Nostalgia & History > Railroad Semaphore

Wikipedia has a webpage on Railway Signal and on Railroad Semaphore Signal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_signal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_semaphore_signal

There is also an interesting website, Railroad Signals of the U.S.

http://www.railroadsignals.us/signals/sem/index.htm

I did a Keyword search on the Denver Public Library Digital Collections Quick Photo Search, http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm , for Railroad Semaphore and got 25 photos. Six of the photos from this search are below.

Picture 1 is enlarged 40%. “Call Number: RR-1167. Title: B & O Doodlebug at Jackson, Ohio? Creator(s): Richardson, Robert W. Summary: Men stand outside a Baltimore & Ohio railroad depot in Ohio. A small structure near the station has the letters: ‘84’ painted on the side. Shows a railroad semaphore signal and freight car. A warehouse is near the railroad tracks. A B & O doodlebug (diesel motor car) is in the distance. Snow covers the ground. Date: 1938? Title penciled on negative envelope. Physical Description: 1 negative: nitrate; 7 x 11 cm. (3 x 4 1/2 in.). Source: Robert W. Richardson; gift.”

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Picture 2 is enlarged 20%. “Call Number: RR-1207. Title: C & O train leaving Lancaster, OH, crossing C. & M V. eng. 89 (4-6-0), four cars. Creator(s): Richardson, Robert W. Summary: A Chesapeake & Ohio railroad passenger train led by steam locomotive 89 leaves Lancaster (Fairfield County), Ohio. Shows railroad semaphore signals, a depot and a parked automobile. Cincinnati & Muskingum Valley Railroad Company railroad tracks are nearby. Houses and sheds are in the distance. Date: 1940 May 5. Title penciled on negative envelope. Physical Description: 1 negative: nitrate; 7 x 11 cm. (3 x 4 1/2 in.). Source: Robert W. Richardson; gift.”

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Picture 3 is enlarged 15%. “Call Number: Z-6226. Title: Coal tower, Chama, N.M. and ash can. Creator(s): Krause, John. Summary: Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company locomotive 494, and tender, stops by a coaling tower at Chama (Rio Arriba County), New Mexico; a semaphore switch is by rock retaining walls. Freight cars full of ash are near the coal tower. A water tank is in the distance. Date: between 1950 and 1959? Title supplied. Stamped on verso: ‘John Krause 20 South Park Ave. Rockville Centre, N.Y.’ Physical Description: 1 photographic print; 20 x 25 cm. (8 x 10 in.).”

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Picture 4 is enlarged 25%. “Call Number: RR-1848. Title: D&RGW, Monarch, Colorado, wye (2-8-2) 489 on stub, headon. Creator(s): Richardson, Robert W. Summary: Denver and Rio Grande Western locomotive 489 (2-8-2), with a push snowplow, vents smoke at Monarch (Chaffee County), Colorado; a man stands in snow by a semaphore switch. Date: 1952 December 29. Title penciled on negative sleeve with: ‘2766.’ Physical Description: 1 negative: nitrate; 11 x 7 cm. (4 1/2 x 3 in.).”

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Picture 5 is enlarged 25%. “Call Number: X-9737. Title: Keota rails show in places shoveling remains to be done, best picture of the new depot built in 1912 & of the Burlington water tank & windmill. Creator(s): Stanley, Clyde L., 1887-1976. Summary: The Burlington depot in Keota, Weld County, Colorado, is a two- story frame building with a gable roof and double hung sash windows. A semaphore signal is by the door, and a water tower and windmill are in the background. People shovel snow, and a building has a sign: ‘Livery & Feed Davis & Trumbo.’
Date: 1913 December 7. Photoprint has scalloped edges. Title hand-written on back of photoprint with: CLS 188-3. Stamp reads: 29. Physical Description: 1 photoprint; 9 x 15 cm. (3 1/2 x 6 in.).”

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Picture 6 is enlarged 40%. Call Number: Z-5929. Title: Union Pacific, near Rawlins, Wyo. Creator(s): Jukes, Fred. Summary: Union Pacific Railroad locomotive 1844 vents smoke and steam near Rawlins (Carbon County), Wyoming. A semaphore signal and snow are to the sides. Date: between 1910 and 1920? Title inked on verso. Library has additional iterations of this item: 1 copy negative 10 x 13 cm. (4 x 5 in.). Physical Description: 1 photographic print; 20 x 15 cm. (8 x 6 in.). Source: Lucius Beebe.”

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Thanks for the picture of the Keota depot. There were several of similar design on the CB&Q Sterling-Cheyenne line; one still exists at Grover which is now a museum. I walked part of the grade at near Keota a year ago; traces of the line are disappearing and Keota itself is in a stage of rapid decay. I believe there is at least one family still living there.

Jim Burrill
Ft. Collins, CO

Thanks for sharing these, flynn!

Not sure I'm familiar with the term "semaphore switch" but sure love the pix!

John Bush
Omaha

That second photo includes a "tilting target" signal in addition to the train order board. Looks like another line crossed there. Reference the DRG&W photos, I too have never heard of a target on a switch stand referred to as a semaphore. Thanks for sharing. I like the first photo with the B&O gas electric.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/12 14:41 by wabash2800.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2741806

Signal Sunday: "Tilting Targets"…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_and_Western_Indiana_Railroad

“Pullman Junction was not a conventional interlocked junction, although there was a small interlocking machine for the signals protecting the C&WI-BRC junction there. The crossings were protected by gates and tilting targets. All trains were required to stop. Switchtenders were located at Dearborn Station, 31st Street, 80th Street and Pullman Junction.”

http://www.railroadsignals.us/basics/timeline.htm

~1874 - The "crossing target" or "tilting target " signal was invented on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago RR.