[N&W] Signals

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Okay now,
Let's not drag me into the N&W/Pennsylvania family feud!  The Pennsy
was gone before I was even born.
The reason I state that the N&W signal system on the Radford division
was overkill, and I'm sticking to my guns here, is because:
All home signals had at least two arms with all three positions, and
just a few years later they removed two of the three positions from the
lower arm on the two arm examples.  I know this is true because I
photographed almost all remaining home signals, and the indentations
from the lamp clamps were still on the frames.  They also removed the
single lamp on the bottom below the lower arm.  That is five extra
lamps on each home signal.  Obviously the N&W realised they had a lot
more hardware than they needed, so they got rid of it. If my estimates
are correct, that is 230 individual lamp assemblies taken off the
signals just on the Radford division!
Now, I'm certainly not knocking the N&W for doing this, nor do I agree
with the notion that they were trying to copy the Pennsylvania (because
they still weren't even close), but I'm stating the opinion that they
refined the signal system over the years.  There's nothing wrong with
that, folks!  In fact, if something like that happens in todays modern
business or industry, they'd rather use something that don't work than
listen to the folks in the field who can suggest refinements like the
N&W did.
O. Winston Link made the comment that the N&W employees treated the
railroad as their own personal property, and quite frankly, I cannot
imagine that in todays modern business environment.  So, the N&W
definitely did it right.  Now as for stating that I am a Pennsylvania
fan, well, I never saw a Pennsy train, and I have only been north of
the Mason Dixon line three times in 31 years, but I did have a Penn
Central 0-4-0 O gauge train set as a child...
Ben Blevins