I’ve always been curious about why I’m seeing less and less of the
wig-wag-type crossing signals? From what I’ve heard they were and
still are more prevalent in the Northeast than elsewhere, and it’s
been a long time since I saw one at a grade-crossing in the Midwest.
(I have seen them in Wisconsin and in Indiana, but not recently).
Is it because their mechanical design was too prone to failure and/or
they were too difficult to maintain? I know it’s usually the case that the
state decides what type of crossing protection is to exist at every
public grade-crossing and then it’s the RR’s job to maintain them
(which burns me up every time I hear a TV story that blames the RR
for less-than-adequate signal protection after a grade-crossing
accident). Maybe fewer and fewer states are considering the wig-wag
design appropriate?
I think they are more prevalent in the far west. Almost all of them I remember seeing were along WP or SP lines (possibly DRG&W as well). The Espee used to have them everywhere. My understanding is that the moving parts made them more expensive to maintain and ultimately that plus some complaints about lack of visibility led to their demise.
What MC said and add liability. So-called deep pockets railroads. Add also FRA with rules about increasing protection and reducing crossings. It all adds up to the wig-wag going away.
[:)]There is a wig-wag in Anaheim,Ca. at the corner of Lemon and Santa Ana Streets.The track runs down the middle of Santa Ana street for you street running fans![8D]
The web-site is terrific! The scenes from Wisconsin were mind-jarring indeed.
I went to Catholic school in Kansasville, Wis. and the shots of the old MILW line
through that crummy little berg brought back memories of the school bus I rode
every day bumping-over those same tracks and my always looking quick in both
directions to look for a train (don’t recall ever seeing one - seems the MILW
always ran through when I wasn’t looking).
Most wig-wags that I saw were in Wisconsin on CNW. An interesting variation on the wig-wag was a crossing signal I saw on some DMIR lines in the mid 1970’s. The frame was similar to a wig-wag but had a standard octagonal stop sign mounted on a turntable instead. When a train activated the crossing circuit, the stop sign turned to face oncoming traffic.
Wow, I checked out the link posted on here. I had no idea that there were still wigwags in use today. It’s too bad there aren’t more of them. The only one I’ve seen in action was one at Heritage Park in Calgary, Alberta.
There are two wig wags in operation at Six Flags over Texas. We also have three more in storage. They have been fairly dependable. Once we figured out what they needed in maintance.