Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 8-3-24*

Signal on the left: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, an NEG electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs, a WCH mechanical bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.

On the morning of August 3rd, the last full day of our trip, I decided I wanted to get at least a couple more crossings filmed before I had to head home. As I knew rain was coming later in the day, and I wasn't supposed to get my cast wet, I knew I'd only want to be out in the morning, so that's just what I did. The first place I went to was this crossing in Apex, as I knew the Amtrak Silver Star was making its way up the CSX Aberdeen Sub. After a bit of waiting, I was able to catch my first train of the day: Amtrak 92 with an ALC-42 leading a P42DC for power.

This crossing is a great one, and is honestly another one I wanted to make sure I got while I was in the area. Originally, there was a very old SAL install here, dating back to the 1940s or possibly the 30s (if not before), which featured a pair of gateless mast signals, installed in the middle of the road, with one pair of 8 inch lights and a US&S Teardrop bell each. In the 1950s or 60s, however, the SAL decided to upgrade this crossing to gated signals, and replaced the gateless signals here with a pair of gated split-mast signals, which originally had all US&S 8 inch lights, WRRS gate mechs, and presumably a pair of US&S Teardrop bells.
The crossing remained largely unchanged until the 1980s, or possibly the 1990s, when CSX replaced the bell on the closer signal with the current WCH mechanical bell. Then (at about the same time?), in the mid-90s, the closer signal also had its gate mech replaced with the current Safetran one. Not too long after that, in the late-90s, CSX replaced the bell on the far signal with a GS Type 1 e-bell. The crossing remained largely unchanged for well over a decade after, if not close to two decades, but then, sometime between 2017 and 2018, the GS Type 1 e-bell on the far side was replaced by the current NEG e-bell. Finally, sometime between 2018 and 2020, most likely due to the far signal still having a WRRS gate mech at the time, the signal on the far side was replaced entirely with the current one, though with the bell being reused onto the newer mast. At the same time I believe, the closer signal had its original US&S 8 inch lights replaced with the current LED WCH 12x24 inch lights, which I believe are either new-old stock or were reused from a different crossing, as they use a slightly older design of head on them.
Thankfully, since then, this crossing has remained pretty much unchanged, which is great to see. Of course, the star of the show here is easily the classic SAL split-mast signal here, with the split in the mast just above the gate mech being there to allow for wooden gate arm to go all the way up without hitting the lights on the signal. This is now the third crossing I've recorded with one of these in use, the last two being the one in Odenville, AL, on the ATN's Birmingham Sub back in 2019 (which was replaced later that year), and the pair in Pooler, GA, on the GC's Savannah Sub back in 2020. I believe this is the last crossing on the entire S Line with one of these classics left in service, though, admittedly, I believe there are only a grand total three crossings (with a total of four of these signals spread across them) left in the US as a whole with one of these, so these signals are certainly a very rare find. Hopefully this classic SAL split-mast signal remains in service for many more years to come, but, either way, I'm glad I was finally able to get this crossing recorded in action.