*originally recorded on 5-19-22*
Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Modern Industries 8 inch lights, and NEG electronic bell, a GRS gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 3 pairs of Modern Industries 8 inch lights, 2 pairs of Modern Industries 12x20 inch lights, a Safetran gate mechanism, and NEG LED gate lights.
After catching the local freight, I walked over to this crossing to set-up and wait. After waiting for a few hours (and being startled by the malfunctioning ped crossing more than once), this westbound CSX mixed freight came through with a UP AC44CWCTE leading a KCS SD70ACe, another UP AC44CWCTE, and the same CSX SD40-3 that I saw on the local freight the day prior.
This crossing is another rather nice one, featuring another 70s L&N install that's fairly original. It appears that it was entirely original up until the late-90s/2000s, when CSX replaced the bell here with a General Signals e-bell and replaced the GRS gate mechanism on the closer signal with a Safetran one, it appears adding a short extension to the gate mast at the same time. Then, sometime between 2009 and 2013, the General Signals e-bell here got replaced with a WCH mechanical bell, and the cantilever's gate mast had the extension removed, but the gate mast on the cantilever was replaced entirely (with the gate mech being re-used) between 2013 and 2016. The WCH mechanical bell here always rang kinda rough and off-beat it seems based on videos I've seen, and then sometime within the past few years, it cracked its gong. Sometime after that (and much more recently), CSX replaced the WCH mechanical bell here with the current NEG e-bell, and no other major changes seem to have occurred to these signals since, thankfully.
Even though the WCH mechanical bell that had been here is now gone, this is honestly still probably my favorite crossing in Pascagoula, as it still features some nice classic L&N signals with older MI lights. I especially like the WCH cantilever here, with the classic L&N install with 12 inch overhead lights and 8 inch mast lights, and the GRS gate mech on the far side is always neat to see, IMHO. The far signal is also rather far back from the crossing, thanks to a long-removed second track that used to run through the crossing. All in all, this is a great little crossing and hopefully these classic L&N signals stick around for years to come, but either way I'm glad I was able to film it.
Just to the west of this crossing is the old Pascagoula L&N depot, which later saw use as an Amtrak station until the Sunset Limited was infamously annulled east of New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. Although Amtrak is trying to bring service back to Mobile, I have no idea if they'll stop here in Pascagoula again, and, if they do, if they'll use the old depot again. The building doesn't seem to be terrible shape looking inside, but it is noticeably leaning these days, which I'm fairly certain is a sign of a major structural issue.
http://www.rxrsignals.com/Mississippi/Pascagoula/Magnolia/
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