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Odd railroad crossing signals on a bridge

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 7:07 pm
by ToledoRailfan
I came across these two odd crossing signals on a bridge in Thunder Bay, Ontario near the Fort William First Nation. The bridge is not a moveable bridge. Beautiful scenery too! https://www.google.com/maps/@48.3592593 ... 6656?hl=en https://www.google.com/maps/@48.3591149 ... 6656?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.3581885 ... 6656?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.3582804 ... 6656?hl=en

Re: Odd railroad crossing signals on a bridge

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 7:21 pm
by cabman701
I think it might be a moveable bridge in some respect. There are gates just beyond the signal (to the left) that appear to close the roadway. There is a also a very rusty sign there with a CN logo that seems to point that direction as well.

Re: Odd railroad crossing signals on a bridge

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:05 pm
by ToledoRailfan
cabman701 wrote:I think it might be a moveable bridge in some respect. There are gates just beyond the signal (to the left) that appear to close the roadway. There is a also a very rusty sign there with a CN logo that seems to point that direction as well.
I did not notice that. It turns out this is a moveable bridge. It is the James Street Swing Bridge, I thought it was to high to be a moveable bridge, but after looking at pictures of the bridge from the river, it is just an illusion. This is the first time I've actually seen railroad crossing signals being used on a moveable bridge, and their pretty cool old signals too, those gates look pretty old too, I like the old lights on them. I'm surprised this bridge does not have modern regular gates and G-Y-R traffic signals.

Re: Odd railroad crossing signals on a bridge

Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2016 10:05 am
by cabman701
ToledoRailfan wrote:
cabman701 wrote:I think it might be a moveable bridge in some respect. There are gates just beyond the signal (to the left) that appear to close the roadway. There is a also a very rusty sign there with a CN logo that seems to point that direction as well.
I did not notice that. It turns out this is a moveable bridge. It is the James Street Swing Bridge, I thought it was to high to be a moveable bridge, but after looking at pictures of the bridge from the river, it is just an illusion. This is the first time I've actually seen railroad crossing signals being used on a moveable bridge, and their pretty cool old signals too, those gates look pretty old too, I like the old lights on them. I'm surprised this bridge does not have modern regular gates and G-Y-R traffic signals.
Well... doing a Google search turned up some interesting stuff. This bridge appears to have burned in October 2013 (the GSV links you provided were taken in 2012). It has been closed to vehicular traffic since then. The railroad still uses it though.

Here is a recent article on it... they want to re-open it to vehicle traffic: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-b ... -1.3413995

I also found a video of a CN power move across the bridge last year:


Re: Odd railroad crossing signals on a bridge

Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2016 3:23 am
by chris96
That sort of reminds me of this setup in Melbourne, Australia. These signals are used to close of this bridge in the event of an emergency:

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.824 ... 56!6m1!1e1

Re: Odd railroad crossing signals on a bridge

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2016 12:03 pm
by cabman701
chris96 wrote:That sort of reminds me of this setup in Melbourne, Australia. These signals are used to close of this bridge in the event of an emergency:

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.824 ... 56!6m1!1e1
Nice! And those look like Safetran 3 e-bells.