| Here is some information about Wig Wags in Italy that
I sent you the pictures a few days ago. The first picture WigwagItaly1
is the cover of a brochure published by westinghouse Italy about in 1930,
indicating in the upper left corner Apparatus of Signalization and for
grade-crossing protection, with a drawing of an Italian Wig-Wag including
all visible details: Attenti al Treno means Attention to the Train, and
Fermatevi on the banner means stop.
Picture WigwagItaly2 shows a grade-crossing (passaggio a livello in Italian) at Settimo Torinese and then small contryside town about 10 miles East of Torino (Turin) on the main line to Milan (Milano). The pricture seems not to be a real photograph, but the scene is real, because it shows a grade-crossing keepers cottage beside the crossing, meaning that manually operated gates have been replaced by wig-wag. Asking old railwaymen from Italy, I could get confirmation that "several" such installations have been in use before and shortly after WWII in Northern Italy, mainly in the Northeastern part of Piedmont and Lombardy, but exact location have not been remembered. Picture 3, shows details from the catalogue. There are further details if you want I can scann this too and send it, there are details on the motor etc. shown in this catalogue. |
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8/18/02
