Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 8-10-25*

Signal on the left: 1.5 pairs of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs, 1 Safetran 12x24 inch light with a Leotek EV Series LED, and a General Signals Type 2 electronic bell.
Signal on the right: 1 pair of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with WCH 2nd Generation LEDs and 1 pair of WCH 12x24 inch lights with Leotek EV Series LEDs.

After catching the northbound mixed freight, we went over to the passing siding next to Roanoke Road to see if anything else was lined north, and, sure enough, there was. Unfortunately, the second northbound beat us over to the crossing we were trying to go for, so I swung back around and chased it over to this crossing on the other side of the state line in Standing Rock, AL. Thankfully, we were able to beat the train here with plenty of time to spare (actually even catching-up to the mixed freight in the process) and I went ahead and got set on up as soon as I got parked. After a bit of waiting, I was able to catch my eighth train of the day, a northbound CSX intermodal train with an ET44AH leading a CM44AC for power. If you look closely in the distance, you might also be able to spot the train approaching about half a mile away, while it's still passing through the control point at North End Standing Rock.

This crossing is a pretty nice one, featuring a pair of older, albeit modernized, gateless signals at it. It appears that, originally, there was a pair of old ACL-era gateless signals here, though, in the mid-1980s, the SBD replaced the mast signals here with the current ones. Then, in the 2000s, CSX replaced the bell here with the current GS Type 2 e-bell. At about the same time, it appears, the left-rear light was also replaced with the current Safetran 12x24, though it was originally incandescent. After that, sometime between 2007 and 2014, CSX replaced the front pair of lights on the closer signal with the current Safetran 12x24s, which had the current LEDs in them at the time. Then, sometime between 2014 and 2016, CSX replaced the base of the closer signal with a newer WCH one. Finally, sometime between 2016 and 2021, CSX upgraded the remaining incandescent lights here to LED.
I will admit, I was kinda hoping the bell here could've been a GS Type 1, but I ain't too surprised it's a GS Type 2, admittedly. I'm definitely glad to see that these older WCH gateless signals are still around, and still have most of their original light-heads, even if they have been pretty well modernized over the years.
I'm especially glad to have gotten this filmed, as now I've filmed both the southernmost gateless crossing on the CSX Lineville Subdivision, along with every gateless crossing on the Lineville Sub. Sadly, there are now only four gateless crossings left on the Lineville Sub (this one, two in Talladega, and the one in Harpersville), as the rest have all gotten upgraded to gated signals within the past few years. I'm definitely glad I got the ones that CSX has since upgraded filmed before though, save for the on in Chelsea that was replaced before I could get back to it to film it.

https://www.rxrsignals.com/Alabama/R-Z/ ... ock/CR278/