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More wigwags in Oregon...         8/5/99

Hello there,

I just visited your web page and thought I'd alert you to some more Oregon wigwags, in northwestern Oregon (the Willamette Valley):

In McMinnville, there are THREE wig-wags, at First, Second, and Fifth Streets. There had been one at Third Street (the main street through downtown
McMinnville, but it was replaced in 1993.  Its hardware was moved to WPRR's signal shed next to the Fifth Street crossing.  A spur for a grain elevator
next to 5th street is known as "Wig Spur" since it's next to the wigwag.

Amity has one wigwag, and Dallas has two wigwags within the "yard" next to the Boise Cascade mill.

The Willamette SHores Trolley Line between Lake Oswego and Portland has three or four wig-wags, possibly more than that.  There are two wig-wags in Banks on the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad, and one at Timber further up on the POTB.

There is one wigwag north of Lebanon on the ALbany & Eastern Railroad.

There are wigwags on display in Carlton (at the Country Depot), Woodburn (next to SP 2-6-0 #1785 and a semaphore), and Canby (next to the Depot Museum).

- Erik Halstead

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More L.A. info...                         7/20/99

If you go to old-town in Richmond, (Ca.) there are a duo of Wig-Wag signals in a configuration that is rare (at least to me).  Both are upright style, and sit in middle islands on the street. They are used frequently for the train traffic that backs down from the yard, then on to a diverting track to move past the yard.

There is a nice little cafe near the tracks where you can sit and watch from as well.  I wonder how long these wig-wags will last.

(Dan's note: Got those covered...click here)

Also, since I live in L.A., there is a lot of wig-wags in service in the town of Gardena, a part of the old S.P branch.  Much of the right-of-way appeared to have been used in the Pacific Electric era. I stopped at one of these crossings about 6 months ago.  The spur line I stopped for doesn't seem to be on the Thomas Guide map that I have, but it is there, and, the other lines leading to it I believe have Wig-wags in the area too. It is an excellent industrial spur, traffic type area, and, I see trains there all the time when I go by (in the early afternoon).

rgds...
Dave Abdo

p.s.
In the Thomas Guide,  I have the coordinates where those Wig-wags are located - off the branch line that swings down briefly in the middle of W. 166th street (Page 734 - A6).  The spur line that is not listed in this guide goes
from the curve on 166th westward to Western Ave - which have 2 or 3 wig-wags protecting the crossings in-between.  There is another one on Vermont that protects that same branch line when it comes off of 166th North to Vermont to
warn the Southbound traffic.  It would not surprise me to find more in this area.

rgds..

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Wigwags in Wisconsin             7/18/99

Hello Dan,

 Just dropping a line to let you know of a couple I know of in Wi.. One is shown in the August issue of RailNews (page 22) on the WC Neenah Sub. at Van Dyne just north of Fond du Lac,Wi and another set is located just west of Randolph,Wi. (Cty.Rd.P between randolph & Cambria) on the UP Adams Sub. I will see if I can get some photos to you on these locations.

W.J. "Bill" Wanninger
WSOR Gandy
Wauwatosa~Horicon, Wi.

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Wigwags in Texas...                                    7/18/99

Hello Dan,

Ran across your website tonight and have to say it looks great.

Also like to tell you that I know of two wig-wags here in Texas, both in the same town - Waxahachie, Texas. I have pixs of both of them. They are on the Espee's Ft. Worth branch. If you interested, I can scan them and e-mail them to you for your website.

Michael G. Ellis
Jacksonville, Texas
mgellis@hotmail.com

Northeast Texas Railroad Station & Depot Photo Archive:
http://TXDepot.Railfan.net
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San Juan Capristrano...                              7/15/99

Dan,

There is a wigwag  in San Juan Capistrano down by the railroad station.  It is associated with some railroad cars on a piece of disconnected track next to a restaurant.  Don't recall the name or the condition of the wig wag.

 Arnold Menke

More San Juaquin Valley Info...                7/13/99

Very Nice Site!

