Nostalgia & History > An old wooden crossbuck in Texas -- Aug 76

I always liked these wooden crossbucks. There used to be a million of them in Texas,but by the 70's they were becoming hard to find.
This one was on the SP Cameron-Rosebud branch (mostly all that was left of the San Antonio & Aransas Pass line to Waco).
Except for a couple of miles in Cameron,this line was soon abandoned after this shot.

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Great photo! It looks like the bottom of the post rotted off and the sign got "replanted" two or three times!

Do you remember exactly where it was on that line?

Many years ago, I was lucky enough to acquire the old wooden crossbuck that used to stand at the "Postal Xing" at Caliente, Ca., on the SP Valley Line. The south facing side was very weather beaten...almost like it was sandblasted. But where the words RAILROAD CROSSING were painted, it had protected the wood, and stands out in relief. The north side of the sign which never was exposed to the sun, is still in fairly good shape. I was able to find, in an SP Standards book, the correct dimensions of the vertical post, and had a friend of mine, who works for the studios, make the post for me. It now stands proudly in my back yard amongst my other RR collectibles.

Note that the San Antonio Division SP engineering department has applied a USDOT crossing identification tag to the post.

Crazy the difference that facing south can make! I'm in the sign business, and reflective signs wear out MUCH faster facing south. That's why 3M, Avery, etc have their test decks facing south. Georgia used to have its share of those old wooden jobs too--thanks for sharing.