Monroe Street Railroad Crossing Tour, Carleton, MI.

So on this weekend's collab (on July 29th), me and the boys have decided to check out Carleton, where we have a diamond where the CSX Saginaw sub and CN Flat Rock sub cross, right by this small village town (and this is also where the CSX Saginaw sub becomes the Toledo Terminal), And honestly, this town has some pretty neat crossings too, and first things first, I had to tour this one, since ye know, its kinda iconic in a way lol
(and apologies if I may have gotten anything incorrect, this was actually my first time going to Carleton, and to be honest, I might come back some day)
(Also sadly as I later found out, the last remaining GS Type 1 E bell here is dead. So this is now an all-NEG E Bell crossing. RIP)
A Few Pointers: The Crossing down from here is Ash street, and there's also 2 crossings on that road, one owned by CSX while the other is owned by CN (Like here)
And technically, the Lincoln Secondary ends here, not necessarily begins lol
Location: Monroe Street, Carleton, Michigan
Railroad Owners: CSX, CN
Former Railroad Owners: C&O, GTW, DT&I, etc.
Status: Active
Estimated Trains Per Day: 20-25 (or more)
Amount of Tracks: 3
Quiet Zone: No
The rest of the video should explain for itself. Thanks for watching!

[@RoyalKingOfTheRails]

Great tour! Such a great location to railfan. Couple of corrections though, Carleton gets about 14-18 trains. And the CSX Toledo Terminal starts just north of the diamond right where the Lincoln Secondary merges with the Saginaw Sub. North of that branch line is the Saginaw sub.

[@dancline2143]

This set up reminds me of a 1970's Penn Central set up

[@raptorbirdsfan2024]

Notice that Downriver Rail Productions used to railfan there back in like 2014 - 2017 or so & I saw how that Railroad Crossing was wired & whatnot.
He even caught a few malfunctions there or so, plus at one time that after he caught a Flat Rock Train there, just before he ended his Video, the CSX Line started to malfunction right at deactivation & immediately brought the Gate back down on the Primary Signal, while the CSX Signal activated at the same time that the CN Flat Rock Signal deactivated, in which that was pretty cool to see there.
It is however sad for him to end the Video there after the malfunction started on the CSX Line ‘cause his main focus was on the Flat Rock Train after all, as even though IMO, he could’ve caught the whole CSX Line malfunction alongside, as a bonus to his Flat Rock Catch Video.
But it was still cool to see there either way right at the end of his Flat Rock Catch Video.
Sadly, that Video is now gone, as he deleted it off his Channel, especially as his Downriver railfanning days are long over now.
But yeah, in terms of hope, I hope to see some Videos of that Railroad Crossing from you guys soon to see what it’s like in the modern days now & hopefully some malfunctions can be caught there as well.
If there was one thing that I’d hope for, I’d hope that while at the same time that you catch a Train on whichever Line, the other Line starts to malfunction right in the middle & which then’d make it a very interesting & like rare moment & whatnot with all the 3 Signals activated, since basically, with the Diamond & whatnot between the 2 Lines, it’s unfortunately one or the other, as the only times that a Train Meet would even happen there would be on the CSX Line, since the CSX Line has 2 Tracks together next to each other, & also the only times that all the Signals would be activated is if a Train comes on one Line & the other Line malfunctions or if both Lines malfunction at the same time.
But yeah, pretty interesting Railroad Crossing either way, even if it’s different than how it is at the Downriver Railroad Crossings ‘cause all their Lines there are straight without any Diamonds (Except for between King Rd. & Harrison Ave. in Trenton, MI…), even though with some Cross-Tracks & whatnot, plus with more chances of Train Meets there & especially with how most of the 14 Railroad Crossings are wired in the modern days, a chance to see all the Signals activated, especially if a rare 3-Train Meet occurs.
At the 4 Railroad Crossings there that’re still wired correctly, to be able to see all the Signals activated is if a 4-Train Meet was to occur, if any Trains & malfunctions occur at the same time, or if all the Lines there malfunction at the same time.
That’d then be the only way to catch those 4 correctly wired Railroad Crossings with all the Signals activated.

[@Damon810Railfan]

Indeed, quite the handful of people filmed this crossing in the past actually
And while we were there, we did end up catching a flat rock train and plenty of CSX action, only to sadly find out that the last remaining GS Type 1 is dead
But its definitely still a neat crossing, love the classic equipment on it

[@cjcompton9410]

@@Damon810Railfangreat video