Church Street Railroad Crossing #1, Huntsville, AL with Malfunctions and the Southern Heritage Unit!

originally recorded on 5-2-20
Old signal on the left: 4 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, a WCH mechanical bell, an Invensys Rail gate mechanism, a RECO LED gate light, and RECO gate lights.
Old signal on the right: 3 pairs of Safetran 12x20 inch lights, an Invensys Rail gate mechanism, and NEG gate lights.
Non-functional new signal on the right: 2 pairs of bagged Safetran 12x20 inch lights with GE Uniform Look LEDs, a General Signals (Type 3?) electronic bell, and a Siemens gate mechanism.
On May 2nd, I went out to try and catch NS 201 with the Southern Heritage Unit leading. After getting word it was past Stevenson, I came out here and waited for him to come through, which was sadly after the sun had set. Thankfully, there was plenty of ambient light with made the video come out decently, and it was still nice to see it again, so I'm glad I was able to. The trailing unit on the train was an NS AC44C6M.
I also met-up with a few other local railfans here, one of whom brought his truck which has an RS3K mounted on it. As you can hear, he blew it a few times during the video.
As you can see, NS is in the process of upgrading the crossing here. This is because the city is widening Church Street to five lanes (it currently drops from 5 lanes to 3 at the crossing when heading north), so the signals have to be replaced as a result, sadly. However, the new signals will also protect the yard track here, which will be nice to see. Still a shame that the Memphis East will be losing another mechanical bell though.
Also, for some reason, while the train was passing the crossing shut off a few times, though only once were the gates able to go all the way up. I'm not entirely sure why this happened, as when I returned here for a daytime video a few days later, they worked fine, but I suspect it was due to the upgrade work going on here. Will be interesting to track the progress of this upgrade though.
www.rxrsignals....

[@WaffleDragon]

Years ago, I saw the W Pearl Ave. crossing in Tampa, FL shut off completely and stay off as the CSX local was passing. Black tank cars crossing a dark road at night, not good.

[@TheBCRailfan]

Super Catch with the NS SOU Heritage Unit! That malfunction at 1:48 shocked me, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, lol. Also quite cool you’ve met another guy that brought an RS3K horn and blew it multiple times as well!

[@freebrickproductions]

Thanks!

[@qualityscalereviews2767]

Great video, and an even better horn haha!

[@freebrickproductions]

Thanks!

[@ZayTheRailfanner]

Gate: I'm tired I want to go up
Track: The train is still passing!
Gate: HURRY UP TRAIN I WANT TO GO UP!!!
cantilever: ok the train is now passed your happy now?
Gate: FINALLY NOW I CAN GET SOME REST!!!
Lol nice catch!

[@freebrickproductions]

Thanks!

[@chaoticboi2257]

Nice catch!
That horn sounds amazing! Also the train's horn was cool too.
Lol you see what I did there?
Also it's kinda creepy seeing the gates go up because they probably can do the same thing when the train is coming and nobody would ever know.

[@freebrickproductions]

Thanks!

[@chaoticboi2257]

@@freebrickproductions you're welcome!

[@MobileRailSpotterRxR]

Awesome catch!! I still wonder how some crossings malfunction like this where the gates rise and deactivate and activate while the train is still passing.

[@freebrickproductions]

Thanks!

[@TPNWR10]

Yes. That bell is a GS Type 3. NS installs new signals with GE Uniform Look LED with a Siemens Gate. There are also Siemens cantilevers with RACO splice boxes.

[@sebastianstracksandgameswo9595]

First, Jackson Street in Courtland, AL, Now this crossing and Oh I just remembered, at the end of 2016 on the HMCR line, Whitesburg Drive and Blanda Drive were off the whole time as the train goes by.

[@GLOATINGMAPLE01]

I see why they replaced the singnals because the gates went back up while the train was on the crossing

[@freebrickproductions]

I think this was a result of the work going on here at the time. I recorded them again a few days later and they worked fine.
ruclips.net/video/XOfe5K19xOE/видео.html

[@TheRailroadCrossingChannel]

Nice video! That malfunction is not good!

[@freebrickproductions]

Thanks! Didn't do it a few days later, thankfully.

[@FloridaRailfanKid803]

I Really Hope That They Kept The WC Hayes Mechanical Bell

[@freebrickproductions]

You can literally go to the link in the description and check.

[@FloridaRailfanKid803]

Great Video Also Why Is The New Signal Far Away From The Train Tracks ?

[@freebrickproductions]

Take a look at the crossing on street view and you'll have the answer to your question.

[@gmftrainvideos]

Very nice video!

[@freebrickproductions]

Thanks!

[@HVACSirenTowerTrainFanFan2012]

Great Catch with the Southern Heritage Unit! The NS Heritage unit that Derailed
What’s the Channel name of the Railfan who Has the RS3K in the Video?

[@freebrickproductions]

Thanks! QualityScaleReviews.

[@HVACSirenTowerTrainFanFan2012]

@@freebrickproductions I actually Met Him in Person! On Accident when I was recording The Ditto Marina PWY Crossing

[@amandap569]

The old signals have been removed. The new ones are still active.

[@freebrickproductions]

I'm well aware. I've filmed the new ones a couple of times as well.

[@kyleb06]

Awesome! That is so crazy that at 1:46 the gates just go up while the train is passing! Shame these nice 1970s signals are being replaced. Great catch with 8099 as well! Who was blowing another train horn BTW?

[@freebrickproductions]

Thanks! A guy named Luke, not sure if they have a RUclips channel or not.

[@qualityscalereviews2767]

That’s my RS3K.

[@jacoblarsen4234]

as ive seen this crossing for years past i feel the wc hayes mecanical bell was never properly sped or maby at one point it was at 200bpm and its just failing but i feel like the old wc hayes bell was just never properly maintained and installed incorrectly (its a theory)

[@freebrickproductions]

It's also a later one, which don't run as well as the older ones did (partially due to internal components within the bell being cheapened).

[@jointedsteel4819]

Nice! What time does 201 usually pass Huntsville because it seems like it always has Heritage units!

[@freebrickproductions]

Thanks! Used to be a good early to mid-afternoon train, but these days, he's been coming through after sunset pretty consistently.

[@jointedsteel4819]

Ok

[@RailfanNS]

Nice!

[@freebrickproductions]

Thanks!

[@GLOATINGMAPLE01]

What did ns do with the old singnals

[@freebrickproductions]

Probably scrap them. Maybe save the lights (since they were relatively new) for re-use elsewhere.

[@railfanlynx]

Someone’s gonna get hit of that crossing keeps mailfuctiosning.

[@freebrickproductions]

It didn't do it the following time I came to this crossing, as I mentioned in the description.

[@apronchaperon]

I'm hoping they just remove the middle cantilever of the crossing, and keep the other one, but it's probably likely they gonna remove both signals.

[@freebrickproductions]

Yea, the far cantilever's going as well. In my other video, I show the other new cantilever awaiting installation.

[@apronchaperon]

@@freebrickproductions Maybe you can try to get the WCH Bell?

[@freebrickproductions]

Maybe? I kinda doubt it though.

[@shanikasanders6977]

Hey do you crossing signals keep turning off and turning on when the train is gone. They will about to turn off

[@shanikasanders6977]

And Church Street

[@freebrickproductions]

What?

[@shanikasanders6977]

Because on the street , When the train comes, the railroad crossing signals Will turn on, when the train is gone, it will turn off.

[@sebastianstracksandgameswo9595]

Is that a defect detector on 0:15

[@freebrickproductions]

Yes.