Joe Tamplin Industrial Boulevard, Franklinton, GA

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 7-2-20*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a WCH gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a Safetran Hybrid Bell, a WABCO Model 75 gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

On July 2nd, Ethan and I got on up and out to chase L781 east. L782 had the SD45s on it again on this day, but we opted for L781 as they were running all the way down from Macon on this morning, and we wanted to be able to get the crossings on the westernmost part of the line. Anyways, after almost two hours of waiting, L781 came through with another quintet of GP38-2s for power.

This crossing is a pretty nice one. Originally, this was a full WABCO install from the SCL, complete with a pair of WABCO mechanical bells, WABCO 8 inch lights, and two Model 75 gate mechs, which remained almost completely unchanged from when it was installed up until sometime after 2007. Between 2007 and 2012, the far signal had is gate mech replaced with a newer WCH one, the lights were all upgraded to re-used Safetran 12x24s (at least the lights on the far signal were), and both bells were replaced with GS Type 2s.
Then, sometime between 2014 and 2016, the bell on the closer signal was replaced with the current Safetran Hybrid bell, and then the signals got an LED upgrade sometime between 2016 and 2019. Since then, no major changes have occured to this crossing, thankfully.
Probably the most interesting thing about this crossing, IMHO, is the fact that it has a Hybrid bell. As far as I'm aware, this is the only Safetran Hybrid bell in the State of Georgia, though I seem to recall seeing one elsewhere in the state (but I can't remember where, exactly). Either way, it's certainly quite cool to see and I'm glad to have been able to film it. A bit unusually, the bell only rings while the gates are lowering (while the GS Type 2 on the far side rings from the start up to when they lower), so at first, Ethan and I thought it was dead.

[freebrickproductions]

No major changes as of 6-24-21, though the Hybrid bell here was fixed and now starts with the crossing. Apparently it hadn't been getting enough voltage before.


http://www.rxrsignals.com/Georgia/Frank ... ndustrial/