*originally recorded on 2-28-22*
Signal on the left: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a GE electronic bell, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 2 pairs of Safetran 12x24 inch lights, a Safetran gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
While F785 was working the Carolina Piedmont Railway, I heard from the conductor that they'd have to run around at the siding up at Ora before they'd head back to Greenwood, so I decided to head up to this crossing that I'd seen before while looking at Google Maps on my phone. After a little while of waiting, F785 got lined to the siding, and the signal there upgraded for them. A little bit after that, F785 came through this crossing on their way to Ora to run around.
This crossing is a rather nice one, and is certainly one that I'm quite glad I got to record it, as it's a bit odd. The signals here were installed by CSX back in the early 2000s, though, it seems that in the mid-to-late 2000s, CSX installed some kind of crossing monitoring system from GE here and replaced the bell at this crossing. Since then, no major changes appear to have occurred here, thankfully. I'm especially glad to see that there's a GE e-bell here and it still works, given that this is only the second one that I've recorded in action. It's also rather neat seeing one of these operational on an early 2000s CSX install, as CSX only used them for a brief moment in the late-2000s/early-2010s, and most of the ones CSX has in use still were installed on signals/masts they installed during that time period. It seems rare to find one on a CSX crossing with incandescent lights like this. I'm still quite glad to have finally been able to get another one of these GE e-bells recorded, TBH. Believe this is also the only GE e-bell in use in South Carolina as well.
As mentioned above, this crossing is a bit odd. If you notice, each light has a wire running down the front of its background, each of which runs from a large GE box mounted on the light brackets and goes to a small camera mounted on the underside of the visors, facing the lenses. The relay case also made a quiet beep every so often, which I believe is related to this. It appears that this was some kind of crossing monitoring system from GE that CSX trialed for a bit. I asked @TommyBNSF if he'd seen anything similar before, and he told me that he's seen some crossings with this on the CSX Garrett Sub up in eastern Indiana. However, given how few and far between these seem to be, and the fact that I'm not aware of any other installs of these on CSX's lines, I have to suspect that CSX wasn't too impressed with it and stopped using the system fairly quickly.
If you like my videos, feel free to leave me a tip on Ko-Fi! As YouTube has demonetized my channel, this is currently the only way I can make money to be able to go places.
https://ko-fi.com/freebrickproductions