Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 7-27-24*

Signal on the left: 3 pairs of WCH 8 inch lights, a General Signal Type 2 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 1 pair of Harmon 8 inch lights, 3 pairs of Harmon 12x20 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, 1 pair of WCH 8 inch lights, a dying WCH mechanical bell, a WCH gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.

After I caught M400 again, I hopped back down to this crossing to wait for the southbound Amtrak Palmetto, as it was getting close to Florence. While waiting another northbound train (which turned-out to be L640) pulled-up to a signal a bit south of here, but stopped to wait for Amtrak. After a bit of waiting, I was able to get my sixth train of the day: AMTK 89 with an ALC-42 for power.

This crossing is another nice one, featuring yet another late-70s SCL install that's still fairly original, though with this one being another WCH install. It appears that, sometime between 2008 and 2012, CSX replaced the bell on the far signal with the current GS Type 2 e-bell. Then, sometime between 2022 and 2023, CSX upgraded the overhead lights on the cantilever here to LED. Finally, in March of 2024, CSX replaced the original WCH gate mech on the far side with the current Siemens one. Amusingly, this replacement can be seen on some street view imagery at this crossing.
Thankfully, despite the various upgrades, the crossing still retains its classic SCL cantilever install. The cantilever here is still almost fully original, despite the LED upgrade, which is nice to see. Unfortunately, the remaining 1st Gen WCH mechanical bell here is definitely on its way out, given how much it clicks when the gates start to lower. Hopefully CSX gives it some needed TLC, but, either way, I'm glad I got to film this crossing when I did.