18th Avenue, Bessemer, AL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 11-28-21*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Federal Signal 8 inch lights, 2 pairs of WRRS 8 inch lights, a Safetran gate mechanism, and General Signals gate lights.
Signal on the right: 3.5 pairs of Federal Signal 8 inch lights, 1 WRRS 8 inch light, a WCH mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, a Safetran gate light, and General Signals gate lights.

On November 28th, I went down to Bessemer to do some railfanning. I had intended to shoot stuff on the NS AGS South originally, but wasn't having much luck with that, and when I saw CSX M730 was leaving, I decided to chase that instead. I chased it over to this crossing on the BHRR for my first video of the day, where we see it roll through with a recent CM44AC rebuild in fresh YN3 paint as the power.

This crossing is honestly a very nice one, and I'm glad I was finally able to record it. The signals here honestly look rather L&N-like, but I believe these were actually put-up by the Birmingham Southern back in the early 70s or so, based on the equipment. The cantilevers are both WRRS branded, but as the mix of FS and WRRS 8 inch lights looks to be entirely original, I suspect these would most likely be from the early 70s. At some point, most likely in the 80s or 90s, the original WRRS(?) mechanical bell here was replaced with the current WCH one. Also, at some point in the mid-90s, BS replaced both of the original gate mechs (no idea what they were, but I personally suspect GRS Type Ds) with the current Safetran ones.
Since then, thankfully, no major changes have occurred to this crossing, even after WATCO took over in the early 2010s. In fact, the only changes here that I'm aware of have been the gradual replacements of the Safetran gate lights with General Signals ones. For this, I'm rather grateful though, as this crossing is the only one on the BHRR South Ensley Sub with 8 inch lights, as well as being the last fully 8 inch crossing on the BHRR as a whole. No changes have occurred to this crossing since I filmed this as well, thankfully, and hopefully these classic signals remain unchanged for many more years to come.
As you can see, the crossing also did a short tail-ring malfunction at the end.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/A-F/Bessemer/18_Ave/