Passenger Trains > Semaphore Massacre Claims 22 Nearly 100 Year Old Signals

Today is the day. If everything went as planned last night, these signals were all dropped to the ground and heads on new signals were rotated into place, just in time for this morning's Train 3.

Mugshots below, from rail east to rail west. Other users have much more artful renditions of these signals, particurlarly highgreengraphics and joe mcmillan. 

May 1, 2009
774, between Las Vegas and Romeroville


 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/22 13:57 by rgzfan.

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1) 774 on 8/1/10

2) 774 8/3/10 video

 

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East Ojita

1) 777 4/16/16
2) "
3) "
 

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West Ojita

1) 778 4/16/16
2) "
3) "
 

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Rattlesnake Wash

1) 781 4/16/16
2) "
3) "

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B27

1) 783 4/13/16
2) "
3) 783 7/29/20



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/22 18:44 by rgzfan.

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Bullet holes in plastic lenses at 783, 8/5/2020

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Getting to 786 Involves Sacrifice Sometimes - 7/29/20

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786 - "Long Walk" 4/16/16

Oddly, I have took very few stills of this signal. I was so focused on setting up and shooting movie film that I neglected stills. Drat. 

Closest access was about 1500' east - down the grade to the point where it crosses culvert at minima, then scramble down tall loose slope, then walk damaged road for a couple hundred yards -- all with 35mm movie gear. Took a couple trips to get everything to camera position.

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ESS Chapelle 4/20/2016

I have many movie shots, very few stills.

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WSS Chapelle 4/13/16

 

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1) WSS Chapelle
2) 791 Bernal - End of the Southern Infestation (ignoring NMRX singles) 4/14/16


 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/22 15:17 by rgzfan.

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There remain 11 semaphores:

3 ESS Colmor (fixed)
3 WSS Levy
2 722 Intermediate
3 ESS Wagon Mound

I imagine they'll all come down when we least expect them to. It would be nice if a couple made it to their 100th birthday, which is coming up soon. 

The survivors would be much more photogenic with proper pinnacles. BNSF, would you please replace them for the final weeks/months? We'd like to get some nice parting shots of the remaining blades.

1) 724 / ESS Wagon Mound
2) 724 / ESS Wagon Mound
3) Home of the last 11 semaphores. 724 is in bottom left corner, 722 a bit above that, WSS levy before road and railroad separate, ESS Colmor off in the distance where rail exits frame near top right corner. A bit east (right) of ESS Levy, there is a clump of trees. That contains house and buildings related to ranch that is composed of virtually all of the land in the frame to the right of the tracks from Wagon Mound to Colmor -- 30,000 acres. The caretakers allowed me access through all the ranch gates with combination locks summer 2020. That was really awesome of them. Nice people.

 



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/22 13:39 by rgzfan.

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Bonus: Stereo Picture of 781. You gotta use the funny glasses to see it.

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These pictures were "muddy" well worth it. Thanks!

Friend on board #3 last night was shooting video out the back window and sent me a couple of clips.  At ESS Chapelle the crews were as thick as thieves.  As soon as the train passed one truck was already moving in for the kill.  It was sad watching the red lights of the eastbound main and siding lights fading away knowing that as soon as the #3 cleared the plant that they would be shut off...

Bummer. I hope you'll post url of the video.

So #3 went through after #4 then?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/22 12:07 by rgzfan.

Thanks for one last look, I said my goodbyes a month ago when I went down there for last photos. I sure never figured these out-of-the way semaphores would be taken down before the few left around Wagon Mound! So no more chasing between the northern grouping and the southern grouping. Trouble is, with the last group around Wagon Mound, there is nothing to do in-between 3 and 4. Watch out next year, I wonder which location will be the last in the land? === === = === JLH

Yeah, I thought 774-791 was sort of safe. I don't know why I thought that. But it led me to neglect them. I kind of wish I'd allocated more time to 706 and 717, less to everything else in the northern infestation, and a lot more to 774-791.

I never did drag a 35mm movie camera out to 781. I was trying to find a native american to take me out there on an ATV, so I wouldn't run afoul of the tribal regulations on use of the 4wd/atv tracks on tribe land. But I never found anyone to do it. Dragging the gear out there on a wagon just wasn't in the cards...

highgreengraphics Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for one last look, I said my goodbyes a
> month ago when I went down there for last photos.
> I sure never figured these out-of-the way
> semaphores would be taken down before the few left
> around Wagon Mound! So no more chasing between the
> northern grouping and the southern grouping.
> Trouble is, with the last group around Wagon
> Mound, there is nothing to do in-between 3 and 4.
> Watch out next year, I wonder which location will
> be the last in the land? === === = === JLH



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/22 12:26 by rgzfan.

He e-mailed me the video. I’d have to get permission to post. Yes, #3 sat in LAJ with hours of service issues. So it was the last train through.

Posted from iPhone