this crossing and wait for it as we had the time. After a bit of waiting, we were able to catch our first train of the day: NS 285 with an NS AC44C6M leading a UP ES44AH for power.

As you can see, since I last filmed this crossing back in 2021, the only noticeable change here has been that NS replaced the gate lights on the far signal with the current NEG LEDs. However, this change ain't why I decided to go and reshoot this crossing, as we had noticed that the front-left light on the closer signal had been snapped-off! It appears that the maintainer for this part of the line had used duct tape to hold the snapped mounting arm in place until a replacement piece could be installed, despite it causing the light to sag noticeably, leading to a rather unusual look to the closer signal here at the time. Amazingly, it appears the wiring for the light is still intact, meaning that the light still very much worked! Think this is the first time I was able to record something like this, at least for a front light.

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