--- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, Rob Adams <steamera@...> wrote:
>
> I've posted an interesting picture to my web site. It is a Circa
late
> 1920's or early 1930's picture of workers cleaning up following a
> flood, from a negative I purchased a few years ago. In the view,
there
> is a lower quadrant semaphore with rectangular blade, dark with
light
> stripe, perhaps red/white (I have another negative of the same
signal
> that was ruined by mold, but shows the entire signal mast and
blade).
> The location is unknown, but I presume it to be somewhere on the
CB&Q
> because the other negatives in the collection are of CB&Q subjects,
and
> appear to have been taken by a CB&Q employee. The signal is marked
> N245.1, which I presume to be a mile number. Can any of you
confirm
> that it is a Burlington signal, and help with identifying it? The
> image is on my home page at:
>
> <http://www.KeokukandWesternRR.com>
>
> Clicking on the image will bring up an enlarged version.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Kind regards, Rob
>
> --
> Rob Adams
> Wellman, IA
> steamera@...
> Modeling CB&Q, CRI&P and Wabash operations in Keokuk, IA,
> the Wabash Bluffs, IL to Keokuk branch,
> and the CB&Q's Keokuk & Western branch, circa 1938
> <http://www.KeokukandWesternRR.com>
>
Rob -
Block signal N 245.1 is 5.4 miles west of Prairie du Chien, WI (MP
239.7) and 9.3 miles east of Lynxville, WI (MP 254.4). The numerals
on CB&Q signals correspond very closely to the actual milepost
location, right down to the "tenth of a mile". The N or S
designation is, like Archie mentioned, reference to the "N" (north
side of main) or the "S" (south side of main) and infers double track
ABS (Automatic Block Signal) system where there is a "current of
traffic". Number plated signals are called "intermediate" signals
and in "Q" days, the number furthest to the right (and usually to the
right of the decimal point) always is an even number for eastbound
signals and an odd number for westbound signals. N or S on a number
plate is redundant when you consider the last number to the right
tells you the direction the signal governs and in recent years, the N
or S and the decimal point have been removed from the number plates.
In multiple (more than two) main track territory, such as on
the "East End" between West Eola and Union Ave. the intermediate
signal's number plates by "Q" standards would read, main track
number, followed by a dash, then the milepost (whole) number, decimal
point and finally, the tenth of a MP (always even for E/B; odd for
W/B). A signal on the East End with the numbers "2-36.4" would be
the signal on main #2 at MP 36.4 governing an eastbound train
movement (in this case, the eastward approach signal for the absolute
signal at the West Eola interlocking plant). The BN/BNSF has dropped
the dash and the decimal point and the signal number now reads "2364"
leaving it up to the Signal Dept. to decipher its location if there
is a problem with the signal indication. Block signal N 245.1 could
also appear on the Ottumwa Subdivision of the Nebraska Division near
Beckwith, IA or on the Brookfield Subdivision of the Chicago Division
near Coatsburg, IL but what "nails" your photo as being between PDC
and Lynxville, WI is the Mississippi River in the background. The
other two locations previously mentioned don't have a river anywhere
near that signal location. Hope this answers your question regarding
the signal picture? Can't help on the water tank other than to guess
between North LaCrosse and Daytons Bluff.
Bob Campbell
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