County Camp Road, Kingstree, SC
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2022 12:44 pm
*originally recorded on 12-19-21*
Signal on the left: 2 pairs of US&S 8 inch lights, an NEG electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of US&S 8 inch lights, a US&S Teardrop bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
On December 19th, Elliot and I got up and got out to go shoot some trains over on the A Line. This was the first train we caught: a northbound Amtrak Palmetto (90) with a P42DC for power and a private car on the rear.
This crossing is a very nice one, featuring a classic ACL install that I believe dates back to the 1940s! It appears that these signals were largely original (barring any gate mech replacements I may not be aware of) until the late-90s or 2000s (and certainly by 2008), when CSX replaced both gate mechs here with the current Safetran ones. Then, between 2016 and 2019, the original Teardrop bell on the far signal was replaced with the current NEG e-bell. Since then, thankfully, no major changes have occurred to this crossing. In the past couple of years, however, the far signal's light mast has started noticeably leaning, I think due to the ground literally eroding away from underneath the signal. One of the lights (which was zip-tied shut, along with a few others here) has come open as well, which can be seen in the video Elliot got here for the following train.
Thankfully, the closer signal is still largely intact, and features the best thing about this crossing: a 2nd Gen US&S Teardrop bell that still works! This was actually the first 2nd Gen Teardrop I've ever heard in person, so I'm glad it's still here and sounding fairly healthy. The lenses in the lights on this side of the closer signal also appear to be older than the rest, and I believe at least one of them is the original lens as well.
Hopefully CSX straightens-out the other signal (and fixes the broken light) but leaves the crossing alone otherwise. Either way though, I'm very glad I was able to record this absolutely classic crossing.