Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 2-26-18*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights and a Safetran mechanical bell.

This crossing is certainly an odd one.

First off, the signal on the left is pretty normal other than the fact that one of the rear lights is twisted to the side to be used as a side light, and it has an old weatherhead on top of it (more on that later) along with the junction box on it being mounted upside down.

The right-hand signal is especially odd, as not only are both rear lights twisted to be used as sidelights, but the lights are also mounted above the crossbuck due to there not being any room for the crossbuck above the lights because the signal is unusually short! For some reason, the signal uses a 5 inch mast as well despite no evidence of there ever being a gate mounted to it, though I suspect that it was done so that NS could run the wiring into the signal through the top of the base rather than the bottom.

On the far side of the crossing are two tall masts with 5 inch RACO bases that carry the wire from the power connection to the relay case and then another from the relay case to the left-hand signal, which is why it has that weatherhead (and might be why the junction box is on upside down).

Also, just off screen on the near-left corner of the crossing is another foundation with the remains of a 5 inch base on it. I suspect that it would've been for another tall mast that would've carried a power line over the tracks which would've then run to the signal on the right-hand side of the crossing, which I suspect NS decided to get rid of and is why the right-hand signal has a newer Safetran 5 inch base with the wiring going in through the top. I suspect that when the original signals were put in, whomever installed them didn't want to have to shut-down this road as it not only carries two US routes, but is one of two major east/west roads through Gadsden, which is the reason why we have this mess.

Either way, the crossing is certainly a head-scratcher, though it does have older Safetran 12 inch lights and a Safetran mechanical bell, which is nice.
This crossing is also on the last portion of the former TAG line between Chattanooga, TN and Gadsden, AL, and is one of five signalized crossings on this branch line. The other three are closer to downtown Gadsden, but rarely see any use these days as NS will only rarely pull up to (and even more rarely, just past) the westernmost one on 12th Street. One of the crossings actually features a pair of signals from the early 2000s, so that part of the line had to have gotten regular use up until about the mid 2000s. However, oddly enough, one of the original General Signals e-bells on that crossing was replaced with a Safetran Type 3 sometime after 2008, even though no customers remained on that part of the line by then.

Several people can also be seen ignoring the signals when they activate both times, including an ambulance that decided to risk it while the end of the train was crossing!

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/Gadsden/Meighan/