Odd Location for a Preserved Signal Bridge

[C855B]

I was poking around on Google Maps trying to find my brother's "project house" in Needles, CA, and stumbled into this:

https://goo.gl/maps/NAwihiy2oub3BnNx5

Obviously the Chamber of Commerce's doing, since it's next to their building. Notice the cast plaque on the concrete base -  a signal bridge as a tourist attraction?

[peteski]

Notice the cast plaque on the concrete base -  a signal bridge as a tourist attraction?

Absolutely!  For foamers! 

[GaryHinshaw]

Wow.  Guarding Rte. 66 no less.

[645diesel]

Wow.  Guarding Rte. 66 no less.

i wonder how bad a problem they have with people running "wrong" main there 

[GonzoCRFan]

Notice the cast plaque on the concrete base -  a signal bridge as a tourist attraction?

Having driven under it several times during my wanderings through the southwest, I can attest there is no other reason I can fathom a person would ever willingly go there. Not to mention the stretch between Needles and Topock always seems to be at least 5-10 degrees warmer than neighboring areas - which, when you're already in the Mojave desert,  makes the experience suck even more...

[C855B]

Having grown up in the Mojave, yes, Needles is our particular interpretation of Hell. Not only is it hotter than the surrounding region, because of the river it's more humid, too. Think 110°, 70-80% RH. After dark. Then add mosquitoes. Has an earned nasty reputation for crap hotel rooms >$200 and $5 gas.

I never got a satisfactory explanation why my brother bought a house there. He still lives in southwest Oregon, near Medford. He did mention something about it being a historic home near the train station, but he had no intentions of moving there.

[p51]

Went through and looked at the told depot for a few minutes in 2015, I think. I don't remember seeing that there.

[C855B]

Went through and looked at the told depot for a few minutes in 2015, I think. I don't remember seeing that there.

Surfing the various map and image sites, the signal appears to have been planted there in 2018.

And I just did a property records search and found my brother's house. He's right, it faces the tracks, and is next to the depot. I guess it meets the definition of "historic"; it's a small cottage that was very likely employee housing built by the RR during line construction in the 1880s. Interesting.