Nostalgia & History > Was this the usual way to erect a cantilever?

I guess I assumed cantilevers were put together
from the ground up. This one wasn't

https://railphoto.historyit.com/items/view/digital-museum/78587

How far would it have come, assembled like this?
On a flatcar, or what? Talk about a wide load ...

That concrete base doesn't look new -- maybe
they're just moving the cantilever to/from here
from/to another base nearby?

Same cantilever?

https://railphoto.historyit.com/items/view/digital-museum/78573



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/26 17:03 by timz.

We have two SP Cantilevers at Train Mountain in Chiloquin, OR, for future display. They came to were they were going to be erected in two pieces. Once the upright was set, the vertical section was lifted to be bolted to the upright as told by an old head. Guess it would also be possible to put the two pieces together than set with a Burro Crane.
Hope that makes sense. Also Signal Bridges were also shipped disassembled. 

Steve

The excerpt below is from the August 1922 issue of Railway Signal Engineer. I assume this procedure was not particularly commonplace. This must have been one of the early-style Santa Fe cantilevers that had the bottom of the mast embedded directly in the concrete foundation. The design was apparently later modified to bolt down on top of the foundation. Speculating here, but perhaps if/when they moved the embedded style in later years, perhaps they cut the mast flush with the foundation and converted it to the bolt-down style. There are a few minor variations among Santa Fe cantilevers, and I'm not sure why or when some of the changes took place.

I haven't come across evidence of how these things were typically erected in the first place, however. SP cantilevers show signs of evolving fabrication practices over the years (some have a handful of welds instead of riveted connections), but, again, this doesn't address how they were put up.

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timz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I guess I assumed cantilevers were put together
> from the ground up. This one wasn't
>
> https://railphoto.historyit.com/items/view/digital-museum/78587
>
> How far would it have come, assembled like this?

Note the black bolt or rivet heads where the cantilever arm meets the mast. Those are probably field connections that didn't get painted in the shop. So, I'd guess that it was assembled from two pieces at the work site and then lifted into place.

Given that this is a SOU signal and considering the time frame, I would guess that this is being done in the way dictated by then Executive Vice President D.W. Brosnan.  The usual way to do anything didn't necessarily apply to SOU, unless it was Brosnan's way.  I heard he had the CTC signal bridges bulit from repurposed old boxcar frames centrally built and rail delivered in pieces.  The same applied to the mechanized intermodal cranes built at Charlotte Roadway Shop.  Brosnan ruled for a long time.   Also SOU could not work burro cranes on tbe mainline because SOU was not in national contract handling when that was negotiated.  Brosnan didn't want it anyway.  He wanted real work trains that could clear up or reposition as fast as the wheels could turn, plus do revenue work in a pinch.

> Note the black bolt or rivet heads where
> the cantilever arm meets the mast.

Got to hand it to you for noticing that.
So once the two pieces have been joined
and the whole thing is lying on the ground,
wonder how easy it was to pick it up in
a sling without bending something.

I photographed, measured and made notes for a cantilever signal bridge that had been disassembled and moved for preservation. Therefore, it had not been torch cut. I presume that gives us clues on how it was assembled on site in the first place.

The Wabash signal bridge lay on the ground at the Indiana Transportation Museum at Noblesville. Sadly, it was likely scrapped after the fiasco there.

The vertical and horizonal trusses were two seperate pieces. And the signal mast with the three target signal mast was the third piece.

It was marked as maufactured by a company that made railroad bridges in Chicago. I don't recall the exact name. Bulding a model of that bridge is on my list.

Victor Baird

Posted from Android



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/26 22:35 by wabash2800.

timz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > Note the black bolt or rivet heads where
> > the cantilever arm meets the mast.
>
> Got to hand it to you for noticing that.
> So once the two pieces have been joined
> and the whole thing is lying on the ground,
> wonder how easy it was to pick it up in
> a sling without bending something.

Wow, high praise from TimZ! I was going to say it was a great observation as well and that it's wonderful to have these photos served up in a zoomable form to allow that close inspection. 

I can't recall seeing a photo of a signal bridge on a flatcar. I've seen a handful of pictures of the 16-inch barrels for coastal artillery batteries. I imagine there are photos out there of signal bridges in transit. But probably pretty rare.  

phthithu Wrote:
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> I can't recall seeing a photo of a signal bridge on a flatcar.

Dozens of signal bridges were moved (often hundreds of miles) from one place to another on the SP in the period from about 1940 to 1955. I wonder if a photo will ever surface. They were moved during other periods as well, but in much smaller numbers. As I've dug into this topic, it amazes me how many of them led second lives in new locations.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/26 01:09 by Sobrante.

Wonder if a photo will ever surface of the process of taking one down and reassembling it. What sort of crane? They fix the vertical part, then someone climbs it to attach the horizontal part? Or is it like this pic?