Eastern Railroad Discussion > Strange Signal in NS Norris Yard in Birmingham, Al

Good evening,

I was poking around on Google Earth and saw an odd 4 light signal mounted on top of a telephone type pole in the yard, and I can see no reason for it, anyone have any ideas?

Thank you,

6088

 

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If it's that shadow just above your pin that's most likely a light tower.

Posted from Android

Thank you for your reply, there are yard lights in the area, but this is certainly a signal.

 

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A switching signal?

Perhaps it has red green yellow and lunar therefore four lights, it would likely display on one aspect at a time provided that one aspect signals are on NS's signal rules. Such a signal might be seen in the vicinity of yards.....where slow speeds are expected and signals are used for crowding trains together. 

Hump signal? Before radios some yards used these signals to communicate with the Engineer to stop, back-up, shove slow and shove fast. 

Possibly a hump signal used to communicate without a radio. Green would be hump fast, yellow hump slow, red stop. Probably have the 4th aspect to indicate reverse. Here in Allentown our reverse was simply Yellow/Red at the same time.

Posted from Android

OHRY Wrote:
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> Possibly a hump signal used to communicate without
> a radio. Green would be hump fast, yellow hump
> slow, red stop. Probably have the 4th aspect to
> indicate reverse. Here in Allentown our reverse
> was simply Yellow/Red at the same time.
>
At the SAL's North Yard in Hamlet NC we humped with cab signals and a mast signal.  The 4 aspects were green, yellow, red, and double red.  Double red meant back up.  

Notch7 Wrote:
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> At the SAL's North Yard in Hamlet NC we humped
> with cab signals and a mast signal.

Seaboard had cab signals? Like Pennsy?

Hump signal, no longer used. Hump and pull back done with remote control.

CPR_4000 Wrote:

> Seaboard had cab signals? Like Pennsy?

Hamlet hump engines had cab signals.  Passenger engines had ATC for use on RF&P

SAL briefly experimented with cab signals between Savannah and Denmark, SC around 1950. No go. 

Thank you all for your help, upon further investigation I did notice that down by the hump there used to be a similar signal, this one is about 4/5th of a mile from the old signal, and 9/10th of a mile from the hump tower, so it is probably a relay signal for that, and since it's off the track a ways, there was probably just no reason to remove it.