Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

This is a rickity little short line in Ohio... which apparently now the FRA has got their eyes on due to the extremely poor condition of the track and poor operations in general.

Check out this relic I found in Napoleon, Ohio! http://g.co/maps/cfqdr

The next block over, you got this: http://g.co/maps/82k3e Both signals only have 1 set of lights...

And the signal on the other side of the tracks is all the way down at the corner. http://g.co/maps/yyc6y That has to be some sort of violation!

Man, that's a great find! I really have to say, if ANYONE is in the Ohio area, GO AND GET THOSE! That's what this site is all about. Documenting crossing signals and set-ups before they are upgraded and then documenting the new upgrades to get a complete picture. Additionally, those signals are a very important, and cool, representation of how railroading used to be.

Now, that may have been a railroad yard there, with many tracks. So that explains the signal being far back. It most definitely is a violation, and if the FRA get's their hands on ANY of this, it's probably going to be gone. Oh, and I love how in the first linked crossing that the "upgraded" signal is even old. That's epic.

Well, thank you for sharing this. It's so neat to see that any of it has survived. It's in such good condition too!

Cheers,
Joshua

Follow that line a ways, on past where it goes out of service and had a diamond removed, then goes back into service again...
Wonder if these weird fellows are still around? (A lot of these streetview images are almost 3 years old now...)

according to Wikipedia, that line was once part of Wabash (who most likely installed those signals) and it was part of Indiana Hi-Rail before it went bankrupt. It says the only thing the line is used for is car storage for NS and CSX who it interchanges with. The article says that the estimated cost to repair the tracks in in the millions.

Its a shame that those old signals don't get that much work anymore.

M&W apparently operates 5 days a week between Napoleon and Defiance, OH:

I think the cat was moving faster than the train...

AndyWS wrote:M&W apparently operates 5 days a week between Napoleon and Defiance, OH:

Yes, and it takes that 5 days just to make 1 trip!

I cannot imagine being part of the train crew and having to deal with track conditions like that one in the picture above. Look at the lean on that engine!

Just a side note also, IF any of the signals pictured on streetview still exist, what are the odds that they actually still work? I wouldn't be suprised if they don't and they have to flag most of the crossings. If they don't take care of the track, I doubt they have a signal maintenance crew.

Does G&W own Maumee & Western, If not they should.

You never know! Some signalling equipment can last quite awhile. Though I feel a little doubtful after considering what you said. It has been a long time...

Cheers,
Joshua

The first link reminds me of these signals up in Blissfield Michigan

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=U ... 67,,0,2.95