Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 4-26-25*

Signal on the far left: 2 pairs of Modern Industries 12x24 inch lights.
Signal on the near left #1: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights and a dead Modern Industries mechanical bell.
Signal on the near left #2: 3 pairs of Modern Industries 8 inch lights and a dying WRRS mechanical bell.
Signal on the far right #1: 1 pair of Modern Industries 12x24 inch lights.
Signal on the far right #2: 2 pairs of Modern Industries 12x24 inch lights and a Modern Industries mechanical bell.
Signal on the near right: 1 pair of Modern Industries 12x24 inch lights.

After catching 288 just east of Leighton, AL, vtgrxrman and I made our way over to Bartlett to see about waiting for a train and trying to get the siren test. After attempting the test was a bust due to them cancelling due to the cloudy weather, we went back over to this crossing and waited. After a while of waiting, we were finally able to get our third train of the day: CSX M531 with a CM44AC leading an ES44AH and a GP38-2 for power. After this, we snagged some lunch at the Mexican restaurant across the intersection from where we were set-up.

This crossing is honestly a great one, and also a rather complex one due to being located in the middle of a 4-way intersection. It appears that, originally, there was a set of signals here installed by the L&N back in the early to mid-1970s, or possibly the late-60s, if I had to guess. In the late-70s, however, the cantilever here was replaced by the current one, though the WRRS bell here was reused onto the current one. Not too long after, at least the three signals on the far side were replaced entirely by either the late-L&N or early-SBD, though the bell on that side may have been reused onto one of the newer signals. Finally, in the late-90s, the mast signal with the bell on the near-left was replaced with the current Safetran one, though thankfully, the MI bell was reused onto it as well. Since then, amazingly, absolutely nothing has changed to this crossing equipment-wise, and this crossing even still remains fully incandescent!
Unfortunately, the bells here are in need of some TLC. The MI bell on the near left is completely dead, though thankfully the MI bell on the other side of the crossing still works pretty well. The WRRS mechanical bell here is also sadly rather worn-out too. In fact, I thought it was dead at first, though thankfully the wind from the passing train was able to shake the cantilever enough (as well as shaking several other signals here, including a few traffic lights) to make the bell actually start-up. And once the bell got going, it was able to keep a pretty good consistent ring, and honestly sounds rather nice. Hopefully CSX is able to fix-up the bells here, but, either way, I'm glad I got to record this crossing when I did.
Sadly, just over a week prior to me recording this video, an accident had occurred here. A funeral procession on their way to a funeral ignored the active crossing signals and ran the red traffic lights at the intersection here, and a funeral home limo carrying six members of the grieving family got struck by an intermodal train. Thankfully, everyone survived from the sounds of it, though one of the family members received a fractured pelvis as a result of the accident. A few articles about the accident, for those who want to read more:
https://www.localmemphis.com/article/ne ... jures-six/
https://wreg.com/news/local/train-colli ... n-blocked/
https://www.actionnews5.com/2025/04/17/ ... -bartlett/
https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/funer ... rman-says/
https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-new ... 6-injured/
https://www.fox10tv.com/2025/04/18/fune ... 6-funeral/
https://wreg.com/news/local/witnesses-p ... ain-crash/

https://www.rxrsignals.com/Tennessee/A- ... more_View/