N&W CPL's

[NW Mailing List]

You know Jimmy, the N&W signals themselves weren't really the problem.  It's just their age is catching up with them.  I love the way they look, their visibility is great, and the aspects are much easier to understand (for me anyway).
 
And yes, there is a modern equivalent still manufactured by Safetran.  It is aluminum, and doesn't use a spider frame, but instead a collection of light boxes that attach to a center set of junction boxes.  There are more around than what you would think.  I know of a few.  The ones in Roanoke have already been mentioned.  There's also one near Keystone, at least, I think its Keystone.  It's right beside US 52.  You can tell its new because the platforms are the modern aluminum type with the safety cage.  
 
I personally would take a modern CPL over an old one, from the maintainer's point of view.  The railfan in me would rather have the "old timey" CPL, just well maintained.   But, for convenience sake, the Colorlight signal is by far the easiest to adjust, rewire, change bulbs in, and replace components.  And, the lamp voltage is adjustable in the signal head.  That is one thing a CPL doesn't do.  So, I guess, like the steam engines themselves, the CPL's are just being outmoded one by one.
 
Ben Blevins


--- On Tue, 8/19/08, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: N&W CPL's
To: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Date: Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 4:53 PM





In another thread, Ben Blevins relates:
 "I was obsessed witnh preserving an N&W signal before I was ever a signal maintainer. I did that. They are old, rusty, dangerous, an absolute nightmare to work on, and impossible to get parts for.  Climbing one of these things is a terror in itself, even with the proper safety gear."
 
I can sympathize with that, but, they are a much better way to present a signal than today's stick signals! Too bad that the people that make and order these things didn't realize the advantages of the CPL's and come up with a modern replacement.
Jimmy Lisle________________________________________
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