Transportation, Railroad Train, Model, Signaling Levers, Antique (Sold)

Railway Signaling Lever Model
American [?]: c. 1900
Wood and brass
9 x 4.5 x 4.5 inches, overall
Provenance: Railroad Collection of Francis H. Schwartz

Miniature model of an interlocking mechanical lever frame used in railway signaling. The two brass levers on this model move when a release mechanism is engaged and each locks in two positions on a brass arc, all within a simple open wooden frame having a rectangular base. Actual railroad mechanical levers are a few feet long and typically housed on the floor of a small building called an interlocking tower or signal box, next to the train tracks. Each lever operates a different point and signal, and the signalman walks between them to operate the signals for each approaching train. While there are places in the world where mechanical frames are still in use, from about 1929 on they have given way to power frames with miniature levers, which control the signals electrically, and to other electronic systems.

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