Photo, L to R: Bruce Cortright, John Telintelo, Mike Dresch, Fritz Buschmann, Bill Brown
There’s little chance the historic Little Miami Railroad will return to service, but it may seem that way as train signal towers are restored with replica signal lights on the south end of the trail.
Bruce Cortright and his South Maintenance Crew have completed the restoration of another tower on the trail near the new Moeller Athletic fields in Miamisville. The previous restoration was done on the tower near Terrace Park.
This job took a little more pre-work, more scaffolding and more help to complete. The foundation for the scaffolding was set up a week in advance and it took three sections of scaffolding to reach the signal lights 20 feet high. Five members of the FLMSP South Maintenance Crew were on hand to do the job. Many of the crew spent the morning answering questions from curious trail riders and walkers.
The signal tower, 50 to 100 years old, is original. The lights on the replica signal face are not functional, but a former engineer on the railroad informed the crew what the original lights signified:
3 vertical lights: Safe to proceed
3 diagonal lights: Proceed with caution
3 horizontal lights: Stop, track occupied ahead
There are no plans to bring the trains back, but these signals help retain some of the railroad ambiance along the trail. If you listen closely, you can almost hear the steam whistle of a train from 100 years ago.
Article by Bill Brown
November 2022
