Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 3-27-19*

Signal on the left: 4 pairs of Harmon 12x20 inch lights, 1 pair of WCH 12x20 inch lights, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 4 pairs of Harmon 12x20 inch lights, 1 pair of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a Safetran mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

This crossing is another very nice one, and I'm quite glad to have been able to record this as well. It's an old SCL install that, aside from the gates, gate lights, signage, and WCH lights on the far signal, is entirely original. The far signal had the original Safetran 12x24 inch rear mast lights replaced with the current WCH 12x20s a between 2011 and 2012. While they were originally straight, by 2015 they had somehow gotten angled away from the crossing, and this has never been fixed by the ATN in the years since. When I first visited this crossing in 2016, the gate lights appear to have been all RECO incandescents and the right-hand signal had an old, fading gate arm. However, between then and now the right-hand signal's gate arm was replaced (by a new diagonally-striped one, oddly enough) and the gate lights were replaced with LED ones. Interestingly enough, the newer gate arm on the signal features an unused mount for a gate stabilizer, which the older one lacked, meaning that it was likely re-used from somewhere. The Safetran mechanical bell here still works (fortunately), but sounds rather flat-ish, almost like a Safetran Hybrid bell that's starting to die. Either way though, I'm glad to have been able to record all three of the remaining Safetran mechanical bells on the ATN. 41st Street #2 can also be seen in the background.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Birmingham/41_1

The only change to this crossing as of 6-28-19 is that the WCH 12x20 inch lights on the far signal were realigned to actually face the crossing:

*originally recorded on 5-19-21*

Signal on the left: 4 pairs of Harmon 12x20 inch lights, 1 pair of WCH 12x20 inch lights, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 4 pairs of Harmon 12x20 inch lights, 1 pair of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a WCH Type 4 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

After catching ATN Z390 in Irondale, I chased it over to this crossing to get a video of the new bell here as well. Thought about stopping at 50th Street #2 to get another video of that crossing in action as well, but decided against it as I wasn't sure if they'd be working CMC Steel yesterday, and trying to film that crossing can be a bit of a pain with how far back from the crossing you have to park in order to stay off of CMC Steel's property. However, I did wind-up having to wait a while due to the fact that they did work CMC Steel yesterday, but oh well.

As you can see, the only major change to this crossing since I last filmed it was the new bell that got installed here, replacing the original (and very flat-sounding) Safetran mechanical bell. According to the signal maintainer for the line, the Safetran bell had started cutting-out while the gates lowered, which is why he went ahead and replaced it. Most of the lights here were also given a fresh coat of paint back in February of 2020, which you can easily confirm as you can literally see him repainting the mast lights on the closer signal on Google Street View from then. I will say, they do look quite nice now, even if I did like how faded they looked before.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Birmingham/41_1

No major changes here as of 11-19-21:

No major changes here as of 1-27-22:

*originally recorded on 7-12-23*

Signal on the left: 4 pairs of Harmon 12x20 inch lights, 1 pair of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a WCH Type 4 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 1 Harmon 12x20 inch light with a Safetran Non-fading LED, 1 Modern Industries 12x20 inch light with a Safetran Non-fading LED, 3 pairs of Harmon 12x20 inch lights, 1 pair of WCH 12x20 inch lights, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

After catching Z390 in Irondale, I attempted to beat it to 54th Street & 6th Avenue in Birmingham, but sadly to no luck. As such, I decided to head over to this crossing instead, and waited for it here. While waiting, it seemed like the sun was about to move to the northern side of the crossing, so I went over to this side to film it on, though it hadn't quite moved all the way over here by the time Z390 came through. The train wound-up stopping on the crossing for a bit while waiting for clearance across NS and onto CSX, which was annoying, but they did eventually clear it.

Since I last filmed this crossing, it appears that the front-left mast light of the closer signal got struck. As a replacement, the ATN re-used a Modern Industries 12x20 inch light, which I believe most likely came from either 12th Street #1 or 6th Street #4 in Gadsden. At the same time, it seems they chose to install a pair of Safetran Non-fading LEDs in the front pair of mast lights on the closer signal, which I suspect were the same ones that briefly popped-up at AL 77 #1 near Attalla. Otherwise, this crossing has pretty much remained entirely unchanged since I last recorded it, and the Safetran LEDs are definitely rather cool to see here now.
Interestingly, on this day (and while waiting for Z390 to eventually move), I noticed that the abandoned remains of an old SAL-era "No Right Turn" signal can still be found here. It appears that all that's left is just the rust mast and open US&S(?) base, but it's still neat to see. The signal in question can be seen leaning back near the mast-arm on the right that has an overhead stop-sign mounted on it. I suspect there may have originally been at least one or two other of these signals here, based on some conspicuously-placed empty foundations around this crossing.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Birmingham/41_1/