Venson Street, Woodville, AL

YouTube · Fri Nov 06, 2020 1:22 am

*originally recorded on 11-1-20*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

This was the first train I caught on November 1st. It was NS 101 with quite a nice lash-up of an SD70ACC leading an SD70ACe and a AC44C6M! Certainly a nice train to start off the day with, and one I'd be seeing quite a bit throughout the day.

This crossing is a pretty recent upgrade, with the signals here having been installed sometime within the past few months (or at least the past year), replacing a pair of crossbucks. In fact, you can still see part of one of the crossbuck posts still standing near the closer signal, holding up a stop sign that has yet to be removed. Ain't my first time coming to this crossing either, as I've been here a few times in the past to shoot videos of trains rolling through this area back when it was still just crossbucks. This upgrade came at the dismay of at least one local photographer though, as the gate arms get in the way of a neat shot on the curve here that you used to be able to get with westbounds here. However, IMHO, it ain't all a loss here, as it's still a bit scenic around the crossing. Just to the left of my camera is a nice little rock cut on the curve that, IMHO, always makes for a nice shot, while the right provides a nice view of any westbound trains approaching the crossing.
Not entirely sure why these GE Uniform Look LEDs flicker the way they do on camera; as all of the brand new-ish NS signals I filmed on this day did it with my camera as well (at least somewhat, anyways), while the older ones with GE Uniform Look LEDs didn't.