August 18th, 2014 was the end of the road for yet another group of historic signals. This time, it was CSX’s 1940s era searchlights in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. At 8:00 Eastern Daylight Time, the signal system was suspended so work could begin to remove the old signals and cutover to the new ones, which loomed nearby to the old ones.
We’re at Godfrey Avenue, the west end of the Sunnyside Plant, at the one and only Pere-Marquette Era cantilever signal ever installed in West Michigan. The cantilever, for seventy years, the iron structure kept the EAS for the Main Track in place, vaulting over the Old 17 track.
Watch as signal crews begin working the cutover, and waste little time cutting out the old signal, and get to work removing the iron giant. The entire removal process is here in this 20-minute episode, from cutting the wires, to hooking up the crane and moving it out of the way - it is all here.
While it might be sad to see the old signal gone, it is a sign the railroad is investing in the future. As one can see, it is being replaced by the biggest Signal Cantilever in West Michigan, three signals with three heads each, to guard the next generation of trains as the old one did for the better part of a century.
Credit goes to Gelock Heavy Movers for the crane operations. Based right across the street, they got in and out with this one!
Timeline:
- 8:15 EDT: Okay given to signal crew to foul tracks and begin removing the signal
- 8:17 EDT: The signal goes dark forever, as a worker tears out the wires leading from the control house to the signal
- 9:23 EDT: Crane is hooked up the structure
- 9:28 EDT: Worker lights his torch in preparation to remove the bolts
- 9:34 EDT: All the bolts torched off, the signal leaves its base for good, and is hoisted out of the way.
- 9:39 EDT: The signal is set down on the ground, where crews will torch it into manageable pieces before hauling it off for scrap
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Copyright 2014 Thornapple River Rail Series
19 авг 2014
