Page created by Tommy McGowan.

Note:  this page doesn't go too much into the technical details on how the mechanisms operate.  The main purpose is to show the change in design of the gate mechanisms over the years and to help identify the age of signals.

GRISWOLD/RACO/SAFETRAN/ EM

This is arguably the most recognizable gate mechanism ever produced.  This was produced from the 1940s up until the 1980s, starting with Griswold. It was continued under the RACO and Safetran name as well up until the 1980s.

TRANSPORT PRODUCTS
This is another early gate mechanism company. These are very rare to find these days, though seem to be more common in the southeast.

RACO HYDRAULIC GATES
Griswold and Transport merged to form RACO, and this is one of the gate mechanisms produced under that name. I believe most of these were made under the RACO name, but might have been developed before RACO formed. These are probably the rarest gate mechanisms to find in the US.

RACO
This was the more traditional gate mechanism RACO made. These are very rare to find.  They used to be seen on the Chillicothe Sub, but I believe they've all been replaced.  Monroe St. in Sandusky, OH still has them. After this, RACO became Safetran.

SAFETRAN EARLY 1970s

This is the earliest style that was used on Safetran branded gate mechanisms, and the only one to say Louisville, Kentucky on it.  These are fairly rare to find these days.  The BNSF Chillicothe Sub used to have quite a few, but most have been replaced by US&S or newer Safetran/Siemens mechanisms.

SAFETRAN MID 1970s
As the name suggests, this style was mainly used in the mid 1970s.  It took away the Louisville, Kentucky lettering the Early 1970s style had, and had the Safetran text moved up.  These are a little more common to find, but are still fairly rare.  The UP Geneva Sub had quite a few, but are being replaced with newer Siemens equipemtn.

SAFETRAN LATE 1970s
This style came out in the late 1970s and was seen into the early 1980s.  The text is now at the bottom and has a border around it.  You can find these on ATSF and CNW installations although their numbers are slowly dwindling.

SAFETRAN 1980s
This style was introduced in the early to mid 1980s and was used until the early 90s.  This is mostly the same as the Late 1970s version, just without the border around the text.  These are still fairly easy to find, mainly on NS, ex ATSF crossings, and ex CNW crossings.

SAFETRAN MODEL 85
The Model 85 was first made sometime in the 1980s, and was used until around the 1990s.  It's much different from other Safetran mechanisms around this time, looking like a mix between the Safetran 1980s and RACO Hydraulic gates.  They are somewhat common to find on the Amtrak Michigan Line, but are very rare everywhere else.

SAFETRAN 1990s
This style came out in the early to mid 1990s and was used until around 1998.  The lettering is not as protruding as it was before and was moved up slightly.  The edges were also more rounded than on prior designs. This is personally my favorite looking Safetran mechanism.  These are very common to find to this day on most major railroads.  They're often paired with the Hawker-Siddley branded Safetran light frames.

SAFETRAN 2000s
This is the most common Safetran gate mechanism you'll find on North American railroads.  The lettering is now protruding out more like before, and is now centered.  This came out in the late 1990s, and every railroad has used this at some point.  I call it 2000s, as that's when they were predominantly used, being produced from around 1998 until 2011.  It made a slight comeback in 2016, being offered as "Refurbished" Safetran gate mechanisms.

INVENSYS RAIL
In 2011, Invensys Rail took over Safetran, and in the process, they redid the design of the mechanism slightly.  Instead of the lettering being imprinted on the mechanism, they now have a sticker or magnet being placed in a rectangle area in the middle of the mechanism with a black background and green text. 

SIEMENS STICKER STYLE 1
In 2013, Siemens took over Invensys Rail and rebranded the gate mechanism immediately, now having a white background with teal text.  It still used the sticker/magnet that the Invensys ones did.  This used a narrow font, more so than what was used in the next iteration.

SIEMENS STICKER STYLE 2
By 2014, Siemens changed the lettering to be thicker.  Everything else stayed the same.  This was used until 2017.

SIEMENS IMPRINTED
In October 2017, I discovered Siemens started making gate mechanisms with their logo imprinted on the gate mechanism instead of using a sticker.  This is what is currently being produced by Siemens, and is seen on most major railroads.  This will likely become the most common Safetran/Siemens gate mechanism design at some point.

SIEMENS S-80
Sometime around March of 2022, Siemens began rolling out their newest mechanism design.  Compared to their predecessors, the S-80 heavily stands out, as they are easy to spot thanks to their considerably shorter size than previous mechanisms, due to the new internal design that uses more computerized parts.  At the current moment, finding one of these is very rare, but they are quickly popping up in the US, Canada, and even Indonesia!
For a map of all S-80 locations, click here.