The only wig-wags remaining in Wisconsin were the ones at Saemann Avenue in Sheboygan. The state ordered they be removed by June 30th of this year. I haven't been back up that way in a while so I have no idea if they're gone yet or not. Once they're pulled out, if they haven't been already, Wisconsi...

If I see anymore of these bells in service, I'll let you know. Like I mentioned on YouTube, this is the only one I've ever seen before and I the only one I currently know of. It was installed just a couple months ago and I had no idea what it was. CP has been using WC Hayes electronic bells as repla...

I have an ASC bell I bought off Ebay years ago. The cap is just a piece of PVC. The body is metal. In regards to the talk about the different designs of them, there are two versions. An omni-directional and a uni-directional type. The omni-directional version has the mesh going all the way around th...

Yeah, it's a Safetran bell.

I got this one in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkKNFjnSJo4

The C&NW used to do that on their line northwest from Madison to Reedsburg (and before 1987, Elroy and Camp Douglas). IIRC, all of those have been downgraded to completely passive crossings now. I heard some scuttlebutt somewhere to the effect that their may still be one like that on the (now UP) A...

Well, kind of good news to report for you mini-bell lovers. There was recently a new installation of a mini bell in Elkhorn, WI at the Highway 67 crossing on Wisconsin & Southern's Elkhorn Sub. This crossing received brand new cantilever signals a few years ago when the highway was rebuilt. For some...

UP is doing both around here. Their Kenosha Subdivision, which is a low volume line, has only one bell at most crossings. This is the way C&NW originally did it and UP is keeping it that way with signal replacements. Their former C&NW Milwaukee Subdivision, which sees quite a bit more traffic, gets ...

AndyWS wrote: Brent, if you ever catch wind that they're going to pull this stuff out, might not be a bad time to try and snag yourself some 8" Safetran lights and a bell.

Looks like somebody already had that idea!

I'm going to repost the link to Brent's excellent Photobucket galleries of the abandoned crossings in the Milwaukee area: http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f306/Brenton81/Railroad/ Say Brent, didn't you used to have some pictures of the R&SW in there? The R&SW Division photos are on flickr: http://...