Railroad Crossings I've Recorded With RACO/Safetran Cantilevers

** - crossing has received an upgrade since this video was recorded, but the cantilever(s) still remain

These cantilevers are another one of my favorite designs, and are definitely a classic as well. The cantilevers of this design appear to have originally been made by Griswold, though I sadly have yet to record any Griswold ones, so all of the examples I've filmed so far have been from RACO or Safetran. It seems these may have been designed to compete with the WRRS cantilevers, as some of these were designed to have the arms be extendable, though I'm not sure if the arms were designed to swing out from over the road like the WRRS ones could do.

I haven't been able to record as many of these cantilevers as I have of the WRRS/FS/WCH ones, despite how much I like them. While these were used all over the country, it appears that they were more commonly used by railroads out west of the Mississippi than they were over here in the eastern United States. Down here in the southeast, however, it seems the SOU, SCL, Frisco, and GM&O/ICG were the biggest users of these, and a good few of them can still be found on their former trackage, though have slowly disappeared over the years. The L&N doesn't seem to have ever used any, though a couple have managed to crop-up on their trackage over the years, though the one I recorded seems to have possibly been an ex-SCL one re-installed at a crossing on a former L&N line. The A&WP and its two sister railroads also seem to have used these as well, though I don't think many, if any, have survived.
Strangely, although some do exist on the former Conrail territory, IIRC, it doesn't seem like these were generally too popular in that part of the country, though a good few examples can still be found if you know where to look. I do tend to mostly associate these with the older railroads out west, however. Especially when it comes to ones with bells mounted on the sides of the masts, usually between the two parts of the arms. Those look especially classic, IMHO, though I know I've only ever been able to record one of those, unfortunately.

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