Railroad Crossings of the CSX S&NA North Subdivision
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- The CSX S&NA North Subdivision is a 187-mile long CSX mainline from Nashville, TN, to Birmingham, AL, and features 92 active signalized crossings along it. All but four of these are on the main, with the four exceptions being on the CSX Belfast and N&D Branches, with a 93rd, out of service, crossing existing on a spur in Cullman. This line is very busy, forming part of CSX's corridor for freight traffic between Chicago, IL, and Jacksonville, FL, and carries a lot of freight traffic, especially intermodal traffic, as a result, though it seems some of the other unit trains, especially the phosphate trains, are being routed via Chattanooga these days, likely to try and reduce congestion. Check the pinned comment for a brief history on the line.
Due to how busy this line is, CSX has gotten it pretty well modernized over the years, though a good few fully-modernized L&N signals of varying ages exist along the line, including some old Federal Signal cantilevers in Decatur and a good few gateless and one pair of gated (in Hayden, AL) TPC signals on the line from Athens southwards. There are also a good few of the classic L&N "double-mast" installs along it, which are always a treat to see. Only one pair of SBD signals, a pair of Safetran signals installed in the 1980s, exists along the line and can be found at White City. The CSX installs along the line are mostly from the 90s or newer, though two crossings still feature some modernized 80s CSX installs. Near the southern end of the line are a pair of Safetran cantilevers that appear to have been re-used from an SCL line somewhere, likely off of one of the ones that ran to Birmingham. Athens also features two crossings with pedestrian signals at it, the only ones along the S&NA North. Of the 92 crossings, 24 of them are still gateless (along with the out of service one in Cullman), 21 of which are on the main. Most of these are older L&N installs (and the SBD install), but one in College Grove features a relatively modern gateless CSX install with side-mounted NEG e-bells.
Due to how modernized it is, only two of the crossings along the line retain a mechanical bell, and both of these are WCH bells and are only found in Alabama. Neither of these mechanical bells are original to their crossings, however, and both were installed in the mid-2010s.
The other 90 crossings all feature electronic bells, with these largely being a mix of GS Type 2s, Safetran Type 2s, and NEG e-bells. There are two Safetran Type 3 e-bells remaining along the S&NA North, and both of these exist on the Tennessee part of the line. Amazingly, as it seems CSX had gone through and replaced most of the bells along the line in the late-90s/early-2000s, the line still retains 22 different crossings along it that each have at least one working GS Type 1 e-bell, which is very nice to see, IMHO.
Similarly, the lights along this line are all 12 inch lights, with all but one crossing featuring all 12x24 inch lights, and they are all LED. The LEDs in use along the S&NA North are entirely a mix of WCH 2nd Gen and Leotek EV Series LEDs. There used to be some Dialight Ball LEDs around Carey Siding, but those were replaced a few years back sadly. The line got its LED upgrade in about 2013/2014, though Market Street in Athens remained fully incandescent up until about 2015 when CSX finally upgraded it to LED as well (before replacing the signals there the following year).
The light-heads along the line are primarily newer Safetran and WCH 12x24 inch lights, though some newer Harmon 12x24s can also be found along the line. There are also a few older WCH 12x24s and MI 12x24s that can be found mixed in here and there as well, along with three early Harmon 12x24s at Hobbs Street in Athens. The only 12x20 inch lights along the line exist at a crossing on the Belfast Branch in Lewisburg, TN, and are four pairs of MI 12x20s on the overheads of that cantilever crossing.
Likewise, the gate mechanisms are similarly well modernized, as all of the remaining GRS and WCH gate mechs along the line were replaced by the mid-2010s. The gate mechanisms along the line now are primarily Safetran gate mechanisms from the mid-90s to the early-2010s, with a good few Invensys Rail and various designs of Siemens gate mechs, including the modern ones, mixed in. The oldest gate mechanism along the line is an 80s-style Safetran gate mechanism just south of Ardmore, AL, at Sweet Springs Road, installed on the bell-less signal there in the mid-90s with the current signals there (the other gate mech there is a mid-90s Safetran one).
However, even with how well modernized the line is, it's still a fun CSX line to shoot, especially thanks to how busy it is. Of course, this line is also my closest CSX mainline, so there may be some bias in that, lol.
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The line was originally built by a few different railroads, including the three that later became the Nashville & Decatur Railroad north of Decatur, and the South & North Alabama Railroad main from Decatur south to Birmingham (which is where the line takes its name from), back in the 1800s, which all eventually came under the control of the L&N. As the original N&D main was not laid very well, the L&N built their own mainline, the Lewisburg & Northern, between Nashville and Athens, in 1915, which was the last new line the L&N ever built and, as such, is the newest section of the S&NA North. This line was built to a higher standard, allowing for higher speeds, and wound-up being about 4 miles shorter than the original N&D route.
The S&NA North would remain under the ownership of the L&N, and would pass onto the SBD and eventually CSX, who still uses it today. In the 1980s, the original N&D line between Athens, AL, and Pulaski, TN, was abandoned and torn-out, with the section north of there to Columbia, TN, being sold-off to the Tennessee Southern Railroad. CSX still retains the portion north of Columbia as the Nashville Subdivision, and a small section of the former main on the north side of Athens still exists as the CSX N&D Branch, which has one signalized crossing along it.
Due to this difference in length, the newer L&N route north of Athens has its mileposts prefixed with "0BA", while the N&D Branch and the line from Athens south is prefixed with the "000" prefix that the L&N main from Louisville to New Orleans uses.
HOW DOD YOU TYPE ALLAT 💀💀💀💀💀
@@sonyahall2085 Using a (physical) keyboard and a computer.
You must be so good at typing all of that stuff @@freebrickproductions
Another fantastic compilation of railroad crossings on my favorite Class I railroad. Nice to see a lot of older railroad crossings from CSX and the L&N, even if they have been upgraded to LED and modernized. My favorite one is Moulton Street in Decatur.
Thanks! Yea, that's a good one.
nise spirit unit on the second freight train in this video. SO LUCKY
Nice catches of the CSX
Thanks!
52:45 oof that right gate...
Yea, it's an S60 and the gate arm kept running into the wind-guard.
Відзнято дуже гарно! Відеосюжет справді прекрасний! Я приємно врадений від перегляду! Але є одне але: в першу чергу мене вразила тривалість відеосюжету! Аж більше 6 годин! Ого як багато! Тривалість мене вразила в найпершу чергу.
Дякую!
Oh my god! So many crossings! How many are there?
I state in the first couple lines of the description, lol.
My favourite was Elm Street, since i live closest to that crossing.
14:41 *CSX ET44AH*
The S&NA actually keeps running south of Birmingham (idk how far) because I know for a fact it runs through Helena AL
South of Boyles Yard (and the Boyles Terminal), the line becomes the CSX S&NA South Subdivision. The S&NA South runs from Birmingham to Montgomery.
1:20:20 GS 1 on low pitch
連接台車って操車場で一列車を組成するときどうやって連結切り離しをしてるんだろう？
連接車両。連接点に台車/台車があり、基本的に大型車両 1 台分なので、相互に切り離す必要はありません。 ただし、車両の端部には他の車両と連結できるようにナックルカプラーが装備されています。
@@freebrickproductions >なるほど連接台車は基本的に切り離しをしないんですね。よく考えたら連接台車を使ってる貨車は高速コンテナ便だから切り離す必要は車両数の調整や空車返却以外基本ないですね。
日本語での返信ありがとうございます。
Dafa