Steve Crise Collection

Steve Crise Collection Wigwag Photo Collection

Steve Crise


"I'm a life long train nut. Photographing railroads as a boy eventually lead me to my career as a professional photographer. Although today I primarily shoot for TV production and catalog clientele, I still like to get out and shoot what I loved to shoot way back when it was just me and my parents Brownie. Now I travel a lot around the country shooting different assignments. Whenever possible, I always try to plan some free time to get out and shoot some of the local railroad offerings. Unfortunately I have only turned my attention to wig wags, semaphores and signals in general within the last 5 years or so. But the many adventures this effort has given me, not to mention all the new friends I've made, has been a very wonderful experience! Enjoy."

All photos and text by Steve Crise

Alameda Corridor from the past and more...(4/14/01)

Alameda @ 103rd. 6/1998. Tracks were out of service but the wigwag was still there. View looking north on Alameda.

Alameda @ 103rd. Note the rectangular counter weight.

Alameda @ 103rd. Close up view looking south on Alameda.

Alameda @ 103rd. Full size view looking south on Alameda. 103rd. Street is in the intersection in the distance.

Dominguez Street Crossing. 12-1998. A slow moving stack train is guarded by a pair of hard working wigwags. This scene has scene been completely

obliterated by construction of the new Dominguez Street Overpass.

Dominguez Street Crossing. 12-1998. This view illustrates the fact that the banner on the eastside of the tracks was a bit out of kilter. Perhaps it

was turned to better accommodate the traffic turning right off of Alameda onto Dominguez St.

Johnnie Marietta Collection, 6-1998. Johnnie had quite a selection of railroad signals in his back yard. This is but a few of the more interesting

he had on display.

Johnnie Marietta Collection, 6-1998. Johnnie proudly stands by one of his more rare finds. I can't remember if this was a Griswald or a WRRS signal, do

you know? Everything had been lovingly and meticulously restored by Johnnie over the many years that he collected signals.

Orange Empire Trolley Museum, Perris, Calif. 4-27-97. This wigwag signal greets you at the front gate of the museum. O.E.T.M. boasts several unusual

railroad, trolley and traffic signals. Well worth a visit if you got the time.

Rochester Av. crossing, Cucamonga, Calif. 1-1992. This is one old PE installation that I totally forgotten about shooting. It helps to clean house

every once and a while, never know what you'll find. This view is looking northwest on Rochester Ave, Note the rather unusual placement of the

crossbuck across the street. I don't think you will find this example in any class 1 railroads common standards books. Sadly, this scene is now part of

history.

Hawthorne, S. Central L.A., CA and more... (2/25/01)

Eucalyptus Ave in Hawthorne Ca. 2-13-2001. No trains at this crossing but we did catch a Delta Airlines 757 going by.

Eucalyptus Ave in Hawthorne Ca. 2-13-2001. Dan pointed out to me that this is an original PE installation and has never suffered a "splice" job to the banner.

Randolph @ Wilmington in South Central Los Angeles 2-13-2001. This signal is on the very very endangered list. It seems that the UP is going to start using this line again in the very near future. The rails are all back in place and it looks like service could begin any day now. I got very lucky the day I went to this location. The signal maintainer was on the branch testing the operation of the signals. He kept it waging long enough for me to get some shots of both sides of the banner.

Randolph @ Wilmington. This close up shots reveals the missing red lens. I don't think it will be repaired anytime in the near future.

Randolph @ Wilmington .The lens-less banner swings it warning for all it's worth. Those darn airplanes kept getting in the picture!

Randolph @ Wilmington. The other sides in pretty good shape!

Randolph @ Wilmington. As you can see in this shot the UP has finished there trackwork at this crossing and is ready for the City of LA to live up to there end of the bargain. The streets in this area are all in very bad shape. The SP cross buck is standing but I'm sure its days are numbered too.

Randolph @ Wilmington. Wigwags and cross bucks, railroad lore that is soon to vanish from sight.

Wilmington Wye approach signal 2-20-2001. At first this signal doesn't look very interesting. But upon closer scrutiny, it revealed an interesting past.

Wilmington Wye approach signal. The Adlake lamp housing is from a Union Switch & Signal semaphore. There is no mechanism in the lamp housing to change the color of the signal, it consists of only a bulb and a lens. The signal is fixed at yellow to warn crews of the crossing signal 1000 ft ahead, therefore it is not necessary to change colors. The handle like apparatus on the top of the lamp house is a sighting scope.

Wilmington Wye approach signal. The sight was used to help aim the lamp beam at the cabs of oncoming trains. Note the hole that was made in the target so it would no interfere with the sighting scope.

Wilmington Wye approach sign, front view with MP marker. All photos of this signal were shot and edited digitally.

