Wig Wags and Griswolds from Coast to Coast

A compendium of my videos of oscillating banner (Wig-wag) and rotating banner (Griswold) crossing protection signals taken during my travels from 1989 to 2001. Sadly, with the exception of the Griswolds at Hibbing and the museum signals, all have now been replaced with conventional crossing protection.

[@X_Male13]

For those who don’t remember why wigwags were removed but they left the one in delhi it was a traffic issue so they had to upgrade it for there to be a wigwag there has to be very less traffic so for there being so much traffic over the years they had to be replaced and delhi’s wigwag stood for a long time bc there wasnt that much traffic in delhi

[@MShep-mh5xo]

I'm glad I got to see an overhead Griswold at work on the Penn Central in Kenton Ohio when I was really young.

[@mackpines]

The double wigwag was truly one of a kind. Never been able to find out if there were more examples that existed.

[@anb7408]

There was another in California. The mast of the one in this video survived the wigwags it held for a bit longer, with regular highway flashers on it. It was recently removed entirely, so yet another piece of history gone.

[@groundhog7652]

THIS IS SUCH A TREAT FOR ME! I live on the East coast, NC, Va. I have never seen any of these signals, and I am a bit of a RR fan. I like these signals almost as much as I do the trains!

[@PGHammer21A]

True, Groundhog; Griswolds at grade crossings are unheard-of - in fact, Griswolds *period* are rare air here.

[@TempoDrift1480]

Yeah me neither, looks like some thing you'd see in Germany or overseas.

[@DieselElevators]

I love the twins at the end. Beautiful signals, beautiful locomotives, and an amazing horn to compliment it all.

[@railwaycityrails8552]

Very nice footage of the Canada Southern. All removed track now. Thanks for posting.

[@giovanniprspotter]

3:45 that is one beautiful sounding horn

[@MonkeyFilmProductions]

It is

[@blackhawks81H]

@@MonkeyFilmProductions Yes! I was just gonna say this... Plenty loud, but a much softer tone thats less grating to the ears than a lot of the more common train horns. It's weird, I worked on boats for a while. And it almost sounds like a Kahlenberg D2... Which would be a really weird horn for a train. I wonder if anyone here can identify it?

[@luisp5036]

​​@@blackhawks81HIs a prime 920 horn kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5bbhGWjlMiCatksi=UJnxzm5YOU7t3PcJ

[@ubitmoosie2067]

WOW i loved the Erie Mining Co and the Santa Fe at 8:30

[@JohnM1774]

Excellent video !!!! Thank you for your hard work putting this all together and sharing. A TRUE railfan.

[@thesierrastandard7281]

4:40 is probably the best shot a railfanner could get! Looks straight out of the 50s

[@SolidCold]

ikr

[@Traindrainbusmowerfan]

F7A engine

[@gingerbread6614]

Love the wigwams & griswalds. Thank you

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

I love how some of these wig wags are next to semaphore signals that are probably just as old.

[@FPHfan-pz3th]

Thunderbolt 1000 Siren Productions hey I think you can find some at a museum I need to see what it’s called cuz I don’t know what it’s called

[@FPHfan-pz3th]

Because I saw a video of it

[@watchandreact1601]

7:59 my favorite shot!

[@SgtChip]

That one is pretty cool!

[@marksark1119]

This stuff is great to see from a bygone era. NICE!

[@proneczarniecki2833]

Love seeing wig wags in Wisconsin back in early 2000’s

[@RailroadVideosofPA]

I miss wig wags I never got to see any but, I guess they are a thing of the past. Thank you for getting video of the Wig Wags and Griswolds while they were still alive. Great Video!

[@PGHammer21A]

Thing is, I see where the wig-wags (and even the Griswolds) can be re-used - passenger stations (MARC, for example). It could even spark interest among passengers (or would-be passengers) in"rail-riding" again - and what's bad about that?

[@MetraFan81]

Wig wags are in fact not a thing of the past. There are 17 left in the United States; 14 in California and 1 in Illinois, Oregon and Washington each. As for Griswolds, the last one (Faribault, Minnesota) was removed in 2019.

