NNG: RR Bridge Telltales

From a railroad perspective, "telltales" were to warn car-top walking crew members of an upcoming low bridge or tunnel. Since there are few/none crew on top of moving railcars these days, railroad telltales have generally faded away.

However, the issue of tall vehicles (usually trucks) hitting bridges (railroad bridges or highway bridges) is a persistent problem. Aside from just warning signs, some bridges have active systems like electronic height detectors paired with loud horns and flashing lights.

Well, here is something different - brand new telltales!


As you can see, those are intended for vehicle traffic passing under a BNSF bridge in Spokane WA. Here is the story link:

[www.spokesman.com]

As you may/may not get a "log in /subscribe paywall" at the Spokesman-Review site, here is a snippet of the article:

Quote
Spokesman-Review

Drive around Spokane long enough and you’re bound to see it: a semitruck wedged under one of the city’s bridges because the rig is just a bit too tall to make the clearance.

That the heights are posted on the bridges doesn’t seem to catch the attention of every driver, and dozens of trucks have gotten stuck in the past decade.

Now the city of Spokane is trying a new, noisy solution to this problem.

Eighteen yellow “chimes” with light reflectors on the tips now hang above Sprague Avenue, almost two blocks east of the Sprague Avenue and Division Street railroad viaduct.

If the top of the truck hits the chimes, it makes a loud noise, warning the driver that the vehicle won’t clear the 13-foot-8-inch viaduct ahead, said Spokane Public Works Director Marlene Feist.

“Think of them as sort of chimes up there,” Feist said.

[www.spokesman.com]

While the thread 'subject' line notes that this is not a 'narrow gauge' topic, there is a connection as the DRGW narrow gauge did have telltales, although the one shown below is warning of a tunnel rather than a bridge.



Source thread of photo: [ngdiscussion.net]

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- Graham