Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a General Signals Type 1 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a General Signals Type 1 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

I went to the CSX S&NA North Sub so I could get this crossing. The reason why I wanted to record this crossing was because it's a rather nice late-90s CSX install (apart from the LED upgrades) that still has a pair of GS Type 1s at it!

Also, Wilhites, AL, is another small "town" in the middle of nowhere that really isn't even a town at all. Apart from an abandoned house north of the crossing, and a small memorial for a guy who died on the crossing back in 2007 right behind my camera, what you're seeing here is pretty much all there is to the "town", just a road (that isn't even a highway!), a railroad crossing, and a bridge. However, unlike Bass, AL, this "town" isn't very secluded, being just off of US 31 just south of where US 31 intersects I-65 in southern Morgan County, AL. In fact, I was even able to get a good cell-reception here!

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/Wilhites/Wilhite/

*originally recorded on 8-26-21*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a General Signals Type 1 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a General Signals Type 1 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

After catching Q514 here, I continued waiting, and sure enough, after a little while of waiting, Q647 eventually showed-up. It was definitely worth the wait, though, as it had a YN2 AC44CW leading a YN3b AC44CW! However, as the train was probably about a good two miles long, it had to stop and get a pusher attached to the rear in order to be able to make it over Holmes Gap. While it was stopped though, another train came rolling through: a northbound intermodal train with a pair of YN2 AC44CWs for power! Soon, Q647 started to get moving again, but thankfully the northbound intermodal cleared before Q647 did. A few minutes after the intermodal cleared though, Q647's rear came through, with a manned YN3 ES44AH helping shove the train across Holmes Gap. All in all, this was a great catch and I'm glad I was able to record it. These trains were, without a doubt, easily my catch of the day.

As you can see, nothing too major has changed at this crossing since I last recorded it. That being said though, both gate arms were replaced and the far signal now has NEG LED gate lights on it. The closer one retained is RECO LEDs, but they got wired-up wrong and now all flash together as a result. Thankfully, both GS Type 1s still remain here, and I hope they continue to do so for a good while longer. All in all, despite being my longest video from August 26th, it's easily my favorite of them.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/R-Z/Wilhites/Wilhite/

*originally recorded on 2-25-23*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a General Signals Type 1 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a General Signals Type 1 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, NEG LED gate lights, and a RECO LED gate light.

Yesterday, I went out with a friend to check-out the remains of the CSX Americus Subdivision again. On the way down, we saw there was a southbound lined through Holmes Gap and we had been hearing something approaching on the scanner, so we decided to stop here real fast and see what was coming. After a little bit of waiting, we caught this southbound mixed freight, which stopped for a bit to get the Lacon Pusher added to the rear of it. Anyways, here we see this train come through with an ES44AH pulling on the head-end, another ES44AH working as the unmanned mid-train DPU, and a CM44AC working as the manned DPU on the rear. Think this is the first time I've ever caught a train with two different DPUs on it, even if one was a manned pusher.

Since I was last at this crossing, CSX has replaced most of the gate lights on the closer signal with NEG LEDs. Thankfully, nothing else has changed to this crossing, it appears, and the new gate lights seem to be wired properly now.
Glad to see the GS Type 1 pair is still here though, always a nice one to see IMHO.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/R-Z/Wilhites/Wilhite/

No major changes to this crossing as of 7-15-24:


Unfortunately, however, the closer signal's GS Type 1 e-bell here has died.

No changes here as of 5-8-25: