Need your Help! Special Semaphore type on Southern Tier Line

[craltoona]

Hi Guys, I'm hoping someone can help me with this problem. Recently, the Conrail Historical Society acquired a US&S upper quad style S semaphore (complete) and in great shape. We picked it up at Susquehanna (Starrucca) NY. The only problem is, we don't know where it came from. This semaphore is special in that it has a short mast. This semaphore used to be mounted high in the air on a high-mast platform. As far as I know, the Erie Railroad didn't have too many of these unique semaphore arrangments. One such location was Waverly, NY. I've done some research and another possible location is Addison, NY. I'll post pictures of what I'm talking about below.

Do any of you know any other locations along the Southern Tier line that had this exact style semaphore? A short semaphore mounted high in the air on a platform? In order to figure out where it came from, we need to know where every single semaphore like this was along the line. Thanks gentlemen!

-Joe Marchinchin (Conrail Historical Society)

http://thecrhs.org/news/The-CRHS-Acquir ... tarucca-PA

[Roadgeek Adam]

I don't know of great many, but Addison Station (Addison NY) had one in the MP 301 area.

(Also the article should say Susquehanna PA, I saw the semaphore.)

That specific one you got at Susquehanna looks like it was a switch into the sidings at the station. (Remember, Susquehanna was meant as a large terminal, despite the Erie knowing they overbuilt.)

[ExCon90]

I'm not that familiar with the Southern Tier, but a good place to start looking, if you have a track and signal diagram, would be a location where there was a track (such as a non-signaled siding) intervening between the signal and the main track it governed. That would call for a dummy mast on the right-hand end of the bracket. The NYS&W had a signal like that in Hawthorne--the westbound home signal at North Hawthorne (although it had a square-end blade, being a controlled home signal), where a siding was located between the signal and the main before it trailed into the main, with the switch being slightly west of the signal. There can't have been too many locations like that. (Come to think of it, is it known that it isn't the one at Susquehanna? That siding between the engines and the right-hand main is just the situation where a signal like that would have been used.)

[ANDY117]

There was one in Endicott, NY at MP 222 with that style of mast, I'll try and find pictures later. The signal number was 2222.


Edit: Found it!

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 567&nseq=0

[oibu]

Historically these gantry-tower mounted semaphores were all over the place on the Erie, actually quiet common, anyplace with a yard or multiple tracks likely had at least one example. Port Jervis' example still exists albeit without the semaphore. Pretty sure Port Jervis, Susquehanna, Lanesboro, Binghamton, Elmira, Corning, Hornell, etc. all had them at one time.