2nd St, Bates City, MO

[KCMO Railfan]

Another EB on the KCS Mexico Sub I have managed to catch, this time at a crossing in a small town I've been wanting to film at for awhile now. I heard this train pass by behind my house at around 1:00pm. I ended up taking a road trip to Bates City because there was some crossings I wanted to film at. I was originally wanting to record the McDaniel Rd crossing in action since it had a rare closed bottom NEG e bell, but I've decided to film over at 2nd St instead. Like last weekend, this eastbound KCVN had some EMDX tier 4 sd70aces that were heading east to St Louis, however this train had a total of 5 tier 4s consisted together (4 bananas and 1 blackberry). Not a bad lashup. Crossing itself is what really lead up to me filming here to begin with. This crossing used to have a pair of older gateless signals that were originally installed by the Gateway Western (later had some updates by KCS in the mid 2000's) with L&W Industries 12x20 lights (similar to what the crossings in Independence had), and a safetran mechanical bell. Then sometime in the mid 2000's, KCS replaced the lights to safetran 12x24s and the mechanical bell was replaced with a gs type 2 e bell. Crossing itself went unchanged until sometime after 2013 (which was when google maps streetview last went by showcasing the old signals here), and around 2019 when streetview went by showcasing the current signals that were installed here. Bells here only ring from startup, until the gates lower. The lights on both signals are a pair of safetran 12x24s with Leotek EV series leds in them. Gate lights are what appears to be WCH gate lights. Gate mechs are made by Siemens. And lastly, both bells are gs type 2s. It's a real shame the old signals here are long gone, but this crossing is still a decent one, albeit a tad bit boring. Forgot to mention, across the street is the infamous Bates City BBQ restaurant. Hopefully I will film at the next crossing down the line (McDaniel Rd) sometime in the future.

Old signals can be seen in this video below prior to the lights and bell being upgraded.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWg_lLSCza4)

And what the crossing looked like after KCS replaced the lights and bell. Note, this streetview was taken around the time the block signal was being installed in 2013.
(https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0062942 ... 6656?hl=en)