[@Damon810Railfan]

@@MetraFan81 Interesting, kinda sad that the last stop sign griswolds in Hibbing have been replaced a while back But as for wig wags, there's barely any left like you said, but at least we can still see em in some places. There is in fact another one left in Lansing, MI. (which I live an hour away from), but it's all rusted and beat up, and the banner has been stolen from it. But it is on a shortline that's active (seldom) And on that same line, there's a pair of Girswold cantilever signals as well! (I made tour vids on both of those)

[@Dronkey64]

I really love the crossings with the cool turning stop signs! so creative! 😀🚨

[@eugeeropel5572]

Once again another EXCELLENT video by fmnut, especially the passenger cars at 17:26 and twice again + or - a minute and another minute past with people on the end solarium car. Thank you fmnut and please keep them coming.

[@CGT867]

Near my school in Melbourne Australia in the early 1960's we had a Mechanical Flagman like the final one shown but it had an "Out of Order " banner that swung down below it if the power went off.The banner was held out of sight by an electromagnet under a cover on the support arm, and swung down under gravity if the magnet was de-energised.

[@VictorianRailHeritage]

CGT867 I actually filmed one on puffing Billy recently

[@rainbowrailroadcrossing7798]

Link?

[@denverbrayan6999]

You all probably dont care but does anybody know a tool to log back into an instagram account?? I somehow forgot the login password. I love any tricks you can offer me!

[@denverbrayan6999]

@London Kieran Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site thru google and im in the hacking process now. I see it takes quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@denverbrayan6999]

@London Kieran it did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy! Thank you so much, you saved my account!

[@TrainsofNortheastWisconsin]

19:12 best horn I've ever heard

[@unity3596]

i second that

[@regionalrailvlogs4887]

OH NO GO TO 3:13 YOULLL LOVE IT HEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHEHEH

[@lizggil123]

@@regionalrailvlogs4887fair point it's a beautiful p3

[@vault214overseer2]

19:12 omg best horn ever

[@FPHfan-pz3th]

vault 214 overseer that’s a Leslie S3L

[@lindathrall5133]

THANK YOU FOR SHARING THE BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES OF MY DAD HE WORKED ON THE RAILROAD

[@robfassi3297]

That double wig wag was awesome, shame to see the tear drop bell didn’t work to well

[@anb7408]

The mast on that one was converted to flashing lights. Sadly, it has all since disappeared, completely replaced with modern signals.

[@chucutitan]

I've been driving since 1962. For me, a wig wag gets my attention much quicker than red lights. Both is best.

[@gingerbread6614]

It’s so great you filmed them.

[@tylerkasuboski3366]

8:20-8:52 (the Murdock Ave. SOO Line crossing in Oshkosh, WI) is the crossing which made me love railroads. Those Wig wags were almost hypnotic. Oshkosh (and the Fox Valley in general) was a buffet for Wig wag and Griswold crossings in the 70's-90's. All gone now.... At least there's still a ton (even more than ever) of freight which blasts through the city every 30-40 minutes at 40mph guarded by high tech, very imposing, gated crossings. Yet, every year the same number of drunken college students, winos, etc. pass out on the tracks during the winter and get hamburgerized. It has nothing to do with the signals but rather stupidity and lack of respect for the caution required around all trains and railroad tracks (even those which SEEM abandoned). Also, during several of the Wisconsin crossing shots we see the same kind of strange passenger train (with locomotives at the front and rear). Did you film this during EAA by any chance? Because each year around the massive EAA convention in Oshkosh (during this time frame) I would see a train very similar and those tracks were not typically utilized for passenger service. Also, there still might be an existing Wig wag in Plymouth, WI though it's been a few years since I last drove through. Thank you SO much for this utterly awesome collection!!!

