Western Railroad Discussion > Block signal in back yard. Ideas on what railroad?

I,ve lived in Lisbon IA all my life, but this is new to me. A house in town has a ABS signel mounted in the yard. Lisbon is on the old CNW now UP  Chi-Omaha main that was original CNW ATC signal system with all cab signals and no waysides, I don,t think this is an ex CNW signal, but could be RI or MILW. Any way to tell? 

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My guess is that it was a Milwaukee signal.
I'm not familiar with Milw MP's, but I am assuming the signal was located  at/near MP 64.4.
The RI did not have any ABS lines in that area that would have had a MP 64.
Also, I can not explain, but (to my eye) does not look like a RI signal.
zr190

I'm in a Railroad Signal collector's site on Facebook.  They swap and sell a lot of parts to make them whole.  It could be a mismatch of everything but it looks good in the back yard.

There's a house East of Oelwein that has a yard full of signals and a loop of track!

Out 

Good to know that I am not alone since I have 2 sets of signals along my driveway in Palmer Lake, CO. Both are Union Switch & Signal; 2, T-2 Santa Fe semaphores from the Raton Pass line at Hoehne,CO and 2, H-5 search light signals from the Santa Fe side of Colorado's Joint Line near Palmer Lake, CO.
John Finch
 

Would the MP 644 marker be of help inlocating?  I realize it may have not belonged to this particular signal.

The 644 number plate would seem to indicate it was the fourth intermediate signal within milepost 64, whereever the milepost 64 was.  

callum_out Wrote:
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> There's a house East of Oelwein that has a yard
> full of signals and a loop of track!
>
> Out 

When I lived in Decorah when I was young, we'd pass by the back of this property on highway 150, and I always wondered what the story behind it was. If I remember correctly we actually saw the train running once, this was probably around 1996 or so. By the time we moved away a couple years later the tracks were already overgrown and unused. Today I'm not sure if all the track is still there, but a lot of the signals are gone.

RutledgeRadio Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> callum_out Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > There's a house East of Oelwein that has a yard
> > full of signals and a loop of track!
> >
> > Out 
>
> When I lived in Decorah when I was young, we'd
> pass by the back of this property on highway 150,
> and I always wondered what the story behind it
> was. If I remember correctly we actually saw the
> train running once, this was probably around 1996
> or so. By the time we moved away a couple years
> later the tracks were already overgrown and
> unused. Today I'm not sure if all the track is
> still there, but a lot of the signals are gone.

As I recall it was owned by a doctor of some kind.  The equipment was European, German I think, narrow gauge.  The owner would have it open to the public on special occaisions and I had the chance to ride it back in the 1980s.

If memory serves from my youth growing up along the Milwaukee-St Paul ABS signaled main, the number plate sure looks like MILW practice white digits vertically aligned on a black plate.

The Rock Island mainly had the three color circular head signals. 
When I worked on the railroads the number designation would likely indicate the MP location.
In this case it would be MP 64.4.
The manager of the LaSalle Colorado Subway has a UP Caboose and UP signal in his yard next to his house.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Definately a former MILW US&S H2 searchlight intermediate block signal. The Milwaukee offset their heads to the right (field-side) of the mast for clearance reasons.

That's a beauty... would love to have one in my backyard too. Right now all I have is a dwarft H2 from the MILW (darn homeowner's association rules keeps my collection to low-signals).

Gay, Lisbon seems like a friendly small town where most people know each other.  Why don't you just knock on their door and see if the owner knows the history of his signal?  Good Luck!

Chuck B.

57A26 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RutledgeRadio Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > callum_out Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > There's a house East of Oelwein that has a
> yard
> > > full of signals and a loop of track!
> > >
> > > Out 
> >
> > When I lived in Decorah when I was young, we'd
> > pass by the back of this property on highway
> 150,
> > and I always wondered what the story behind it
> > was. If I remember correctly we actually saw
> the
> > train running once, this was probably around
> 1996
> > or so. By the time we moved away a couple years
> > later the tracks were already overgrown and
> > unused. Today I'm not sure if all the track is
> > still there, but a lot of the signals are gone.
>
> As I recall it was owned by a doctor of some
> kind.  The equipment was European, German I
> think, narrow gauge.  The owner would have it
> open to the public on special occaisions and I had
> the chance to ride it back in the 1980s.

Good for you.  I've been by it a couple of timees recently and it's a mess.  I believe the owner has had some health issues and has not kept up the property.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA
 

That's a shame, it was neat to drive by, great back yard!

Out