Texas wigwags

Texas wigwags

Texas Wigwags
-Recently retired-

Bertram
There are a couple partial wigwags that still exist (as of 2/05) in Bertram.
Jessica Stacey tells us "Bertram is on the old SP line that ran from Austin,Tx, the city of Austin bought it in the
1980's for a future light rail corridor, they, upgraded the track to 135lbs. rail and upgraded all the major road
crossings, but left the secondary crossings as is."

These Magnetic Flagmen are still pretty complete, except for the missing banners.

Additional information was sent in by Clif Jones:

"This is in regard to the wig-wag signals in Bertram , Texas. The signals belong to the
Austin Steam Train Association which operates a tourist train from Cedar Park, just
north of Austin, to Burnet, Tx.. They are part of a display that includes a restored depot
in Bertram (the depot is originally from south Texas.) The wig-wags were originally about
1 mile east of Elgin, Texas, on the same ex-SP line. The banners are stored and used on
special occasions, such as Railfair weekend at the end of June. The Austin Steam Train website
<austinsteamtrain.org> might have some photos of the signals in operation."

Above photos by Jessica Stacey (1/05)

Houston
Note:
This wigwag was finally retired during October, 2002. Here's one of the last
action photos taken by Mathew Dittert...

9/20/02 - Mathew Dittert

Gary Morris catches it during better times in 1978.

A more recent shot by Mathew Dittert.

The wigwag used to be in downtown Houston on Union Pacific's Terminal Subdivision Passenger Main, which in former times belonged to Southern Pacific. It guarded the crossing of National Street, which leads to a private road and gate to the
north side of the tracks. National Street crosses the Passenger Main about 1/8 mile east of Chaney Junction, where the Passenger Main splits from the main going to
Hardy Street Yard, while the Passenger Main itself passes by the Amtrak station. This was a Magnetic Flagman made in Los Angeles, with a rather unique style mast. Years ago, as seen in the Gary Morris photo, it had a US&S "Teardrop" bell. It was later replaced by an electronic bell.

Close up of banner. Note replacement lens.

Amtrak Dash 8-40BP 838 rolls through at about 25 miles per hour, leading #2-the Sunset Limited on 3/18/01.

Above photos by Mathew Dittert (4/01)

Waxahachie

Both photos by Michael Ellis

You'll find both of these wigwags in Waxahachie, just south of Dallas, both on the UPRR (former T&NO). Notice that both use Union Switch and Signal bases, contain X-bucks and have an extra bell installed. Very similar to what Santa Fe did with their wigwags(except for the extra bell).

Update (9/14/99)

Hume Kading from Railway Preservation News (.com) sends in this update. It looks as though the shorter of the two wigwags has been converted to a highway flasher (upper two photos). Interesting to see that they removed only the banner. I wonder how long they will leave the cantilever and motor box up. The photos below were taken by Hume in June of '99.

This is the same signal as the one in the top right photo (top of page). Perhaps this picture belongs on
the "Partial Wigwags" page. I'm wondering if they removed the cantilever and box yet.

Close up of banner.

In action!

Above 4 updated photos by Hume Kading

Coleman

Note:
These wigwags were removed sometime before July, 2001.
Thanks to Wes Carr for updating us on that.

Wes Carr sends in the following photo and info:

"This line is the former AT&SF San Angelo Subdivision. The location of the signals is about 4 miles south of Coleman, TX, where Highway 1026 crosses the South Orient. This is maybe a 1/2 mile north of Highway 1026 / US hwy 67 intersection.

Railroad station-wise, it's located between San Angelo Jct and Valera on the South Orient."



Overview of crossing.	These are former ATSF "model 10" wigwags. This style is extremely rare now.

Wes also adds:

"This is all 10 mph track. South Orient has really let its track go to the weeds...the only portion of their track they are currently operating is the 70 miles or so between San Angelo Jct (near Coleman) and San Angelo. When they purchased this line from ATSF the track was good for 30 mph, now it's down to 10. The trains SO runs are usually no more than 20 cars...a mix of tanks, grain hoppers, and flat cars carrying plate steel shipments... also occasional damaged freight cars traveling to San Angelo for rebuilding at Texas Tank Car Works.

SO is trying to find a new operator for the line, claiming it is losing money. They want to abandon their track west of San Angelo but the STB has denied them permission to do so. One reason is that the state of Texas is afraid they would use this as a stepping stone to abandoning their entire line. So they're trying to sell the operating rights to another company. Don't know what effect that would have on the wigwags."

For more pictures of these wigwags, check out Wes' webpage that
also features a piture of them in action.

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