Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

*originally recorded on 10-1-25*

Signal on the left: 4 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs, a General Signals Type 3 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2.5 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights with Dialight Ball LEDs, 1 Safetran 12x20 inch lights with a Dialight Ball LED, a General Signals Type 1 electronic bell, a Siemens gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.

After catching the northbound coal train, I decided to hop over to the Ripley & New Albany to document their power resting just north of the downtown. While I was doing that, I saw a local freight arriving into the city to begin interchanging with the shortline. After I got the shots I wanted, I decided to hop over to this crossing to record it since I thought I heard a GS Type 1 e-bell. Thankfully, I was able to get set-up and record this crossing just as the power was disconnecting from the train they brought-up to begin the interchange work. Here we see the pair of SD40-2s rolling across the crossing to head into RNA's yard as my third and final train of the day. After this, I went on back home to Huntsville for the evening.

This crossing is a pretty nice one, featuring a pretty modernized Frisco-era install at it. It appears that the signals installed here were originally WABCO ones installed by the Frisco back in the 1970s. Then, in the mid-90s, BN replaced the far signal entirely with the current one while the closer signal had its original gate mech replaced with a Safetran one. Then, in the late-90s or the 2000s, the bell on the far signal was replaced with a GS e-bell. Also, in the 2000s, BNSF replaced the gate mechanism on the far signal with a US&S Model 95 gate mechanism. Then, sometime between 2013 and 2019, it appears the far signal was replaced with a reused Frisco-era mast and some reused Safetran 12x20 inch incandescent lights and a newer GS e-bell, though the gate mech was reused onto the replacement signal.
After that, sometime between 2019 and when EthantheRailfanner visited here in 2022, BNSF massively upgraded this crossing. The far signal was replaced entirely with the current one, while the closer signal was also replaced with an older reused one from the mid-2010s, with a reused Siemens gate mechanism. This replacement signal also had the original pair of 70s Safetran 12x20 inch side lights reused onto it, though upgraded to LED. The main lights had also been reused from another crossing, with three of the four heads being 70s Safetran heads from the Frisco and the fourth being a newer Safetran head, all upgraded to LED with 24 inch backgrounds as well. This signal also got a reused GS Type 1 e-bell on it, which is nice to see. Finally, sometime between Ethan's 2022 visit and 2023, the left-hand side light and the left-rear light on the closer signal were replaced with the current LED Safetran 12x24s.
Thankfully, since then, nothing else has changed to this crossing. It's nice to see some old Frisco-era Safetran 12 inch light heads still remain here, even if they're LED now. It's also nice to get to film another GS Type 1 in action, I suspect there might be a few others still in use elsewhere on the Birmingham Sub still. The front lights on the far signal are also angled rather interestingly, with them facing in opposite directions due to the fact that side is a T-intersection. Hopefully it remains unchanged for many more years to come, or at least long enough for me to get back here for a daytime video. Either way, I'm glad I got at least one video of this crossing when I did.

https://www.rxrsignals.com/Mississippi/ ... /Highland/