PRR concrete line poles?

[Chris333]

In my area a steel plant is doing a big $650 mill expansion to make gas drilling pipe:
http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2011/04/19/650M-plant-to-transform-Youngstown.html
They have been talking about re-locating and re-building rail lines on the news and I knew they built an access road to the plant. Today I drove down it for the first time. The new plant is huge, but what caught my eye was the old PRR ROW. In this exact area the Lake Erie & Eastern built a concrete "structure" over the PRR. The PRR had 2 tracks in the left portal, 2 tracks in the center and the single track to the right was for the steel mill.



And there are about 10-15 line poles that are made of square concrete:


These have to belong to the PRR because they are up on top of the retaining wall, down below where the road is now used to be the B&O and Erie canal branch ROW. Also right around the bend I found this:



http://binged.it/1dUvlwC

Anyways I have never heard of concrete polls. Is this a common PRR thing?

[lock4244]

See the very last paragraph on the page. Little blurb and a photo:
http://www.cedarknolltelephone.com/prr/

CN used cast concrete poles for grade crossing signs way back when. They last forever... or close to it, which is why they used them I suppose.

[Chris333]

I just dug up some 1918 LE&E constrution photos of the concrete overpass. There are photos from up top looking down to the PRR line and the same poles are in the photo, so they are pre-1918. wow.

[TrainCat2]

Sooooo, How do you think one would go about acquiring that B&O Mast Signal?

I would might do almost anything too to have it.

[davefoxx]

Sooooo, How do you think one would go about acquiring that B&O Mast Signal?

I would might do almost anything too to have it.

Looks like it would just take a truck, a crane, a wrench, and some rust penetrating spray.  Good luck!   

[lock4244]

Sooooo, How do you think one would go about acquiring that B&O Mast Signal?

I would might do almost anything too to have it.

Rome wasn't built in a day. I say one piece at a time 

[Chris333]

So the signal is B&O not PRR?

I'm surprised to find it still standing.

[johnhale]

Sooooo, How do you think one would go about acquiring that B&O Mast Signal?

I would might do almost anything too to have it.

That's funny, I know where one is ready to "back the truck up and go".





John

[Chris333]

There was a B&O signal poll right by my house that was all stripped, but I thought it would be cool to have the post. Went back and it was all gone. It was the middle of nowhere in the woods.

As for this new signal all I see are 4 large bolts...

There are a few other abandoned signal around here, I wonder if they are still around.

[Dave V]

That's B&O...  As a general rule (although the Standard Railroad of the World liked to occasionally violate its own standard) the PRR did not put side-by-side signals on a single mast.  Much more common were two heads vertically on a single mast.

[Chris333]

Strange that it is up on top of a retaining wall and not down level with the B&O.  Oh well, just surprised it is still there.