Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 4-12-21*

Signal on the far left: 2 pairs of (non-functional) Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a sick General Signals (Type 1?) electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the near left: 1.5 pairs of Federal Signal 12x20 inch lights and 1 WCH 12x20 inch light (with a blown bulb).
Signal on the right: 1.5 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, 1 WCH 12x24 inch light with a Leotek EV Series LED, an NEG electronic bell, a Safetran mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

After catching the southbound ballast train, I went back-up to Junta to see if A700 was ready to leave yet, but it was still building its train. Feeling it was about to leave, I went-out to this crossing and got it documented, only for it not to show-up after a while of waiting. As such, I quickly made my way back to Junta to see if it was still there, and sure enough, it was, but it was just about to head-out for the Cartersville Sub! As such, after watching it begin to depart, I hopped back into my car and made my way back over here, where, after only a little while of waiting, I was finally able to see it come through with a single ES40DC for power.

This crossing is certainly quite a neat one, which has had quite a few changes over the years. It appears that it was originally a public crossing on Ladds Mountain Road with a private drive coming off on the right. As such, the SCL put-up at least three signals here back in the early 1970s: two gated mast signals, and the off-side gateless cantilever closest to the camera, though the cantilever appears to have had the left-hand mast light replaced with a WCH 12x20 later-on in the 70s or 80s. Then, in the 1980s, at least the right-hand gated signal was replaced by a newer signal installed by the early SBD with all US&S equipment (most likely).
It appears that in the early 90s about the time Ladds Farm Supply took-over much of the land in this area, having Euharlee Road (the crossing seen in the distance down the tracks in the video) shifted over to its present-day alignment, closing the original Euharlee Road crossing (which'd been closer to this one) in the process. Also in the process was that Ladds Mountain Road was closed-off through here, fully turning this into a private crossing, though for whatever reason the old SCL cantilever here was left. Then, the other gated signal was replaced (again?) in the late-1990s. Around this time, or shortly after it appears that the SBD signal here had its bell replaced with a General Signals e-bell.
The crossing then seems to have remained largely unchanged until sometime around the mid-2000s to early-2010s, when the SBD signal here had its original gate mech replaced with a Safetran one. The signals were left-untouched for a few more years until sometime between 2013 and 2015, when it appears that the right-hand signal was replaced once again, this time with a modern CSX signal, though it appears the gate mech was re-used from the old one. Finally, the only major change since then appears to be that the right-hand gated signal had the rear-left light-head struck and replaced with a newer one, but no other major changes have occured here since then.
As you can see, this crossing is also in need of some TLC. The left-hand mast light on the cantilever is out, along with all of lights on the left-hand gated signal, it appears, with only the gate lights on it working. While one could argue that the front lights on that signal aren't entirely necessary, as they're pretty much entirely blocked by the building, the rear lights could probably use new bulbs. The bell on that signal is also in pretty rough shape, as it obviously ain't even really ringing well anymore, and is definitely on its way out. Thankfully though, everything else here is still in good shape, including especially thankfully all of the early Federal Signal 12x20s on the cantilever here. Hopefully those remain operational for a while yet, though with how fresh the paint on them is, I suspect CSX is still actively taking care of 'em. The old flasher relay put in here by the SCL is also still clicking away quite happily, it sounds like (and for anyone curious, the relay case was just to the left of my camera).