[@alex31354]

9:10 I love this part I watched it when I was 3

[@MikeG42]

What a great video. I love the Wig-wags they are fun to watch especially with the many types featured in this video. The Caso Sub , Roseburg , Wisconsin and even Australia. The Griswold signals are pretty cool also. I love the stop sign that spins around. Excellent video Fmnut. 😁👍

[@eugeeropel5572]

Another EXCELLENT and unique video by fmnut. Thank you.

[@razrramonel4077]

There used to be a Wig-Wag Railroad Crossing in West Point, Kentucky when the Louisville Section of Southwestern Jefferson, & Hardin Counties in West Point was served by the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, the street name is Main Street in West Point, Kentucky and it is the 1st Crossing tracks offf of Dixie Highway.

[@NicoleClarkAKPoptart]

15:49 wtf? Jeep driver trying to die? O.o Love this video! Never saw any of these signals in action, and am now scouring my childhood memories for any memory of seeing any of the out of the way ones in Oregon. Great work!

[@fmnut]

+Nicole Clark That's why a lot of these devices have been replaced by gates. They were just too easy to ignore.

[@lizggil123]

@@fmnutthey sho7ld bring them back but with gates.

[@geordieceltic2]

Wow, never seen these before, fanscinating.

[@salag13]

Great video! I had a wig wag in my hometown Dallas, OR which has sense been removed.

[@jovetj]

Absolutely wonderful footage! Thank you so much for sharing!

[@pkhoury1212]

Pretty cool video. Even more interesting as I've acquired two Magnetic Flagmans this year that I'm trying to get restored back to operation.

[@jslasher1]

I recall the wig-wags in several locations in California in the 1950s. I believe there was a one on the Pacific Electric line to Santa Monica.

[@LotusbandicootRR]

My dad and I visited Roseburg, IN in 2010... the wig wags had been stolen. The mast is still there, but now it just has a set of flashers and an E-bell. Good thing you got that footage while you did!

[@mcdonnelldouglasmd-1184]

LotusbandicootRR That means it was taken down by the company and was replaced with a modern crossing

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

someone stole them, thank god.

[@SOU6900]

I'm actually enjoying the highhoods more than I am the the old wig-wag signals.

[@blackbirdgaming8147]

Thanks for sharing this. I’ve always loved wig wags. We used to have a couple functional wig wags in the Santa Ana/Anaheim, CA area for a long time, but they were removed a few years ago.

[@rikkichunn8856]

I remember those very signals! There were one right outside my bedroom window at West St. where the old Southern Pacific turned off the right of way onto Santa Ana St. I can remember it clanging up a storm--and the train usually blew "Whistle Crossing" for good measure. Could really wake me up in the middle of the night!

[@katzlang]

The ones with the 'stop' signal were really interesting, I haven't seen anything like that down south in Argentina!

[@freebrickproductions]

Wow! That Teardrop sounds like it was almost completely dead! It likely only needed some adjustment though.

[@VictorianRailHeritage]

freebrickproductions yep

[@VictorianRailHeritage]

freebrickproductions it’s gone now anyway

[@garysprandel1817]

Those FRV shots are now nothing but future bike trail and Wisconsin is now 100% wig wag free as UP retired the last former CNW Harps last year.

[@F59PHI]

24:36 That poor teardrop bell's gong has warped and sadly the bell cannot ring.

[@paulnorman3709]

I would never believe those were still in use anywhere.

[@suecurtis8313]

I love wig wags and Griswods crossing sue!

[@stevechurch2222]

The Griswold EM Gate Pedestal Mount Crossing Signal with wishbone gate arms are my favorite Griswold signal second is the Griswold Crossing signal with stop sign

[@Woah.its.alex_]

omg dude, right off the bat a Warbonnet, a fake bonnet and a santa fe sd70 mac, AMAZING!

[@Woah.its.alex_]

Calm down nerd

[@B8RC_Official]

Awesome footage!!! These signals are a piece of railroad history.

[@Brandonvilches0721]

24:21 that wig wag looks so weird!

[@NS_5350]

Whoever designed that one probably had negative IQ

[@paytongauthier6452]

Considering it has a teardrop Bell its probably built by US&S

[@anb740]

Awesome video!!! Diehard proof that what is here today maybe gone tomorrow. And photos/videos is all that we'll have left.

