Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 6-27-19*

Signal on the left: 1 pair of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a dead Safetran mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 1 pair of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

This crossing is one that I had been wanting to get recorded for some time now. The crossing features a pair of older SOU cantilevers with most of their original older Safetran 12 inch lights protecting a one-way street. Originally, this crossing would've had all older Safetran 12 inch lights and two Safetran mechanical bells, but over the years, NS has replaced a few of the older Safetran 12 inch lights with newer ones, likely as they get damaged. Currently, the left-hand signal has three newer Safetran lights on the overhead while only the right-hand signal only has had the right-hand mast light replaced. Neither of the gate mechs are original, with the left-hand one having been replaced in the 1990s and the right-hand one being installed in the 2000s, likely around the time the original Safetran mechanical bell on that signal was replaced with the current GS Type 2 e-bell. I'm not entirely sure when the remaining mechanical bell died, but I remember seeing videos taken near this crossing several years ago and it was dead then, so it's certainly been a long time since it last worked. Honestly not sure why NS hasn't bothered to replace it yet if the bell's been dead for several years.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Bessemer/19/

*originally recorded on 1-29-22*

Signal on the left: 1 pair of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a Safetran Type 3 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 1 pair of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

After seeing the malfunction in Birmingport, we continued on down to this crossing on the NS AGS South District in Bessemer as it'd been one I'd been wanting to get for a while. After a little bit of waiting here, we got this southbound intermodal train (I believe NS 225) with a UP ET44AC leading a UP AC45CCTE, a UP AC44CW, and an NS SD70ACe.

Sometime in early-2020 (or possibly late-2019), NS replaced the dead Safetran mechanical bell here with a new Safetran Type 3 e-bell, and I was finally able to get a video of it. Other than that, however, these old SOU-era cantilevers still remain pretty much unchanged from when I last recorded this crossing, thankfully.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Bessemer/19/