Province Line Road Railroad Crossing (South Side), Hopewell, NJ
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- originally recorded on 9-10-17
Signal on the left: 1.5 pairs of Federal Signal 12x20 inch lights, 1 WCH 12x20 inch light, a WCH mechanical bell, a WCH gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Signal on the right: 1.5 pairs of Federal Signal 12x20 inch lights, 1 WCH 12x20 inch light, a WCH mechanical bell, a WCH gate mechanism, and RECO LED gate lights.
Went up to New Jersey last week to record a bunch of crossings. I went to this crossing first to meet-up with Elliot (TheBigmindCreator) and Grant (Yoshi the Railfanner), though Grant sadly wasn't able to make it, but I was able to meet-up with Elliot though. Those of y'all who've been watching Grant's videos for some time may also recognize this crossing, as he used to railfan here a lot a few years ago. This was the second train that I caught on the CSX Trenton Sub: a long northbound mixed freight (Elliot and I believe it was CSX Q438) with another ES40DC leading and an SD70MAC and an AC44CW trailing.
This crossing is a bit of a weird one: these signals were replaced some gateless signals back in the late 1990s when Conrail still owned the crossing. However, they appear to have re-used at least most of the lights from other crossings. I'm not entirely sure where they came from, but I believe it would've been what's now the NS Lehigh Line (also owned by Conrail at the time) as the line's not too far from the CSX Trenton Sub and one of the crossings there has a pair of cantilevers with Federal Signal 12x20 inch lights on it. The bells likely were re-used from the old signals at this crossing. The gates and gate lights were replaced back in 2015, replacing what were likely the original fiber-glass gates and NEG gate lights to the signals. Also, each signal has one Federal Signal light and one WCH light facing the camera on this side.
www.rxrsignals....
I know I pointed this out to you a long time ago, but it turns out that prior to 1999, Sunnymead Road was also gateless. And it had 12x20" WCH lights. So either those lights were placed on the Province Line crossing gates, or the crossing already had gates before then.
Not only does David Paul's latest upload confirm that the crossing signals were gateless for at least the early part of the 1990s, but it also raises the question - could Conrail have worked the gates onto the already existing masts? For me, that possibility is raised by the fact that the masts stand at about the same height, same width, and the same distance from the track as they do today. But at the same time, since Conrail had already installed many of those WCH gates at several crossings across the network, wouldn't have been more simple for them to install new gates? Well, rigging crossing protection equipment (merging different components onto another signal) was common at the time. I refer you to one of the old gates at Main Street Royersford and a few others on the Harrisburg division as examples. And with Province Line road being so rural, they possibly could have set gates up on the then-ungated masts with little disruption. But tell me what you think of the idea.
The masts and bells appear to be of about the same age (late-70s/early to mid-80s), based on the bells being 1st Gens, with the lights here at the time most likely being reused from an older install, so I wouldn't be too surprised if Conrail later added the gate mechs to these signals. It wouldn't be the first time I've seen a railroad add gates to a pair of existing signals...
ua-cam.com/video/SsTBkJz-x9Y/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/fGuXjdX-l0s/v-deo.html
@@freebrickproductions logically, setting up new gated masts with old bells and flashers intact would have made sense. But what I come back to with my theory is the height of the old masts in the video. They look like they were purposely elongated to provide provisions for mechanisms and gates once Conrail got around to it. And with the installation of a new relay box, they could have easily got them going properly on the ungatrd masts. And that puts my mind at ease a bit.
As of Present Day not much changes happened to the Crossing except for the Federal Signal lights they were both replaced with newer WCH Lights.
I'm aware. I believe this line's been given an LED upgrade.
Is that you in the front of the crossing taking pictures cause when you have a tour your voice sounds nice.
Yea.
Nice video! Is this on the CSX Trenton Subdivision?
Thanks! As I mention in the description, yes.
I really like this video. The train kind of looked like it was slowing down. I also loved the crossing.
Thanks! I believe it was, as there was a section of restricted speed to the east of this crossing.
Nice catch.
Thanks!
Great catch with that sd70mac nice video
Thanks!
What is that orange crew shirt I see you wear in videos sometimes is it at railroad one?
Yea. I bought it from the Huntsville & Madison County Railroad.
UA-camr elirosen1391 commented on one of my videos that these were installed in 1999 (as a side note)
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