Research indicates that the signal was a type U CPL, manufactured General Railway Supply Company and installed circa 1930. By having the lunar white lenses at 5 and 11 o'clock, it was a "home" signal, I understand. It stood for scores of years on the old Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (later CSX) about milepost 377, about seven miles east of Parkersburg, West Virginia at Kanawha Station, West Virginia. CSX severed the line from Grafton, West Virginia to Parkersburg, West Virginia in 1985. The last train to run over the trackage of the former Cumberland - Cincinnati - St. Louis mainline was a passenger excursion on September 1, 1985. The Grafton to Parkersburg section was known as the "Parkersburg Branch," although it certainly was not your typical branch. It was an important mainline! It was delivered to me in late December 2008. There was much work to be done on this fine old signal. The 42" background is cast iron and remarkably, all the glass lenses were unbroken! There some place on the background where rust has eaten though, however.
On Tuesday morning February 3, 2009 we received a light snow, perfect for pictures of the finished signal showing "Restricted Proceed." Not bad for just five weeks! But I am retired! The correct timer finally arrived from LightsToGo on Tuesday, February 24 and after some repair work, it was installed and working properly. I fabricated the platform from spare parts from other projects on June 8, 2010.
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