Burlington Crossing Signs

Editor Blauvelt recently ruminated about the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad which ran through Superior and mentioned the railroad, unlike most other railroads, used concrete crossing signs. The familiar “Crossbucks” (an “X” shape with “Railroad” on one blade and “Crossing” on the other) could be found on all Burlington lines in Nebraska. Most crossings did not have flashing lights or gates at the crossings and were at rural roads.

The Burlington was always frugal and decided wooden crossbucks would deteriorate and have to be replaced. By using concrete signs, this expense could be eliminated. The concrete crossbucks were found at most crossings on the Republican Valley Line through Superior. As Blauvelt indicated, the signs were made at the Burlington shops in Havelock in northeast Lincoln.

When the east portion of the Republican Valley Line from Wymore through Superior was abandoned because of bridge washouts, I drove the line to get some pictures and came to a crossing with the concrete crossbucks. On most of them there would be a metal “Burlington Route” shield under the crossbucks to identify whose railroad you were crossing. Unlike the usual Burlington Route signs (black square with white Burlington Route and a red border, these signs had only the black and white shield. I liberated one of them for my railroad collection since the line was soon to be abandoned and the old Chicago, Burlington and Quincy had become Burlington Northern. Today it is BNSF Railway.

The Burlington also used concrete for “whistle posts.” These signs have a “W” on top and are placed on both sides of the crossing to alert crews that they have a road crossing coming and should sound the usual warning for motor vehicles.

The concrete was also used for fence posts along the track to keep animals off the track. A concrete post was used where the fence turned a corner and metal posts carried the barb wire along the track. These concrete posts last forever and can be found on the remaining Burington lines in Nebraska.

On heavy-duty lines, the Burlington installed track signals that would prevent trains from running into each other. These signals were powered by batteries which were kept in a signal shed near the signal. The batteries required protection from the weather. The Burlington fabricated a number of signal sheds from concrete and used them along the lines. Only recently have these concrete sheds been replaced by metal sheds, not because they wore out, but because the signal equipment has become more sophisticated and requires more room.

For identification purposes, each bridge and culvert along rail lines is identified by a sign showing the mileage at the location. Many of these signs were also made of concrete. Today the trend is to use metal reflective signs.

Another common sign along the tracks was the “mileposts.” Mileposts started at a major point on the railroad and the mile numbers increased the further you got from each starting point. The signs typically read “M.P. 31” or “M.P. 183” or some such thing. They were located a mile apart and identified a specific location on the railroad so that a crew could report “soft track at M.P. 22” or “Train stopped at M.P. 612.” These were also cast in concrete.

Another example of the frugality of the old Burlington was that one Saturday when I was growing up in Superior, I stopped in the Burlington depot to find out when the eastbound Red Cloud to Wymore Local was expected to arrive so that I could take photos. Wayne Collins, who worked at the depot at that time, was busy counting paper clips and rubber bands. When I asked him why, he replied, “We are running short of them and Lincoln won’t send up any more until I give them an exact count of what we have on hand!”