Southern signal: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 1.5 pairs of GRS Lex-C lights, 1 Safetran 12x24 inch light, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.
Northern signal: 2.5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 1.5 pairs of GRS Lex-C lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.
This crossing is a rather nice one and easily one of my favorites here in Alabama, being the only crossing left on a busy Class I mainline to have GRS Lex-C lights! Both cantilevers here were installed in the 1970s by the Southern Railway, and would've used all 12x20 inch GRS Lex-Cs on the overheads with 8 inch Lex-C lights on the masts, two Safetran mechanical bell, and a pair of GRS gate mechs. However, in the early 2000s, NS replaced the GRS gate mechs with the current Safetran gate mechs, and upgraded the mast lights at around the same time. It also appears the the southern signal had its original bell and one of the overhead lights replaced around then in addition to the aforementioned changes. The crossing then remained relatively unchanged until between 2013 and 2016, according to Google Street View, when the original bell on the northern signal and one of the overhead lights were replaced (though at least the bell was most likely replaced by 2015, given the fact that it's a GS Type 2). Other than the northern signal's gate arm being restriped, no changes appear to have occured since street view went by in 2016, which is rather nice to see, especially since it means that these GRS Lex-Cs get to live on for a while longer. Also, if you look closely, you can see that the gate lights on the southern signal's gate arm are wired-up wrong.
Re: Tannehill Parkway, McCalla, AL
Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2024 12:21 pm
by freebrickproductions
*originally recorded on 4-27-24*
Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 1.5 pairs of GRS Lex-C lights, 1 Safetran 12x24 inch light, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, NEG LED gate lights, and a RECO LED gate light.
Signal on the right: 2.5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 1.5 pairs of GRS Lex-C lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, NEG LED gate lights, and a RECO LED gate light.
On April 27th, I went on down to the NS AGS South District to see about recording (and rerecording) some of the crossings along it, along with getting a signalized crossing on the CSX Mineral Sub that I missed documented for the site. I got to this crossing just after sunrise, and, after about an hour of waiting, I was able to get my first train of the day: NS 131 with an SD70ACe leading an AC44C6M, a Dash-9, and another AC44C6M for power.
Thankfully, nothing too major has changed to this crossing since I last recorded it back in 2019 with TheCentralTexasRailfan. It appears that within the past several years, NS has replaced all of the gate lights here with new LED ones, but I suppose in some ways that's to be expected. Thankfully, the three pairs of GRS Lex-C 12x20s that remain on the overheads here still exist and are in decent shape still. I believe this is the last crossing in Alabama NS has with Lex-C lights on it, so I'm glad to see they're very much still around.
Signal on the left: 2.5 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 1.5 pairs of GRS Lex-C 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, NEG LED gate lights, and a RECO gate light.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 1 Safetran 12x24 inch light, 1.5 pairs of GRS Lex-C 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, a RECO LED gate light, an NEG LED gate light, and a RECO gate light.
n May 7th, after Tuscaloosa County cancelled their test at the last minute, vtgrxrman and I went over to this crossing to wait for the southbound Amtrak Crescent before continuing down to Montgomery for their monthly siren test. After a little while of waiting, we were able to catch our first train of the day flying past: Amtrak 19 with a pair of ALC-42s for power. However, amazingly enough, the trailing locomotive on this train was AMTK 301, one of Amtrak's two "Day 1" paint scheme heritage units! Definitely nice to get another Amtrak heritage unit, even if it was trailing as well.
As you can see, sometime since I last recorded this crossing, NS has replaced the closer signal's Safetran gate mechanism with a new Siemens one. The base gate light on the closer signal was also replaced by a new RECO LED gate light. Thankfully, nothing else has changed to this crossing and it still retains all of its three remaining pairs of GRS Lex-C lights! The replaced Safetran gate mech here was also left laying over by the relay case.