Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 9-20-19*

Signal on the left: 1 pair of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the far right: 1.5 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights and 1 WCH 12x20 inch light.
Signal on the near right: 1 pair of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 1 pair of US&S 12x20 inch lights, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

This was the next crossing I chased the northbound intermodal train too. It appears that originally, this crossing had a set of Frisco signals from the 1970s, but it appears that in the 1980s, the BN installed the current WCH gateless signal here (not sure if this replaced an older Frisco signal or not). Then, in the late-90s/early 2000s, it appears that BNSF chose to replace the gated signals here, but re-used the original US&S/WABCO Model 75 gate mechs and one of the original pairs of US&S 12x20 inch lights, as the rear lights on the closest signal. There had been an older General Signals e-bell here when I visited this crossing back in 2016, but it was replaced with a newer GS Type 3 sometime between that trip and this one, which was a pleasant surprise.
The relay case here is also made entirely of of concrete, which is rather cool to see. The bell here also rings while the gates rise, which is rather unusual for BNSF crossings.
The bridge over the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River can be seen to the right of the crossing.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Cordova/River/

*originally recorded on 3-21-21*

Southbound signal: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Auxiliary signal: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs and a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell.
Northbound signal: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

This was the next crossing I chased the grain train to (first video), and as you can see, it's had quite the upgrade since I was last here! BNSF recently went through and replaced almost everything at this crossing, including the old Frisco relay case, though both gate mechanisms and the bell from the southbound signal here were all re-used onto the newer signals here. Certainly quite neat to see three bells in use here as well, as previously the northbound and auxiliary signals didn't have any bells on them. The northbound signal also has its lights tilted upwards for the hill here.
Will miss the old BN and Frisco-era equipment that was here though, but I am quite glad I got to record it at least once before.

In the second video, this was the second crossing I caught BNSF H-BIRMEM at. I chose to come back here as I hadn't gotten a chance to document the new signals here yet, and since the H-BIRMEM was almost here, I chose to record it from the north side of the crossing.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Cordova/River/