Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

In the last half of this video, I chase the local back to UP's Butler Yard. I decided to get shots with the crossing signals, because these are some of the few crossings left in southeast Wisconsin which have Chicago and North Western standard 8" Safetran lights and mechanical bells. The first (Moorland Road) is a four-lane boulevard with four gateless cantilevers. The background discs on the south-facing signals are bleached almost white from the sun. The second (Sunnyslope Road) is two gateless mast signals, each with a mechanical bell. These first two are on the lightly-used, 10 MPH New Berlin branch. The last (Potter Road) is on the much busier Milwaukee Sub main line on the last leg back to the yard, but has Safetran "EM" gate signals and a Griswold mechanical bell. The 8" lights have L.E.D.s in them.

Just about everywhere else in this area, these signals, many of which replaced C&NW's wigwags and Griswold rotating banners, have themselves been replaced by UP standard modern WCH equipment.

Nice to see some EM's still around. The last one up here in Bellingham was recently replaced with a standard Safetran 12X24 signal with a Invensys gate mechanism, also nice to see 8'' LED's

Giggity Giggity, that last crossing is all original except for gates/L.E.D. lights, the newer crossbuck and tracks sign, also the new 8" L.E.D.s are awesome on that crossing.
I'd fix that damn gate thou.
Also love the fact that old classics are protecting a quiet zone crossing.

Yeah, that gate has seen better days.

I have to wonder, 25 to 30 some years ago when they started replacing 8 inch lights with 12 inch lights... had they known that LED's would be available now, would they have done all that?

cabman701 wrote:Yeah, that gate has seen better days.

I have to wonder, 25 to 30 some years ago when they started replacing 8 inch lights with 12 inch lights... had they known that LED's would be available now, would they have done all that?

Probably, some states like Illinois and California baned 8 inch lights years ago.
Also light size had been brought up in a few lawsuits bigger is always better when it comes to warning equipment.

Here's a little more EM love in these two videos (in the last part of the second video, they have actual Griswold lights):

There's also some footage in the second video of this crossing:

http://www.rxrsignals.net/Wisconsin/L-P ... mmercial1/

It is also on ex-C&NW trackage and has WCH "pennant" cantilevers with 8" lights.

That footage was taken from right next to this crossing

http://www.rxrsignals.net/Wisconsin/L-P ... mmercial2/

but I did not shoot the signals there, which are the same type of cantilevers without the gates. Since the photos were taken, the lights have been upgraded to 12" x 24" WCH frames with WCH or Harmon L.E.D.s., like just about all the other ex-Milwaukee Road crossings throughout the state over the last 3-4 years.