Ball Signal at the East End of Columbus ?

[NW Mailing List]

Gordon,

Here is some info on John W. Barriger, III:

https://railphoto-art.org/along-the-line-1930s-railroad-photographs-by-john-w-barriger-iii/

My understanding, from speaking with others, is that he traveled
extensively by rail and always had his camera with him.

Jim Brewer

On Sat, May 22, 2021 at 3:20 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> I'm intrigued by the origin of this large collection of N&W photos that I
> was previously unaware of.  Many of them appear to have been taken from
> tops of freight cars, or other structures, or from the rear platform of
> cabooses.  Who was this person, Barriger, and what was his relation with
> the N&W?  How did these photos get into the St. Louis Mercantile Library?
>
> Gordon Hamilton
> On 5/21/2021 7:54 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:
>
> The attached photograph presents an intriguing conundrum.  The negative is
> held in the Barriger Collection at the St Louis Mercantile Library and can
> be accessed at the URL given below.  It is mixed in with other negatives
> (apparently) made by Mr. Barriger on the Columbus side of the Scioto
> Division.
>
>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerlibrary/12296491215/in/album-72157640359471435/
>
> One commentor conjectures that the location is **Columbus OH East Side
> Grade Separation, looking South toward Long Street?** and do note that he
> closed his comment with a question mark.
>
> What grabs my attention in the photo is the pole.  That pole is rigged,
> top and bottom, with the apparatus to raise and lower two old-timey **Ball
> Signals.**  Note the two pulleys suspended from the cross arm, and the
> large vertical hoop(s) on the pole at ground level, used as a hand-wheel
> for raising and lowering the balls.  This is classic Ball Signal hardware.
>
> This may suggest that a Ball Signal may have been used during the line
> relocation east of Columbus, perhaps used as a proceed signal by a
> switchtender or other authorized person on the ground.
>
> If the Ball Signal theory is rejected, then why is the hardware for a ball
> signal on the pole ?
>
> What does the Smart Money have to say about this?  I am a simple man and
> cannot fathom it.
>
> (CAVEAT:  Many of the Barriger negatives were scanned wrong-side-up, which
> results in a *backwards* image.  I have left this image in the orientation
> as  Mercantile Library released it.)
>
> -- abram burnett
> Our Turnips Sometimes Identify as Rutabagas
> ( ..... they were scanned upside-down ..... )
>
>
>
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