Ball Signal at the East End of Columbus ?

Sat May 22 21:05:31 EDT 2021

The Museum has posted his work on Flickr and are asking for help in identifying locations as Barriger did not keep good records.Ed BellSent from my LG K10, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone------ Original message------From: NW Mailing ListDate: Sat, May 22, 2021 8:13 PMTo: NW Mailing List;Cc: Subject:Re: Ball Signal at the East End of Columbus ?Gordon,Here is some info on John W. Barriger, III:https://railphoto-art.org/along-the-line-1930s-railroad-photographs-by-john-w-barriger-iii/My understanding, from speaking with others, is that he traveled extensively by rail and always had his camera with him.Jim BrewerOn Sat, May 22, 2021 at 3:20 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

    I'm intrigued by the origin of this large collection of N&W
      photos that I was previously unaware of.  Many of them appear to
      have been taken from tops of freight cars, or other structures, or
      from the rear platform of cabooses.  Who was this person,
      Barriger, and what was his relation with the N&W?  How did
      these photos get into the St. Louis Mercantile Library?

    Gordon Hamilton

    On 5/21/2021 7:54 PM, NW Mailing List
      wrote:

       The attached photograph presents an intriguing conundrum. 
        The negative is held in the Barriger Collection at the St Louis
        Mercantile Library and can be accessed at the URL given below. 
        It is mixed in with other negatives (apparently) made by Mr.
        Barriger on the Columbus side of the Scioto Division. 

       https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerlibrary/12296491215/in/album-72157640359471435/

       One commentor conjectures that the location is **Columbus OH
        East Side Grade Separation, looking South toward Long Street?**
        and do note that he closed his comment with a question mark. 

       What grabs my attention in the photo is the pole.  That pole
        is rigged, top and bottom, with the apparatus to raise and lower
        two old-timey **Ball Signals.**  Note the two pulleys suspended
        from the cross arm, and the large vertical hoop(s) on the pole
        at ground level, used as a hand-wheel for raising and lowering
        the balls.  This is classic Ball Signal hardware. 

       This may suggest that a Ball Signal may have been used
        during the line relocation east of Columbus, perhaps used as a
        proceed signal by a switchtender or other authorized person on
        the ground. 

       If the Ball Signal theory is rejected, then why is the
        hardware for a ball signal on the pole ? 

       What does the Smart Money have to say about this?  I am a
        simple man and cannot fathom it. 

       (CAVEAT:  Many of the Barriger negatives were scanned
        wrong-side-up, which results in a *backwards* image.  I have
        left this image in the orientation as  Mercantile Library
        released it.) 

       -- abram burnett 
       Our Turnips Sometimes Identify as Rutabagas 
       ( ..... they were scanned upside-down ..... ) 

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