Semaphore in Kalamazoo on Grand Elk.

[MikeB89]

I was browsing around with Google maps 3D and street views.

During this browsing I was following Grand Elks main line south out of Kalamazoo.

At East Vine St. crossing I see a semaphore signal with a D which I think would mean distant signal before the switch and diamond at the Michigan Line.

Could someone possibly verify this exists and if so does it actually work?

Thanks

[NSSD70ACe]

I was browsing around with Google maps 3D and street views.

During this browsing I was following Grand Elks main line south out of Kalamazoo.

At East Vine St. crossing I see a semaphore signal with a D which I think would mean distant signal before the switch and diamond at the Michigan Line.

Could someone possibly verify this exists and if so does it actually work?

Thanks

Believe it is still there and I also am pretty sure it’s locked in that position. Distant signal to BO interlocking.

[David Collins]

I was browsing around with Google maps 3D and street views.

During this browsing I was following Grand Elks main line south out of Kalamazoo.

At East Vine St. crossing I see a semaphore signal with a D which I think would mean distant signal before the switch and diamond at the Michigan Line.

Could someone possibly verify this exists and if so does it actually work?

Thanks

Believe it is still there and I also am pretty sure it’s locked in that position. Distant signal to BO interlocking.

Stupid question, but is that signal considered a fixed approach?

[GP30M4216]

Here’s what it looked like in 2007. I believe the signal rules changed at some point and it went from an “A” plate to a “D” plate. Fixed and mounted as the approach signal to BO interlocking. It probably looks like a more sun bleached version of this. At this time, I believe the Amber lamp did illuminate when a train was on the circuit.

url=http://railroadfan.com/gallery/displayi ... pos=-47667][/url]

[kd_1014]

I was browsing around with Google maps 3D and street views.

During this browsing I was following Grand Elks main line south out of Kalamazoo.

At East Vine St. crossing I see a semaphore signal with a D which I think would mean distant signal before the switch and diamond at the Michigan Line.

Could someone possibly verify this exists and if so does it actually work?

Thanks

Believe it is still there and I also am pretty sure it’s locked in that position. Distant signal to BO interlocking.

Stupid question, but is that signal considered a fixed approach?

Yes. It’s “fixed” on the approach indication only

[LansingRailFan]

Here’s what it looked like in 2007. I believe the signal rules changed at some point and it went from an “A” plate to a “D” plate. Fixed and mounted as the approach signal to BO interlocking. It probably looks like a more sun bleached version of this. At this time, I believe the Amber lamp did illuminate when a train was on the circuit.

url=http://railroadfan.com/gallery/displayi ... pos=-47667][/url]

CONRAIL

[J T]

There's also another one on the north side of town, just south of Mosel.

[GTW Dude]

How many semaphores are remaining in Michigan? I know there is one up on the Adrian and Blissfield being used as an approach but it has definitely seen better days.

[SD80MAC]

The two on the Elk in Kalamazoo are the only ones I'm aware of on the west side of the state anymore. There was one that served as the approach to the swing bridge in Manistee on the MQT, but I believe that has been gone for quite some time now.

There was also one in Saginaw on the LSRC (former CSX line) to Bay City, but I'm not sure that is still there. There was also a tilting target signal at Foss Jct in Essexville, not sure if that is still there, either.

[GP30M4216]

How many semaphores are remaining in Michigan? I know there is one up on the Adrian and Blissfield being used as an approach but it has definitely seen better days.

It’s pretty bleak for semaphore blades in the wild. I forgot about the A&B example. As 80MAC mentioned, the Manistee blade has been gone about 20 years. In Saginaw, the signal on the Bay City line at the North 6th Street crossing was replaced between 2012-2014. The southward approach signal near Mosel in Kalamazoo that JT mentioned lost its blade several years ago, so it’s just an amber lamp.

Another example may exist near Saginaw, but we need a talented drone operator to be sure. The “Delphi semaphore,” now known as the Nexteer semaphore, I suppose, is or was located just east of I-75 on the line that comes in south of Holland road through the Nexteer plant. You can glimpse it in an instant from I-75
But it’s too far from Towerline road to really see well. Maybe someone in that area can provide an update? I’d love to know if it’s still there….

Other than this example and the A&B one cited above, the northward signal in Kalamazoo may be the last.

I’m not sure where the last functional blades were in Michigan. Only a minute from the border, there were a pair of operating semaphores protecting the Toledo Terminal “back side” beltline at Hallet Tower in Toledo until at least the mid 2000s and possibly later…

[J T]

The southward approach signal near Mosel in Kalamazoo that JT mentioned lost its blade several years ago, so it’s just an amber lamp.

Well that's a bummer. I haven't been down Pitcher St. in a few years to see it was still there. In the google globe view you can see the shadow from the blade, but I don't know when that image was captured.

[LansingRailFan]

There are remnants of a wig-wag still on the Baker/QD branch of the JAIL in Lansing.

[J T]

There are remnants of a wig-wag still on the Baker/QD branch of the JAIL in Lansing.

There's a thread for that.

[LansingRailFan]

There are remnants of a wig-wag still on the Baker/QD branch of the JAIL in Lansing.

There's a thread for that.

I thought this thread could be broader