Nickel Plate Road used Union Switch & Signal (US&S) Style R2 tricolor light signals. This bracket mast signal came from the east end of South Wanatah. It protected eastbound main to main and pass to main moves, plus movement over the Monon crossing.
The single mast signal came from the east end of Hibbard. It protected westbound main to main and main to pass moves, plus movement over the PRR (South Bend Branch) crossing.
New York Central used mostly General Railway Signals (GRS) type G tricolor light signals. This particular one came from the interlocking with the Kankakee Belt and the Monon at San Pierre, Indiana.
The Union Switch & Signal Company of Swissvale, Pennsylvania just outside of Pittsburgh, made these signals. They were unique to the Pennsylvania Railroad. A design feature of this signal is the use of yellow lenses for the display of all aspects. They elected to use yellow because the lights would show up better in low visibility conditions such as fog.
This signal is an R2 made by US&S and came from North Judson, Indiana. It governed westbound movements across the Erie/NYC diamonds at the interlocking. The number assigned to it was 98, and this can be seen on the track diagram in the yellow display car. What’s more, the museum has the control lever from the tower that was used to actuate the signal.
Signal number 948-1 is referred to as a TTO, or Telephone Train Order signal. It was built by the US&S and is known as a Style S Semaphore. This particular signal came a location 948 miles west of Jersey City, New Jersey, or 2 miles east of Crown Point, Indiana as evidence by the number plate. Jersey City was the eastern terminus for the Erie. The number 1 means it governed trains on the westbound track.
Signal number 921-1 is also a US&S Style S Semaphore and also came from the Erie. It stood sentry to Erie trains approximately 4 miles west of the museum. These signals were installed along the Erie somewhere between 1915 and 1917. This was the first signal to be restored by the HVRM Signal Committee.
Signal number 908-2 came from the Bass Lake, Indiana area along the Erie main and is known as a US&S Style H searchlight signal. These types replaced the older semaphore signals during the Erie’s single tracking project in the late 1950’s. This type obtains the three signal colors by means of a moveable electromagnetic vane to which colored lenses are attached. This vane is placed in front of a bulb and the resultant color is projected out to the approaching train.
Signal 903-2 is also a Style H searchlight just like 908-2. This two-headed signal once stood at the west end of Monterey, Indiana governing eastbound traffic.
Signal 1 is our latest acquisition and used to guard the diamonds at Griffith, Indiana. It is a three headed Union Switch & Signal Style H searchlight signal.
The westbound signal guarding the turntable switch is a US&S Style TR-3 tricolor light. It resembles signals used on the New York Central, but those were made by the GRS company. This one was a mix of parts that came from Stillwell, Indiana and Edwardsburg, Michigan.
The eastbound signal located at the switch to the turntable is a GRS Type U Color Position-type. People will instantly recognize it as the style used on the B&O railroad.
This signal came from Dyer, Indiana and is known as a GRS Type SA searchlight signal.
The signal on the south side of the track at the crosswalk is known as a Style DW built by the Union Switch & Signal company in 1916. It is believed to have come from Crown Point, Indiana where the Erie had 6. On the north side of the track is a signal that was manufactured by the Western Railroad Supply Company in Chicago. It is known as a Model 5 Auto Flag. It was one of the first automatic crossing signals and was designed to replicate the swinging motion of a crossing watchman’s lantern. On top of the DW sits a US&S Model 15 “teardrop” bell and on the Model 5 wig wag, is a WRRS Model 222. |
