Bristow Road, Bowling Green, KY

[freebrickproductions]

*originally recorded on 11-25-25*

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

After catching L412 in Smiths Grove, I hopped back south to this crossing on the eastside of Bowling Green to see about getting the M573 that was coming south behind it. When I got here, however, I found that L412 was working some customers to my east, so I got set on up here and waited for them to come through. Thankfully, just after sunset, I was able to catch CSX L412 heading back to the yard in Bowling Green, now with a shorter train than they had in Smiths Grove.

This crossing is a pretty decent one, featuring an L&N-era double-mast install from the 1970s, though it feels almost exactly like one you'd find on the S&NA North due to how well modernized it is. It appears that in the 2000s, CSX replaced the gate mech on the far signal with the current Safetran one. Then, in the late-2000s/early-2010s, CSX replaced all of the lights here with the current LED Safetran 12x24 inch lights, though the closer signal got some reused heads from the mid to late-90s, it appears. Finally, sometime between 2019 and 2021, the original WRRS mechanical bell here was replaced with the current NEG e-bell. Thankfully, since then, nothing else has changed to this crossing, which is nice to see.
Despite the various upgrades to this crossing, the old double-mast L&N install is still here, which is nice to see. Even better, the closer signal even still retains its original GRS Type D gate mech from the L&N, which I'm definitely glad to see is still around. Admittedly, had this gate mech not been there (and had been replaced with a newer Safetran/Invensys Rail/Siemens one), one would almost be able to pass this off as a crossing on the S&NA North Sub, lol. Thankfully it is still here, and I was able to get another GRS Type D gate mech recorded. With this video, I think I'm now down to only two crossings left on the CSX Mainline Sub with GRS Type D gate mechs that I have yet to record. The far signal also still retains an older diagonally-striped fiberglass gate arm, which certainly adds a nice touch to this crossing. Hopefully it remains largely unchanged for a few more years to come, but, either way, I'm quite glad I got it recorded when I did.

https://www.rxrsignals.com/Kentucky/A-K ... n/Bristow/