Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 1-8-20*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

After catching the southbound autorack, I went on down to Jackson Road near Pinson to see if anything had changed there since the line was double-tracked in that area. However, as I was pulling up, I saw a northbound train rolling through the crossing, so I raced on back up to Trafford to try and catch it. Got rather lucky though, as CSX was doing some work on a bridge north of town, which forced the train to stop just south of the 2nd Street crossing (which is south of this crossing). However, the track crew soon got clear of the line, and the train continued north, leading to my third catch of the day: a northbound CSX intermodal train with an ET44AH pulling and another ET44AH pushing.

This crossing is yet another nice one, featuring a pretty nice install. The right-hand signal is an old L&N install with the separate mast for the gate mech, while the far signal is a newer CSX signal. It appears that the far signal was installed in the early 2000s, with the closer signal being upgraded around the same time. Then, around 2012/2013, the crossing received an LED upgrade (like most of the rest of the line), with the most recent change appearing to be both gate arms having been replaced.
Also, unusually, especially for an L&N install of this style, the bell is mounted on the gate mast rather than the light mast. Not sure if the L&N did this on any other installs, but if they did, I wouldn't be surprised if they've all since been replaced.

*originally recorded on 2-13-23*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a Safetran gate mechanism, RECO LED gate lights, and an NEG LED gate light.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.

After catching I126, I continued on north to check for any other upgrades along the S&NA North, and maybe catch at least one more train. I saw that there were some upgrades here, so I decided to set-up here and wait. After a little bit of waiting, this southbound mixed freight came roaring through with an AC44CW leading an SD70MAC for power. After this, I went back home as it was getting rather late.

Since I was last here, this crossing has had a small upgrade to it, as almost all of the gate lights here were replaced since I last filmed it. Otherwise, these signals have basically remained unchanged, thankfully. I'm especially glad to see the classic L&N double-mast signal on my side is still here as well, especially since it's the only one of these installs along this line (if not the entire former L&N as a whole) where the bell is mounted on the gate mast.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/R-Z/T ... -Trafford/