We called into Port Clinton on a Sunday afternoon where we found a pair of Reading & Northern SD40-2s switching out a freight. Near the west end of the yard the railroad has erected a replica of a Hall Disc signal.

Born in the Victorian-era, the Hall Disc signal was one of the earliest varieties of electrically actuated ‘automatic’ signals. This simple signal displayed just two aspects, and was assigned to variety of applications on many different railroads. Boston & Albany was among one of the first to use Hall Discs in automatic block service.

Among the many railroads that employed Halls were: New Haven; Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; Lehigh Valley; and Chicago & North Western.

The Reading was among the last railroads to install Hall Discs, and was famous for its late use of this unusual type of hardware, which continued in the 1950s. Several of Reading’s Hall discs have been preserved, including one that is prominently displayed at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!