Lebanon Wig-Wag

Video of the Magnetic Flagman, or "Wig-Wag" Signal on the Albany & Eastern Railroad at Berlin Road in Lebanon, Oregon in operation on February 24, 2006.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• railroad
• railway
• train
• Oregon

[Bellwestern80]

That wigwag needs new paint. It looks greenish gray.

[westr]

The banner is solid white, but is peeling heavily. Looks like it was painted a long time ago. The rest of the signal is dull silver, with fair amouts of rust and moss. Of the remaining operating Oregin wigwags, this one's appearance is probably the worst, but since it is on a small independent short line, I'm not really surprised that maintenance suffered.

[prfsnlwannabe]

Shame on all those idiotic drivers disobeying the wig-wag!! I bet those drivers notice them, but just are idiots, and don't care....

[westr]

They definately noticed the wig-wag... every one of them paused at the wigwag, saw the approaching (albiet very slow) train, and went on through anyway. In fact, I'd bet that if one of them had actually obeyed the signal, the ones behind would have honked their horns at them. Maybe that's why the train approaches so slowly; to give all the idiots plenty of time to get out of the way.

[2GUNBOY]

They could modernize the wig-wags by giving them LEDs

and electronic bells. Maybe they could even make the electronic bell ding every time it swings

back-and-forth, to make it sound original. Reflective

stickers(along with the electronic bells and LEDs) would add to its visibility at night. But i highly

doubt the government would ever consider doing it.

[westr]

They could do a lot of things, (leaving the wig-wags in place & adding the lights & gates would be OK), but I think the real issue is that wig-wags are "non-standard" & they can say they "replaced all obsolete signals" & "improved safety," though I expect that most, if not all, of the crossings have never seen a accident, and at least 1 has (unfortunately) seen almost no trains at all in over a year (Knappa on PNWR's Astoria line). Too bad the govt doesn't worry as much about our real problems.

[omanafire]

They're on meth.

[sophieoftipton]

I must say there are some big idiots on this

video clip who like to ignore crossing signals

like this wig-wag.

[ricofojas2011]

is it stiull there?.

[coolsax64]

@sophieoftipton Yes there are. People who live in the Albany/Lebanon area's are generaly uneducated and are usualy cooking meth or stealing for a living...

[bcschmerker]

This installation could use some cleanup for the gong strikers but looks otherwise fully functional. Wonder how much weight dual steady-burned LED lampheads would add, and whether some counterweighting would be needed? (Magnetic Signal originally used a single tungsten bulb betwixt two Fresnel lenses.)

[MainlineProductions1]

Amazing how many idiots there are in the world. they just go on by...

[MVillani1985]

Wigwags are still pretty hard to miss even if they aren't as good as the gates. Plus the wigwag looked infinitely cooler. Why not use both, I say?

[paullubliner]

Oh, very interesting. Then it was made in LOS ANGELES as the company moved to Minnesota (pronounced Minnie Sohtta) in later years. I was aware that Union "DW's" were made as well as shipped internationally, but unaware about The Magnetic Signal Company's products. Very Nice!

[kym1931]

magnetic flagman from u.s.a and it was 1928 when she was made in and that's all i know at this point and at the same time i am doing some research to find out where she was before they pulled her down out of service all i know she was use here in south australia

[paullubliner]

Actually, it's the gates that are literally harder to miss.

[paullubliner]

Who did and where was yours manufactured?

[kym1931]

i am one lucky person i own one and at the moment i am in the middle of restoring it and at the moment the neighbours dont like the noise'hehehe but to bad in australia they are fading out to so you are not the only people