Gardena, Huntington Park, CA and more... (2/10/01)

My new mission in life is to shoot wigwags with trains going by them. This will take some time, effort and planing. The 49th Street wigwag in Vernon was an easy subject to catch a train going by. This BNSF line still sees heavy traffic on a daily basis.

49th Street wig wag in the sunset of its life's service.

Denker Av. Crossing in Gardena Ca. also sports a rather crocked cross buck.

This is a close up shot of the Denker Av. Wig wag banner. The view is looking north. Dan tells me that his learned eye has identified this as a possible PE home built wigwag banner.

This is a close up of the Denker Av. wigwag. It's about the most forlorn looking signal I've ever seen in service. The PE really made them to last though didn't they.

Gage & Hooper 2-2-2001. No chance of ever catching a train at this crossing. The tracks in the street are paved over and the rails are on their way out. I did not see any good reason why the UP might be able to develop any traffic in the near future on this old PE branch line.

Gifford Av. @ Randolph St. Huntington Park, Ca. 2-2-2001. At present, this line is in a state of limbo. It's west end connection with the main line is cut due to the continuing work on the Alameda Corridor project. However the banner on this installation is one of the newest and best maintained I've seen in years! The UP must be expecting come back in traffic on this line.

And to prove just how clean clean can be, here's a close up of the Gifford Av. banner. Although it looks like the black on the banner is black tape and not black paint! Someone cheated.

Hobart Bl. near 166th Street in Gardena, Ca. 2-2001. View looking north on Hobart Bl. A very typical PE installation. No doubt this wigwag saw plenty of Red Car's and Juice hog action in its time. I'm still trying to catch this site with a train going by such as the shot Evan got.

A close up view of the Hobart Bl. Wigwag. This side of the banner is facing south.

Close up view of the same Hobart Bl. banner only this time we see the side facing north. Each wigwag banner has its own personality brought on by time, use and abuse.

Alive and well! We are witnessing a former PE wigwag still performing a useful function for it's new owners, the Southern California Live Steamers in Torrance Ca. Paul Good of Culver City Ca. informed me that this wigwag came from the PE's old Venice Short Line crossing at Robertson Blvd. Paul saved it from destruction and later donated it to the live steam group. Note the BNSF harbor branch line local in the background. I almost had two locomotives, steam and diesel, with one wigwag!

Colton, California detail shots: (1/6/01)

9th & "D" Street wig wag facing west with crossbuck in foreground. Tracks are located between the crossbuck and wigwag. Technically I think the wigwag should have been placed on the other side of the street. Maybe it was at one time or another. Anyone know or have any knowledge of this areas past?

Close up of east facing banner at 9th & "D" Street. Looks like some kid from the school down the street did the paint job on this signal.

9th & "D" Street wigwag base box (?) facing west. Nice light makes lettering stand out.

Side view of banner at 9th & "D".

9th & "D" Street. Palm trees & wig wags, so Southern California. The only thing missing is a PE red car whizzing by.

9th & "D" Street east facing banner with palm tree. This would make a great AAA cover for a tour book on Southern California wigwag locations!

Full view of 9th & "D" Street wigwag looking east on "D" Street. I love the bell location on this installation.

9th & "D" Street site looking north toward the SP-UP main line where this branch line connects. Where's that darn local when you need it!

9th & "D" Street with "Stop" & street signs in foreground. No doubt where this location is!

9th & "D" Street. The afternoon sun was getting pretty low. It really starts to show off the shape and condition. Looks somewhat like a scale model.

9th & "M" Street. A great sense of age is shown on the face of this wigwag. I hope whomever ends up with this signal will not make the mistake of removing the rust and restoring it! What great color!

9th & "M" Street. Wig wag with crossbuck. Classic Pacific Electric!

9th & "M" Street banner facing west. Great color!

9th & M Street looking east (west facing banner).

9th & "M" Street west facing banner bathing in the late afternoon sunlight.

9th &"M" Street, the sun is setting on this installation in more ways than one. Electric, steam, 1st, 2nd, 3rd generation diesel. This wigwag has seen them all. If you have any idea as to any schedual that the local train has that goes past these sites, please e mail us and let us know!

Others...

San Jose Ladds Ranch wigwag east of Douglas, Arizona on state highway 80. There are tracks in the neighborhood, but nowhere near this signal. Surely

must be a transplant.

Wagon Mound, New Mexico, very late at night. There were so few trains on this line, we had to shoot whatever situation made itself available.

Bill Stoekoe's backyard, peach basket type wigwag & semaphores, what more can I say.

New Tri-Lite signal installation at Allen Ave crossing in Burbank, Ca. replacing the old SP cantilever installation. A Metro Link afternoon commuter train speeds by. About 1996.

All photos and text by Steve Crise.

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1/6/01