McCalla Road, Bessemer, AL

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 1-29-22*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, an Invensys Rail gate mechanism, and RECO gate lights.
Signal on the right: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, 2 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell, an Invensys Rail gate mechanism, RECO LED gate lights, and a RECO gate light.

After catching the northbound mixed freight, we went back to downtown Bessemer to wait and see if anything else would come, after about an hour and a half of waiting, we noticed Amtrak 20 was getting close, so we went down to this crossing to get it, since I figured the lighting would be favorable. However, when we got down here, we found a northbound NS mixed freight waiting to our south, having just finished working the yard in McCalla! As such, we set-up here and after a little bit of waiting, this NS mixed freight came rolling through with a UP AC44CW leading a UP AC44/60CW!

This crossing is honestly a pretty neat one, and I'm glad to have been able to record it. The signals here appear to have originally been a 1980s NS install, but by the late-2000s, the original Safetran mechanical bell (located on the far signal) had been replaced with a WCH mechanical bell. Then, sometime between 2011 and 2014, NS replaced both of the masts here, giving the crossing two GS Type 2s in the process, but left the cantilever signal in place. Since then, no major changes have occurred to this crossing.
Interestingly, however, due to the early-2010s upgrade NS did here, the cantilever signal now has two pairs of front mast lights. The original gate mast only had one pair of lights on it, those being the rear pair. Not entirely sure why they gave the new gate mast a pair of front lights as well, but I'm guessing they'd just forgotten about the cantilever.
Also, due to the fact that the cantilever was originally bell-less, when NS installed the new gate masts here and added the second bell, they installed it on the gate mast. As such, this is one of the more uncommon crossings for NS where the bell on a gated cantilever is located on the gate mast rather than the cantilever.

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