Railroad Crossing Flash Signal, Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad, March 1925

THF286510 / Railroad Crossing Flash Signal, Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad, March 1925
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Artifact Overview

In the United States, locomotive engineers must sound a specific sequence of horn or whistle blasts when approaching most road crossings: two long blasts, one short, and one more long. Railroads frequently placed a whistle post, like this one, along the track about one-quarter mile before a crossing to notify the engineer when to use the horn.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

20 March 1925

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

84.1.1660.P.189.2493

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 8 in
Width: 10.25 in

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    For as long as trains and automobiles have coexisted, some motorists have felt the need to "race" a train to the crossing. Some early magazine advertisements encouraged the practice, showing daring drivers outrunning speeding express trains. Few habits are so dangerous. A speeding train can take more than a mile to stop. Even in a tie, the motorist loses.