Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 12-21-21*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 8 inch lights, a dying(?) WCH mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 8 inch lights, an NEG electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, RECO LED gate lights, and an NEG LED gate light.

After catching the first mixed freight in Mars Bluff, I went on over to this crossing to wait for the second one. About 20 minutes after the first, the second CSX mixed freight came through with a slightly better lash-up on it: a YN3 ES40DC leading a YN2 Dash-8 and a YN3 SD70MAC.

This crossing is another rather nice one, also featuring what appears to be another late-70s SCL install that's still largely original. In the 1980s, it appears, the SBD replaced the original Safetran bell on the far signal with the current WCH mechanical bell. Then, sometime between 2014 and 2019, CSX replaced the remaining Safetran mechanical bell here on the closer signal with the current NEG e-bell. Since then, no major changes appear to have occurred to this crossing.
Honestly, I probably should've taken a bit of time and set-up on the far side, given how that signal still retains a mechanical bell and a full set of incandescent gate lights, and the lighting would've allowed for it. Don't mind too much though, as I was still able to get a good video of this crossing.
The WCH mechanical bell here doesn't sound too great anyways, as it sounds noticeably flat. I'm not entirely sure if it's due to rust, the freezing cold weather here (at the time), and/or a cracked gong, but it definitely needs some TLC either way. Hopefully CSX just gives it a tune-up and leaves the rest of the crossing alone, but either way, I'm glad I was able to record this crossing.