N&WHS Modeling Committee

[NW Modeling List]

Whew Bob!  I wasn't trying to be so technical.  But, thank you.
   
  I think it would be nice if someone made a model of the correct CPL arm for the N&W signals, being the three position Vertical (clear), Right to Left Diagonal (approach), and horizontal (restricting or stop), with the center lamp omitted.  Either that, or make one that has all four positions and hoods with plugs that could be pressed in the holes that aren't needed by the modeler for the positions omitted in that particular instance.  Then the unused hoods could be shaved off with a modeling knife.  That would give us an arm that could do it all in one.  The single position arm is already available.
   
  I'm not sure if you're making a modeling analogy or not, but the N&W did have some cantilever signals.  The one at Rawl, WV, just outside Williamson was taken out of service on November 26th of this year.  There is now a new Safetran Cantilever in its place.  It was located where a bracket signal couldn't have been seen by both trains.  But, yes, cantilevers were rather uncommon on the N&W, as the bracket signal was their "signal of choice" in two track situations.  It the area I am modeling, there are no cantilevers.  Just brackets, distant signals, home signals, and automatics.
   
  I find your observations refreshing.  I can tell I'm not the only one who has put a lot of thought into this subject.
   
  Ben Blevins
  

NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
  I am very much interested in modeling N&W signals (however, prior to them putting in the red lamps on the stop indications).  I am amused about the manufacturer who would produce them except he can’t get the dimensions, etc.  I think he needs to do his own homework and put his money where his mouth is.  I guess I have been bombarded with so many e-mails about manufacturers who have had information shoved down their throats about N&W stuff, and still won’t produce it that I am skeptical.  I also believe in the “six-foot rule”.  If you can’t tell the difference from six feet away, then it doesn’t make any difference, anyway.  PRR position light signals used a full round surround on the main head, and then used a truncated surround on the lower head when needed.  As far as I am concerned, that is the way the N&W did it on anything I have observed.  Occasionally, the N&W used a completely round surround on the lower head.  Who among us would need that many indications unless
 you were modeling an exact location.  In that case, I would challenge you to model everything else in the same detail. The N&W used a lower single light marker on home signals, whereas the PRR used the lower marker for “stop and proceed” block signals.  That certainly would be easy to kit-bash.  When it comes to the actual indications, that is an electrical problem, not a hardware problem.  Incidentally, I wonder what is meant by “cantilever”.  Wherever there were signals for parallel same-direction tracks, the N&W put a single mast with a “T” bracket to the right of the tracks and the signal masts where mounted on the cross member of the “T”. (The most extreme example of this is at Roanoke where there was a “T” type signal bridge with three signal masts on it.) The other option was a signal bridge that had its supports on each side of the right-of-way.  Its true that N&W’s signal bridges were not the typical signal bridge that you can buy ready-made with side supports
 that spread out as they approach the ground.  
Well, I shot my mouth off about this – I don’t think we can do anything but try to kit bash whatever is out there or try to build them from scratch which is what I have spent many hours thinking about.  I think you could make round surrounds that have holes for three indications, and some truncated surrounds that have a single row of lights either vertical, 45 degree angle, or horizontal.  You could then glue in LED’s and take their leads and bend them so they look like surround supports.  I haven’t actually tried it yet – has anyone?  

Bob Folsom
N&W 1949 in Clemson, SC


On 12/9/07 7:04 PM, "NW Modeling List" <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

  Mark Peele said:
 
I know a manufacturer that wants to release
N&W Cantilever Signal bridges and the only thing
preventing this is the lack of drawings, dimensions
and photos. I'm not currently in N&W country or I'd be
all over getting this info!

Mark Peele
Catonsville, MD
 
 
  
You do?  Man, I'd love for someone to start making accurate N&W signals at all, much less a cantilever.  I've been trying to figure out how to kitbash them out of Oregon Rail Supply parts.  They have a Pennsylvania kit that will work for the N&W position light with some modification, but the CPL would be more work.  There's nobody that makes the correct arm (background, head, whatever you wanna call it).  You'd have to fill in the center lamp hole on the background, and the bottom arm, whew, that would be a lot of filling, drilling, and gluing to get them right depending on what type of signal you're modeling.
  
 
  
Just out of curiosity, how much interest is there in modeling N&W signals?
  
 
  
Ben Blevins
  
 
  
 
  
 
  


  
  
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