Railroad Crossings of the CSX Mainline Subdivision
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2024
- The CSX Mainline Subdivision is a 165.5 mile long CSX line that runs from Louisville, KY, to Nashville, TN. This line was the Louisville & Nashville Railroad's main line between its two namesake cities, hence the name. It was never spun off, so it got passed to the ownership of the Seaboard System in 1982 and then CSX in 1986, with the latter still owning it to this day. This line is sadly not exactly the busiest these days, but it does still see around 10 daily trains on it, if I had to guess, excluding locals. Most of the freight are five daily mixed freights (one of which is pretty much run as a unit autorack) plus as-needed autorack trains. There are also a pair of daily intermodal trains over the line, I141 and I142.
Thankfully, likely a result of the fewer trains on this line, it still retains a lot of older equipment, especially from the L&N. Most of the L&N-era installs are FS and MI installs from the 1970s and possibly the early-80s, though a good few 1960s and before WRRS/TPC installs can also be found along the line. There aren't too many 1980s installs, with these being a few of US&S and Safetran SBD installs and one 1980s CSX install. There are also several mid and late-90s CSX installs which are still mostly original, thankfully. You can also find plenty of CSX installs from the 2000s and newer, of course.
The line also features a good mix of gated and gateless crossings, with three of the gateless crossings retaining mechanical bells. Many of the old L&N-era gated installs are the classic double-mast installs, but there are a good few that have just one mast, unsurprisingly. The cantilevers on this line are a mix of older L&N cantilevers and newer CSX ones. Most of the L&N ones are MI cantilevers, though an old FS cantilever does still exist in Franklin, the last one on the line. Admittedly, this cantilever isn't original to the crossing, and was reused from a different crossing in Franklin that was upgraded. The line also still features a bell-less gated crossing just south of Louisville.
As far as lights go, this is one of the last two CSX lines running out of Nashville with incandescent lights (the other being the Bruceton Sub), though, unsurprisingly, plenty of LEDs are to be had along the line. The LEDs in use on this line are a mix of Dialight Balls, WCH 2nd Gens, and Leotek EV Series LEDs. As far as light heads go, you can still find a good variety of 8 inch and 12 inch ones. The 8 inch lights are a mix of WRRS, Federal Signal, and Modern Industries, and all of them are incandescent. With 12 inch lights, you can still find a mix of older and newer MI 12x20s and 12x24s, older and newer WCH 12x24s, Safetran 12x24s from the 80s and newer, and even a few Federal Signal 12x20s and Harmon 12x24s.
As far as bells go, it's another mix of older and newer ones along the line. Most of the bells along the line are electronic bells, especially NEGs & Safetran Type 2s, though you can still find a good few General Signals Type 2s & Safetran Type 3s in use. There are also quite a few GS Type 1s left along this line, it appears, though they are slowly disappearing.
As far as mechanical bells go, there are still a good few left along the line as well, with 17 crossings still retaining at least one mechanical bell. Unsurprisingly, most of these are WCH (and mostly 2nd Gens at that), but a small mix of others can be found in use still as well. The line also still retains five crossings with MI mechanical bells, & four with WRRS mechanical bells. Just north of Lebanon Junction is even still a crossing with a pair of US&S mechanical bells, the only ones on the Mainline Sub. This line also used to retain a school bell in use at Main Street in Portland, TN, but sadly that crossing was upgraded just last year and it no longer exists. There is also a dead Safetran mechanical bell around Bowling Green, the last one on the line.
Like with the other equipment, this line also still retains a decent mix of older and newer gate mechanisms along it. For most of the older gate mechanisms, they are GRS Type Ds, with a mix of the GRS/WRRS branding and GRS-only branding, though I believe mostly the latter. The rest of the gate mechanisms are a mix of Safetran ones, from the 80s through the early-2010s, as well as a few Invensys Rail & plenty of Siemens gate mechs (of all styles) mixed in. Sadly, no WCH or US&S Model 75 gate mechs remain on this line, as the WCH ones were replaced years ago while the last Model 75 was yeeted within the past few years.
Unsurprisingly, most gate lights along this line are LED with a mix of RECO and NEG LEDs in use. There are also some Progress Rail LEDs in use as well, though only three are left, IIRC. However, you can still also find a good few RECO incandescent gate lights as well, which is nice to see.
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I know I’m very late on this. But I have to say, great job on another compilation of older railroad crossings on the CSX Railroad.
Thanks!
I love this video keep up the good work
Thanks!
DPU I see you
😊
why hasnt CSX updated their crossings yet?
Because they ain't needed to along this line.
@@freebrickproductions fair point
Because they don’t need to?
It a very expensive project, and it's a waste of money
Hey I have a question so I do crossing tours on my RUclips channel and I need to know how can you tell the difference between a westerwestern Cullen Hayes clamp style base and other brands?
No bells for the first video? Why?
The L&N just never installed any there it seems.
Huh, that’s odd in first one, no bells?
Nope.
It's rare.
EMD TIER 4 ?
Any updates on Pratt avenue?
Was out of town for about a week and then been sick with COVID since then. Before I left there hadn't been any major changes since my last update video on it, outside of maybe the new gateless signal having a crossbuck added to it (though it still hadn't been installed).
@@freebrickproductions okay just curious because it seems like NS is slowly starting to move away from the Siemens equipment and was just wondering if it might be the case for Pratt Ave
@@DTVM2003 Nah, it appears they're still using Siemens equipment. Outside of the US&S Model 95s in the Carolinas (and parts of Georgia and Tennessee) and their trial a few years back of WCH gate mechs (mostly up in the midwest), I haven't seen much sign of them moving towards any other brands.
Only exception is General Signals for e-bells on new signals, for the most-part.
@@freebrickproductions I say that because class j video productions and Nicholas Miles have both documented crossings on NS main lines that have been recently upgraded to all Western Cullen Hayes equipment in Virginia and Ohio along with NEG e bells and either WCH 2nd gen LEDs or leotek EV series LEDs, and it just made me think they would do the same thing to Pratt avenue
@DTVM2003 The new equipment for Pratt Avenue can be seen in at least one of my update videos, and it's all Siemens equipment (save for the bells, which I don't believe have shown-up yet).
And just because one division of NS is trialing WCH and other brands of stuff again doesn't mean that other divisions are gonna follow suit. The Gulf Division (previously the Alabama Division) never used any of the WCH gate mechs or US&S gate mechs when other divisions were using them, for example.
The Tennessee Division, which the Memphis Districts were apart of prior to the dissolution of that division, also didn't adopt e-bells as quickly as the other divisions I've noticed.