[@alco251b9]

anb740 yep

[@MikeG42]

21:27 All those wig-wags Awesome !

[@terryboyer1342]

I remember a wig wag as a young kid in Carrollton Mi. It was removed in the 70s.

[@jorgeburgos3405]

0:57 P40DC awesome horn

[@Damonlive783OfficialTM]

I Really liked the Fond Du Lac. WI wig wags. Because Of the mixture of the griswold(?) mechanical bell and the WRRS Mini bell sounded beautiful! Also, sadly, According to google maps, the tracks ranging from fond du lac to van dyne WI. (Around there) had been taken out, the signals had been removed and been asphalted over and got turned into a bicycle path

[@myrealghostbusters]

8:43 I remember when Wisconsin Central was one of the main railroad companies in Wisconsin before Canadian National. I believe CN bought the railroad from them.

[@anb7408]

The Delhi wigwag was the last one on a mainline, and even it has sadly now succumbed. Thankfully, it was saved, unlike most of the others in this video.

[@molossis]

Those Dash-8s are pretty cool

[@theromulanwarhawk]

These were great to see! I didn't even think there were any of these signals still around. Certainly none where I life. Just LED wig-wags. Thanks for this!

[@fmnut]

This is historical footage. Nearly every wig wag in this video is gone. I believe the Griswolds in Hibbing are still there.

[@theromulanwarhawk]

@@fmnut that's kind of sad. We have high tech, but there's no character. Thanks for the update.

[@fmnut]

@@theromulanwarhawk the almighty dollar always wins

[@TweezersUnlimited]

RIP Delhi, CO wig wag not that long ago.

[@rainbowrailroadcrossing7798]

Amazing compilation

[@RYBAlKAsDENISOmI_AlEKSANDROM]

Вы подписаны.

[@anb740]

Sadly, not even the tracks survived at the 12th St. location in Fond du Lac, WI.

[@tedcartwright3183]

I'm no young scamp by any standard, but I can't say I've ever seen a Wig-wag. Maybe I just never thought of looking. Thanks for sharing something I would have otherwise been blind to.

[@fmnut]

Ted Cartwright Ted, don't feel left out. Depending on which part of the country you live in and what your local railroad was, there may not have been any of these in your area. They were mostly gone from heavily traveled routes by the 1980's, and survived only in areas where both train and vehicular traffic was low density, thus not being a priority for funding for replacement. Liability concerns have now pretty much forced the wig wag from active rail lines, the few examples left being in museums. You can see several instances of people totally ignoring the moving banners in the video.

[@HarrisonPeloso]

Thinking by now a lot of these funky crossings have Been upgraded with full gates, bells, and lights. Honestly who knows what’s still original.

[@fmnut]

Pretty much everything you see in the video is gone with the exception of the ones in museums.

[@Chasingrail]

Wisconsin galore in the comments... I’ll add one to add another... Nice video! Love wig-wags!

[@Damon810Railfan]

Now, this is pretty much why I LOVE the older railroad days This, was a golden era in my eyes (And, pretty much so is the steam era, lol) And you guys can also tell that I don't like change, and the modern railroads are not really as appealing to the eyes and my opinion at least, but hey. At least some of these kinds of things still stand to this day! (Well, kinda)

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Wonderful. Again. great camera work and editing. I remember seeing a Griswold (though I didn't know they were called that) back in the late 60's somewhere near Rondout, I think. Also enjoyed all the WC footage.

[@stphinkle]

I heard that Griswold signals no longer exists as a company. They were bought by Railroad Accessories Corporation in the 1964. Later they merged with Marquart to become Safetran.

[@Dach61707]

the first train you see, one of the engines had a fake bonnet

[@flandox6659]

15:24 classic crossing bell sound effect

[@haroldfannin9554]

I absolutely love this video!

[@willvaszocz2469]

Such a shame all this is gone.

