Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 9-30-23*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of RACO 8 inch lights and 2 pairs of Harmon 12x20 inch lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Harmon 8 inch lights and a high-pitched Safetran Type 3 electronic bell.

This was the third crossing I caught the train at. Here we see them for the last time in Tennessee, at a crossing anyways, on the journey south.

This crossing is a rather nice one, featuring some neat equipment at it. The signals here appear to have been a 1970s or early-80s Southern Railway install, likely from about the mid to late-70s, maybe even early-80s. The RACO 8 inch lights on the cantilever mast appear to be reused, though I'm not sure if they were from a previous install here or a crossing elsewhere. I'm also not entirely sure if they're original to the signals here, but I believe they are. Otherwise, however, this crossing remained fairly unchanged since it was installed, the only real differences of note being that the mast signal had its original base cover replaced with an ill-fitting Modern Industries one, and the cantilever lost its ladder at some point (but was replaced with the current ladder sometime between 2011 and 2014). In 2018, @kyleb06 got a video of this crossing showing it basically as it was since it was installed.
However, within this decade, this crossing would receive its most notable and unusual upgrade. Sometime between street view's pass in April of 2021 and my visit in March of 2022, it seems the original Safetran mechanical bell here died and, as a result, was replaced with the current Safetran Type 3 e-bell. Strangely, as I wound-up hearing two weeks prior to this, the Safetran Type 3 NS installed here was a high-pitched one! No idea how or why one of these cropped-up on an NS-owned crossing, given the fact that NS almost only ever installed the low-pitched ones when they use Safetran Type 3s, but it's definitely nice to hear.
Even with the original bell gone, this crossing thankfully still retains the rest of its classic SOU-era equipment at it, especially the 8 inch lights and Harmon 12x20s on the cantilever. The lights here also have quite nicely faded backgrounds on them, which help give the signals a more appropriately-aged appearance. Hopefully this crossing remains unchanged for many more years to come, but I'm certainly glad I was able to shoot it when I did.

http://www.rxrsignals.com/Tennessee/A-F/Chattanooga/39/