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I have been figuring out what to do about signal bridges. When I was laying track, I followed the John Armstrong track centers measurement guidelines for straights and curves. It never occurred to me that I should also be anticipating spacing for trackside devices and that brings me here.

I just bought an MTH 30-11030 "0 Scale Pennsy Signal Bridge". It seems quite a bit larger (I guess "wider" might be the issue) than my other signal bridges accumulated over the years.  The pix show the story.

The last bridge pictured is the MTH. The first three in order are the Plasticville, Lionel and Z-stuff semaphore bridge. As you can see, the first 3 bridges are just about the same width. But the MTH is a different animal. I can use it elsewhere on my layout. But it sure doesn't fit in my little 4-track yard.

If you are wanting one or more signal bridges in your yard, maybe it would be best to do some measurements and test-fitting to make sure your will fit. Some do, some don't.

Don Merz

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PRR only had catenary on a small portion of RR between NYC, Washington, and Harrisburg.    The rest of the RR did not have catenary.    I have seen two styles of signal bridge on the PRR, one style heavy duty like the MTH one, but maybe not as high, and one style looked very much like the Plastic ville ones.

By the way, a yard itself would probably not have signal bridges in most cases.    The Arrival/departure tracks would probably have signals which might be bridges, or might be dwarfs.    This is an opinion, btw.

Can't comment with any authority on why the MTH signal bridge is so much wider, but my guess would be that it would make it easier to use the bridge on or near curves.  Regardless, I have attached several documents that will describe how the deceased PRR located their signal bridges with respect to multi-track situations.  Hope you find them helpful.

Chuck

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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