Elaborating upon the Fresno area info e-mailed by Ernest Sanchez, The San Joaquin Valley Railroad is the proud operator
of all the wig wags in the Fresno Area. Specifically, these are located on the Former SP Clovis Branch at Cherry St., at the corner of Fulton and San Diego, and at "O" Street. The former SP Exeter branch has wig wags at Van Ness and east of
town at Locan Avenue. Further east, the town of Sanger sports one signal in downtown at 7th Street, while the town of Reedley sports two signals in downtown. As far as I know, that's about it!. When the Santa Fe Visalia and Porterville-Orosi Districts were torn up, standard wig wags were yanked from Reedley, Exeter, Porterville and Tulare as well as the
unique "shorty" model that stood guard at the lonely grade crossing at Rayo (Rd 172).
Keep up the good work!

John Ford

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Wigwags in Oregon...                   7/13/99

There are two just off I-5 on CORP near Roseburg, Oregon, both operating.

One is in downtown Yoncalla, and the other is on Dole Road just east of I-5's crossing of the South Umpqua River north of Myrtle Creek

Charles Lee

Dan notes...Check out the Oregon section...

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                                                                                                                7/9/99

For years I have always wondered how wigwags worked, and pondered just what was the nature of the mechanical innards held secret within their mechanism boxes. Thank you for shedding some light on wigwag signal mechanical 'mystery' dynamics!

Fantastic site, and very well done. Please continue the great work you are endeavoring in!

Glad to see a site devoted for us railroad fans that have a 'mojo' for railroad signals...an interest that, until recently, had very little coverage by the RR
media-at-large.

Sneed Hearn
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Wigwags in the Central Valley?...     7/7/99

 Great site! Very interesting.   A few questions:

1. Are you interested in any wigwags in the central valley??  Travel down to my folks place from time to time and there are (were?) a few left, some abandoned. Will keep an eye out and advise if you are interested.

Yes I am interested in wigwags from anywhere. Please snap a few pictures next time you go out there. Where were they?

2. If the RR does not remove or replace a wigwag are people just stealing the signals part by part or do they get permission from the RR, or purchase from the RR or a rail salvage company?  Or are they considered abandoned and any one can salvage them?  What is the procedure?  Who does one talk to????

I wouldn't suggest lifting any signals that are still in place. Guaranteed jail time if you're caught! Removing railroad signals when they are still set up at a crossing is taken very seriously by railroads and police. It's possible that the crossing isn't as abandoned as it may appear. It's hard to say who to talk to. I still haven't figured that one out. I actually had to buy mine from an individual! I have a feeling it's "who you know" more than anything.

3. What happened to all the old depot train order boards (signals)?  I am chair a group here in Novato working to save the old NWP depot and part of our restoration plans include putting some significant parts of the depot back including the train order board.  It is, beside the tracks, I feel, one of the distinctive items identifying the building as a railroad depot.  But where did they all go?  I know of only a few locations that still have them in the state. Any scrap dealers or others??

I personally only know of two that still exist in the Bay Area. One is in Martinez across the tracks from the station. It's set up next to the SP steam engine on display there. The other is in Santa Rosa. Maybe you should talk to the people who restored the Santa Rosa station. I heard that some (or all) of the parts were remanufactured for their train-order board. This might be the best way to go. I was quite surprised when I found out that the order board was a repro!

Thanks for a great site. Jerry Peters

agp1066@juno.com

Novato, The wig wag catalog pages: I can not get my printer (HP Laser jet 6L) to print anything other than the top left portion of each page, plus a distorted print out of the left half of the page.  Nothing of the rest of each page.  Or is that due to my MS Explorer use?
Thanks

I just tried printing it in both Netscape and I.E.. Actually I.E. printed more of it than Netscape. They were very clear on my printer. The only way to get the whole thing on one page would be to resize the image (smaller). But then you run the risk of not being able to read the print. I scanned the images in hi-res so you can read the text on your monitor. There is a link on the page if you're interested in purchasing one (I did).
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Wigwags in Fresno...                                        7/6/99

Every morning I pass an operating Magnetic Flagman, with original base, on the old SP Clovis Branch in downtown Fresno. I think it is on O. Street south of State route 180. Several blocks away on the same line there is another tucked away on a side street. Closer to the SP main there is yet another wigwag.  This one replaced a wigwag that swung upward. On the old SP Exeter branch just a few blocks away there is another operating wigwag seeing daily service.
Such treasure in just a square half mile. I also know of one along the Exeter branch in the city of Snaggier about 15 miles away.
Thanks for the real informative page.

