Notice anything unusual in this photo? I'm not talking about the long line of locomotives. This picture of a train splitting the Semaphores was shot just a couple months ago but it may as well have been 1971:
Those classic railroad signals have been around for about 100 years, but are disappearing fast from the railroad scene. They have long been replaced on major mainlines, starting in the 1930s, but a few still survive in working order on some of the lesser-traveled lines. There have been quite a few removed in Central Oregon the last couple of years, many that were installed in
*1912* and maintained in working order until 1999 and 2000.
Another little railroad novelty fading fast is the Wig-Wag signal at crossings. I know little about them but these peculair devices are a swinging pendulum with a flashing red light. There are pictures if you click the link below.
I enjoy trains and railroading, partly because in some ways it is living history and some aspects of railroading last an incredibly long time. There is a locomotive here in the Pasco yard that does local runs almost daily. It is
51 years old and is running with just one major rebuild. And they don't go easy on it at all. As some of the longstanding railroad symbols are close to vanishing, it's worth enjoying a bit of history while we still have it.
Another interesting note in this newsline. . .
Greyhound is the 2nd largest consumer of diesel fuel in the US! They use moree fuel than the Union Pacific or Burlington Northern RR (the only 2 that made the top 5 list). Certainly trains are an efficient way to move stuff, but if I had to guess, I would have figured all those railroads moving many billions of tons of freght would use more fuel than moving a couple hundred thousand people around the country.
http://www.northwestrails.com/news94/nwnewspage94.htm
OK that's my bit of railroad musings for today
Vaughn
Railroad images fading into history
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