Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 10-17-18*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, 3 pairs of Harmon 12x24 inch lights, a RACO mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 6 pairs of Harmon 12x24 inch lights, a RACO mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

This crossing was another high-priority one for me, as it features something a bit rare: a pair of RACO bells! These bells and the masts they're mounted on undoubtedly date back to the original A&WP install here, though the right-hand gate mechanism was replaced sometime in the 1980s by the SBD, and CSX replaced the cantilevers, lights, and other gate mechanism in the late 1990s or early 2000s. However, the two RACO bells have managed to hang on, so that's very nice to see, though they do get a bit weak while ringing when the gates are lowering. The front mast lights on the far signal are also spread very far apart, due to a utility pole that's located right in front of the signal. I had also set-up my camera right underneath a tree, whose leaves kept getting blown into my shot. After a while, I just ripped off the offending leaves so they wouldn't keep disrupting my shot. US 29 is seen on the other side of the crossing

*originally recorded on 8-8-25*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, 3 pairs of Harmon 12x24 inch lights, a RACO mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 5.5 pairs of Harmon 12x24 inch lights, 1 WCH 12x24 inch light with a WCH 2nd Generation LED, an NEG electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, NEG LED gate lights, and a RECO LED gate light.

After catching the ballast train in LaGrange, we saw there was another southbound train about to head south on the CSX A&WP Subdivision, so we chased it on down to this crossing to try and get it. Thankfully, we beat it here with a bit of time to spare. Here we get to see my eighth and final train of the day: CSX M527 with an ES44AH leading an ES40DC for power and a friendly crew aboard.
After this, I documented a new e-bell (and a couple of new gate lights) at the 9th Street crossing to the north, along with a pair of brand new gated signals at Webb Road #1, before heading to the hotel in LaGrange for the night. There was also a family here who watched the train pass with me, as they had a young kid who wanted to see the train pass.

As you can see, some changes have occurred here since I last recorded this crossing back in 2018. The first of these happened sometime between 2019 and 2021, when CSX replaced the front-left mast light here with a reused WCH 12x24 inch light with a WCH 2nd Gen LED in it. I must say, it's definitely a bit odd that CSX didn't bother trying to upgrade the other light it was paired-up with to LED as well, and it certainly looks a bit strange while the crossing is active. Either way, the next upgrade occurred here sometime between 2021 and 2022, when the RACO mechanical bell on the closer signal here was sadly replaced with the current NEG e-bell. I suspect it must've died, as, admittedly, it hadn't been sounding too great when I last filmed this crossing back in 2018. Either way, sometime between 2022 and 2024, CSX replaced the 80s Safetran gate mech on the closer signal with the current Siemens one. Thankfully, aside from two of the gate lights on the closer signal being replaced with NEG LEDs at some point, nothing else too major appears to have changed here, which is nice to see. I'm especially glad to see that the far signal still retains its original RACO mechanical bell, and that it also still works, as I believe that's now the last one on the A&WP Sub. Hopefully it remains here for many more years to come, but, either way, I'm quite glad I got to rerecord this crossing when I did.

https://www.rxrsignals.com/Georgia/R-Z/West_Point/8/