New Viall Ave 1 Crossing (Mechanicville, NY)

This is the NEW look to the crossing. The gated WCH signals have been replaced with new US&S gate mechanisms, US&S electronic bells, and RSI 12x20" LED lights. As you may be able to see, the lights have white LED sidelights. There are also now TWO bells here, compared to the single bell before. I came across this train on my way home from work and either it was a short train, or traffic was low because I was able to get to the parking spot in front of the crossing where this vid was taken. The bells sound A LOT like General Signals Type 2 electronic bells. At least they don't sound like the WCH e-bells at the Broadway crossing.

Construction is ongoing in the area (as you can see at the end) for the Pan Am Southern deal, so more changes in the future are likely! You can see that the old 8" incandescent mast signal still remained at the time this video was taken, but as of 11/16/11, it has since been replaced with a new signal with 12X20" RSI LEDs. More subtle changes may be coming, so stay tuned!

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Railroad
• Crossing
• Train
• Flashing
• RSI
• LED
• Lights
• US&S
• Gates
• Electronic
• Bell
• Pan
• Am
• Southern

[n2uid01]

In the 60's and 70's that yard was unbelievably busy!

[weatherdan882002]

@n2uid01 I can imagine. I'm glad it's coming back to life a bit!

[TheRailFanBoy780]

US&S E- Bell sounds similar to General Signals type 2 but this beats all the bells i have heard. soft cool tone

[weatherdan882002]

@dcarpine28 Well, they ended up replacing it. IDK if they reused the mast or if it's a brand new signal (probably a whole new signal), but the lights now match the rest of the signals, although they kinda scrunched the top and bottom light sets together...

[dcarpine28]

@weatherdan882002 Ohh that's too bad it won't be there. But your right. It is needed by the looks of the crossing.

People aren't carefull at double track crossings. I was watching a video yesterday on youtube and the biker went across when the gates were still down at a two track crossing. There might be another train coming.

[weatherdan882002]

@dcarpine28 Yeah, that little signal may not be there in the future. I hope it gets upgraded, but the worst case scenario is that it gets removed and never replaced. It IS needed though, especially for that side street. As for the bells, I like it when they ring when the gates go up too, although it is dangerous, especially at crossings with more than one track (you can't tell if the gates are going to come back down or not)..

[dcarpine28]

@weatherdan882002 Yea your right. That is not good. The top ones on the right signal I can't see flashing at all. At least they kept that little signal up that is inside that gaurd rail with old lights. I also like how the bells come on when the gates go up. I do like that aspect though.

[weatherdan882002]

@dcarpine28 I agree. Another bad factor, as you can see, is the sun reflecting off the lights. The new look has kinda grown on me, although the presence of the old mast signal is kinda slowing that growth down.

[dcarpine28]

Great Video!! It's too bad they need to upgrade every crossing. The m-bells and incandasent lights are better.