Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 7-3-22*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights, a WCH mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, RECO LED gate lights, and an NEG LED gate light.
Signal on the right; 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights, 1 pair of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a dying WCH mechanical bell, a WCH gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

On the afternoon of July 3rd, I went down to the CSX AWP Subdivision to see about documenting some upgrades, and also to see if I could potentially get at least this crossing shot. I arrived here first and set-up, and after a little while of waiting, this M602 (IIRC) came through with a UP AC44/60CW leading a UP SD70ACe-T4! This was an excellent catch, and I'm glad I got to record it, as I hadn't seen any of these UP AC44/60CWs leading in a long time.

This crossing is a rather nice one, featuring what appears to be a fairly-still original WCH SBD install from the 1980s. In the early-2000s, it appears that closer signal had the front-left light replaced with a Safetran 12x24 inch light. Around this same time, the far signal had its gate mech replaced with the current Safetran one. The crossing then remained unchanged until sometime between 2009 and 2014, when the left-rear light (at the very least) on the closer signal also appears to have been replaced with the current Safetran 12x24. Not sure if the front-left light here was replaced at the same time again or not though.
Either way, thankfully, this crossing has remained almost entirely unchanged since. I'm especially glad to have been able to record this guy, given that it still features a pair of older WCH signals, with both of the original bells, most of the original lights, and even one of the original WCH gate mechs. Hopefully these signals remain around here for many more years to come, still unchanged. Unfortunately, the closer signal's WCH mechanical bell is dying, so hopefully CSX repairs it, though I wouldn't be surprised if CSX replaces it with an NEG e-bell at some point. Either way, I'm quite glad to have been able to record this crossing when I did.