[@TrainsofNortheastWisconsin]

Lucky me there are still 3 crossings with wig wags within a 2 hour radius :D

[@kylebusch8758]

We still got delhi Colorado wig wag

[@moonprincess500]

One possibly in Beaverton, Michigan.

[@kh7cz]

Way beyond Cool! Thanks for posting.

[@BobTheRailfan]

I like the first location of the video for one reason..

[@Targetsignal2]

OMG towards the last part talk about classic horse power!!!

[@Nautical_Parsnip]

At 18:30 that train be like "gotta go fast"

[@herbcraven7146]

I took a look at the current Google street view of the closest of these wig wags to me in Roseburg, Indiana, and indeed the wig wags have been replaced, but they kept the cross beam (which sits in the middle of the road) and simply tacked some conventional oscilating lights on to the main pole. An odd signal arrangement to be sure, but still a bit of a let down from the original set.

[@davidhollfelder9940]

The first wig-wag signal I saw was an animation done during the Tex Avery era. It was a cuckoo clock with a wig-wag pendulum, with a bell, then cuckoo sound, alternating as the wag-wag swung left and right .. with tic tok sound as well.

[@TriStateRailfan]

9:18 LOL blinking so fast ditchlights

[@reggiemasanque7305]

And also listen the that sweet leslie sm2 :D

[@FPHFan]

Santa Fe’s ditchlights don’t blink

[@jamesmartinez1013]

nice video, back then until 2009, there was a wig wag signal that was hung up, but obviously some vandals decided to knock over the signal, as of now new signals are there for metrolinks new arrow trains.

[@Rocktecho]

really good video loved seeing those black wigwags thanks

[@xirabolt]

Oh man, surprised to see the signals I passed every morning on my way to school in this video. I grew up on 12th St in Fond du Lac so these were very familiar to me. Kind of surprising that you managed to film a train on the west tracks -- those weren't used very often compared to the east tracks.

[@williammckinstry8293]

Sad most if not all these are gone now. And I see part of the reason they're gone and replaced with modern crossing gates. Look at how many idiots ignored them and crossed the tracks with the train coming.

[@TriStateRailfan]

TRIPLE AMTRAK HERITAGE UNIT! NICE CATCH 1:08

[@fmnut]

They weren't heritage units in 1995, they were just painted like that.

[@TriStateRailfan]

But today they are Imagine seeing that in 2016 A Triple HU And they had dash 8s? And 9s back then?

[@cookode]

do you not understand that they arent heritage units? its impossible to see these in 2016 because all of them are repainted. and even if it was that way today, they still wouldnt be heritage units, they would just be unrepainted phase 3 engines. they would have to be painted specifically to celebrate the history of amtrak to be heritage units, and also carry some recognition that its a heritage unit, like "40 years" or "1971-2016" or something like that. they only had dash 8s not 9s but stll have the 8s today

[@TrainsofChicagoland]

Beautiful video! It’s a shame tons of wig wags aren’t on mainline railroad use anymore

[@lizggil123]

Wig wags should make a comeback

[@fresnocaliforniarailfan280]

0:59 I love that P42 or P40 horn

[@LJRailfan-Gamer_07.]

It’s a P40DC. The difference between this and the P42 is that the P42 has a solid phase 3 paint scheme where as the P40’s have a faded paint scheme

[@ParrotGaming123]

At 1:48, what’s the train horn? I know it’s by Leslie, but I dunno what it is…

[@fmnut]

Leslie RS3L

[@NicoleClarkAKPoptart]

also, beautiful horn sound at 19:19 :D

[@TrainsofNortheastWisconsin]

I thought I was the only one that liked that one

[@dumdum7786]

Perfect octave horn.

[@FPHFan]

Nicole Clark That horn is a Leslie RS3L

[@ConrailGeep]

9:02 That's such a beautiful Santa Fe horn

[@christopherangel6690]

Back in the 1970s there was a pair of wig wags just before you get to Waverly, Ohio. I remember the wig wag part was red and said stop on it.

