Railroad Track Signal
date: label: date made
content: ca. 1880
name: label: used by
content: New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company
label: maker
content: Union Switch and Signal Company
notes: label: Description
content: Railroad track signals are part of the control and management infrastructure of train movement. The railroad signal communicates to the operator of the train how to proceed to ensure safe movement. Early fixed signals involved hand signals, flags, and ball signals. With the spread of telegraph lines in the 1850s, train orders could be transmitted quickly from one stop to another. They were followed by automatic systems that developed with the introduction of electricity.
label: Description
content: This early type of banner signal, also known as an automatic block signal, was one of the first automatic signals to be used in the United States. It was manufactured by the Union Switch and Signal Company about 1880. The signal operated by a clockworks driven by a 100 lb. weight. The clockworks were set in motion by an electromagnet that was triggered by trains passing over a track-mounted switch.
label: Description
content: The signal consists of a box containing a clockwork mechanism. The roof of the box is a vertical spindle upon which are mounted two metal vanes, one painted green with a white striped border, and the other painted red. The box was mounted on a tall hollow iron pole in which the weight that operated the clockwork was suspended. This signal was used on the New York, New Haven & Hartford R.R. until about 1934.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Transportation, Railroad
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: American Railway Association, Signal Section
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.308317
label: catalog number
content: 308317
label: accession number
content: 71800
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Railroad Signal
label: Other Terms
content: Railroad Signal; Rail