Dillard Street, Durham, NC

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 12-22-21*

Signal on the far left: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, 1 pair of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a Safetran Type 3 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the far right: 1 pair of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.
Signal on the near left: a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.
Signal on the near right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, 1 pair of Harmon 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

After documenting some 3M traffic lights, a few pedestrian signals, and the Blackwell Street crossing, I decided to come over to this one to document it as well. Shortly after I got here, however, I started hearing a horn to my west, so I quickly got set-up. The train wound-up being this short NS local freight which had a GP60 with an absolutely amazing horn leading a GP38-3! This was my first time catching a GP60, and I'm quite glad I was able to get it leading on this train.

This crossing is also a very nice one, featuring what was originally a late-70s SOU install, though, I'm not entirely sure if the cantilever signal here originally had any front mast lights (but I strongly suspect it did). I'm also not sure if the far signal originally had the 12x20s mixed in or if it originally had all 12x24s, but either way, it certainly has that mix now.
In the 1980s, it appears that NS replaced the original Safetran gate mech on the cantilever signal here with the current Safetran gate mech. Then, in the early 2000s, NS quad-gated this crossing, but rather surprisingly, they didn't replace most of the mast lights here. It appears that they removed the front pair of mast lights on the cantilever (assuming it originally had some), but they did replace the rear mast lights with the current pair of Safetran 12x20s. Then, in the mid-2000s, NS replaced both bells here with a pair of Safetran Type 3s. The crossing was then pretty much left entirely unchanged until sometime between 2015 and 2017, when the cantilever's Safetran Type 3 died and was replaced with the current GS Type 2.
Since then, however, thankfully no major changes have occurred here, which is quite nice to see. The left-hand signal on the far side retains all of its original Safetran 12 inch lights and gate mech, while the cantilever signal here still retains its original Safetran and Harmon 12x20 inch lights on the overhead, all of which are quite nice to see. The bells here also ring while the gates are down, which is rather cool to see as well. A bit unusually, the one pair of lights on the right-hand signal on the far side face towards the camera, meaning that that signal technically only has a pair of rear lights, but I suppose that's to make-up for the lack of front lights on the cantilever.
All in all, this is a rather nice crossing and I'm glad I was able to record it.