Ernest Sanchez
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From Semaphores.com...                     7/3/99

Dear Dan,
Sounds real cool. I have been wanting to see a good wigwag site.....sort of like semaphores.com.

Just to let you know what you're up against, here are some states that still have wigwags:

Ontario(Canada)
Indiana
Illinois (probably)
Wisconsin (Lots)
Missouri
Kansas
Colorado
New Mexico
Oregon
Texas (a few)
Louisiana

There are a number of states I can promise you to be devoid of active duty wig-wags.

Eric Schmelz
Check out Eric's semaphore site at http://www.semaphores.com
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From The Niles Depot...                    7/3/99

Dan,

I really enjoyed your site, and have placed a link to it on the links page. I especially like the Newark wigwag photos, as I live about a block from there.
We have some parts of a wigwag at the Niles Depot but be are missing the mechanism, so the banjo just hangs on the wall now with the light on. We're
trying to find one, but as I'm sure you know wigwag parts are like gold these days.

Thanks,
-Tom Nelson
Check out "The Niles Depot" at http://nilesdepot.railfan.net/

Somebody help Tom find a wigwag motor box for his museum!
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From a Union Pacific Signal Tech...             7/3/99

Hi Dan,

I just found your new web site and I am extremely impressed.  It is great!  I am sure that I will be e-mailing with you in the future.  I have a wig-wag
which is a "basket case" and I will be starting restoration soon.  I have a banner which did not go with the motor and it is also a basket case.  But I
am sure that it will all be working someday however.  The motor was involved in a "knock down", in other words it was hit by an auto and hit the ground.
The case is not cracked but some parts are in real bad shape.  Anyway for now I am just e-mailing to tell you how much I enjoyed looking at your web site.
I will try to add to it when I can supply some pictures.  There are a lot more still working which you can add.  As some background on myself, I am a
signal electronic technician for the UP.

Jim Atkins
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Wigwag sightings in Southern Cal...            7/3/99

Cool site!  I'm sure you'll agree there's nothing quite like standing near an operating crossing signal of any kind (safely, of course) anticipating a
train.

As of a few years ago, there were quite a number of wig wags still operating in the Los Angeles area.  Unless the UP has swapped out the old signals on
the SP, the city of Gardena had a couple at a crossing on Vermont Avenue near Artesia Boulevard (if memory serves correctly).  These tracks were part of
the Pacific Electric at one time.

In Los Angeles proper, the all-but-abandoned PE tracks along Jefferson had a number of wigwags at crossings east of La Brea.  There were also several
scattered around the Harbor City/Wilmington area and Long Beach Harbor/Terminal Island.

Speaking of railfan dismantling, a PE crossing which I'd never seen a train at in my life at Western Avenue at Del Amo in Torrance was partially dismantled last time I was there.  Here's hoping the wig wags survive.

Ralph Squillace
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One in Oakdale!...                                   7/3/99

Hi, Dan...

 I went to your page.  Nice to see the information available.  Incidently, there are still wigwags in Oakdale, on the remnants of the SP Oakdale Branch.

Ken Harrison
SPH&TS Webmaster

Check out Ken's SP Historical and Technical Society Website!
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Illinois Railway Museum...                         7/3/99

At the entrance of the IRM, where the trolley line crosses the entrance path, the crossing is protected by a wigwag. Unfortunately, the wig-wag is not operating right now (and doesn't look operable at all), it is the only one I know of in Illinois.

For anyone who is interested, the IRM also has a number of crossing signals on static disply of about the same vintage as it's wigwag.

From Tom Pedersen
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