[@tonyboloni64]

At a crossing in Piketon OH, along the Norfolk and Western, just south of Waverly OH

[@BAKU2K2]

Surprised to see a wig-wag still with the red "STOP" banner well into the 70's, instead of the black & white "cross" pattern standardized in the 1930's

[@davebudrus46]

I interviewed for the I&O RR around 2000. I had the job but decided instead to get my CDL. Still driving truck today.

[@fmnut]

Probably a better career move in the long run.

[@vincentking3514]

There's something I don't get. Although I don't like to see wigwags be taken out of service, I can understand that they want to upgrade them to make them safer. Yet I've seen at many places where a crossing is protected buy a cross-buck and a wigwag, that they'll take the wigwag (and it's bell) out and leave the crossing protected only buy a sign (in some cases not even that). Isn't that technically down grading the crossing as it was arguably safer with the wig wag?

[@fmnut]

Most people outside the rail industry don't know this fact: at any given crossing the railroad is not LEGALLY obligated to provide any protection beyond crossbucks on both sides. A lot of the older crossing protection (pre 1970's) was installed and maintained by the railroad at their expense for 2 reasons: 1) to increase train speeds by not having to slow down or stop at crossings without protection or 2) to reduce the potential for train service interruptions due to accidents at crossings on busier roads. A lot of crossings have received protection since those days as formerly rural areas became suburbs, but only from public funds. Initial construction cost is funded by Federal/State/Local programs and the railroad then agrees to maintain the crossing thereafter. Upgrades, such as from flashers only to flashers with gates, are handled the same way. In 36 years in the rail industry I can't think of a single instance where the railroad installed crossing protection at its own expense. In the case of removing a wig-wag, chances are it is probably on a low-density rail line already or it would have been replaced long ago. A railroad would probably forego the cost of maintenance/replacement in favor of slowing down or stopping trains at the intersection in question, especially if the track speed is already less than 20mph.

[@vincentking3514]

I think I did here that somewhere and just forget. But still thanks for replying. And I forgot to mention in the first comment: Great video

[@garrettkessler1895]

Exactly

[@mbcommandnerd]

I really wish those Griswold signals were still used today! I’m sure that mechanical stop sign works a hell of a lot better than just lights alone! But unfortunately, lights alone is what most crossings these days have. You’d be hard pressed to find anything different/better.

[@ronspanbauer1168]

Thanks for the great video. I grew up in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac in the 70's and 80's and not only have you captured many of the signals that I remember but all of the video of these two cities show track and railroads that are no longer there. Thanks for the memories! Do you have any more video from trains in these two cities?

[@fmnut]

Yes, I have more on Oskosh, Fond du Lac and Byron Hill.

[@ronspanbauer1168]

Could you share some of the other video? Also, would you have any pictures or video of the Milwaukee Road in Oshkosh?

[@fmnut]

Ron Spanbauer I will put those videos on the list to do. I have nothing on the MILW unfortunately.

[@pittsfordredfox]

Very nice video! Did you ever shoot the ones in Baraboo or Devils Lake Wisconsin? I hear the ones in Baraboo are to be replaced soon and are the only ones left on the Wisconsin Central.

[@fmnut]

pittsfordredfox Sorry, never got there.

[@megatop412]

Wow, the Erie Mining Company! I have that trainset as an add-on to Microsoft Train Simulator. Neat to see it in real life. Unfortunately the add-on always crashes before I can get to the end of the run.

[@user-rm3gf8xi6f]

6:36 and 24:40 are the best

[@sebieffer8595]

1:57 It's sounds similar to Transap locomotives in Chile :o

[@robertglennienz]

The front of the loco's in the clip starting at 1:38 bears a resemblance to some of the locomotives used by Kiwi Rail in New Zealand, as does the first second of the horn tone.

[@chetrakeo319]

At video time 500 you can see the stop sigh and the crossing came abandoned and took one away to trash and other cut it head

[@jacobtompke8677]

Awesome video!!!!!

[@ivanmckinney1881]

"OUT-STANDING"!!!!!!! SAVE THE 'WIG-WAG.....SANTA FE.......AND 'ALL!!!!!!