The CSX Dothan Subdivision is a former ACL main line that runs from Montgomery, AL, to Thomasville, GA. In Thomasville, it connects to the CSX Thomasville Sub which runs to Waycross, forming what was known as the ACL's "Bow Line" from Waycross to Montgomery. Unfortunately, over the past few decades, traffic dropped off along the line, including the Amtrak Floridian, which was run across the line, so maintenance of the line was allowed the be deferred, causing a 25 MPH speed restriction to be placed over the whole line. As a result, CSX dropped all non-local freights from the line, save for only two long-distance locals were being run all the way across the line: CSX A723 (Montgomery to Waycross, usually to Thomasville by the time the sun rises) and CSX A724 (Waycross to Montgomery, usually leaves Thomasville in the later-morning/early afternoon). However, in recent years, CSX began work to fix up the line and bring it back up to 40 MPH, including replacing the jointed rail that still remained over much of the line.
In 2018, on my way to and from Florida that summer, I was able to document almost every crossing along the line from Troy, AL, to Cowarts, AL. At this time, CSX had replaced the jointed rail north of Dothan, but Dothan to Montgomery was still only 25 MPH. While I only caught one train (a northbound grain train), it was enough for me to decide that in 2019, I would take another trip back to this line.
In 2019, I decided to take a two-week trip back to this line, this time with the intention of getting every signalized crossing along the line documented (which I was successfully able to do). On this trip, the section of the line north of Dothan had been upgraded back to 40 MPH (for the most part), though the section south of Dothan was still only 25 MPH, but it also still mostly featured the old jointed rail.
The main reason I decided to come out to this line is easily the crossings. Due to a lack of traffic and upgrades done to the line, there is a huge variety of older equipment all from the ACL, SCL, SDB, and even some older & newer stuff from CSX. As a result, this is easily the best Class I line in the entire state, when it comes to crossing equipment. In fact, in part thanks to the lack of upgrades, there's still some great rare crossing equipment along the line in Alabama, including a pretty large number of vandal guards, two cats-eye crossbucks, a fair number of old ACL signals (including several gateless, bell-less installs), and a large number of 8 inch lights and mechanical bells. However, over in Georgia, it appears that this part of the line got slightly more attention, as all but one crossing along this part of the line is gated (with the only gateless crossing located in Jakin) and most of the equipment appears to be from the SCL or newer (though there is still an old ACL signal in Cairo). However, this part of the line also still retains a large number of 8 inch lights and plenty of mechanical bells, along with many US&S/WABCO Model 75 gate mechs (there's only one WABCO Model 75 left along the line in Alabama, in the city of Ashford, and no US&S Model 75s). There is also a large number of unusual or otherwise unique crossing signals, so that's also quite nice to see. Either way, this line has a ton of great crossing equipment, so I'm quite glad to have been able to document all of it and record a large amount of it.
However, due to the upgrades this line is getting, it appears that CSX is starting to put more money into the signals, especially for LED upgrades. As such, that's why I chose to go ahead and get the entire line documented, as there's not really any telling as to if any of this stuff will still be around next year. Thankfully, the LED upgrades don't seem to have gotten into full swing yet and seem to largely be confined to the Donalsonville and Cairo areas, though there's still a fair few elsewhere along the line, though mostly south of Dothan, it appears. Thankfully, most of what I had been after wasn't upgraded (and if it was, it wasn't a complete overhaul), so I'm quite grateful for that.
Only two of the videos in this video were taken in July of 2018, while the rest were all taken on my two week trip in the summer of 2019, for those who are curious.
Also, for those who want to take a look at this line on Mike's Railroad Crossing Website, here's the northernmost and southernmost crossings:
Northernmost:
www.rxrsignals....
Southernmost:
www.rxrsignals....
Feel free to click on either one of those and follow it all the way to the other end!
3 окт 2024
