RR Station Sign

[crownhill1915]

Hi-What type of lettering would be used on a railroad station sign for the station at Heilwood / Possum Glory Junction, circa 1910? The station was a joint effort of the PRR & NYC.

[Statkowski]

Heilwood, formerly Possum Glory, would have had a standard PRR station sign, but without the keystone. The passenger station was outside and down the hill from the town. Story has it that a train made three stops in town before getting to the passenger station itself - first stop on the outskirts to detrain the Italians, second stop one block later to detrain the Poles, and third stop to let off the "real Americans."



Wandin, formerly Possum Glory Junction, may have had another standard PRR-design structure, long since gone when these pictures were taken. Post-war, a former NX-23 War Emergency cabin car previously assigned to the Cresson Division became the new "station" for Wandin.

The entire CT&D railroad was built by the PRR for joint NYC/PRR usage (for which they were reimbursed 50%). Since the PRR built it, all of the structures would have been of PRR design.

The town of Possum Glory was served by the Possum Glory Branch of the Cherry Tree & Dixonville. Circa 1912, it was renamed Heilwood. Possum Glory Junction, where the line branched off from the main line, was renamed Wandin, but the date such was done is unknown to me. The branch from Wandin to Heilwood, however, remained as the Possum Glory Branch, probably until the tracks were ripped up.

[Statkowski]

As a follow-up to the preceding, here's a shot of the second Cherry Tree passenger station (the first one burned down):



Note the station sign, standard PRR design but without the keystone.

This station was situated on the Susquehanna Extension Branch of the Cresson Division (so shouldn't it have had a keystone?). But (hence, no keystone), the tracks may have been PRR but the station and land belonged to the jointly-owned Cherry Tree & Dixonville RR, which didn't start for another half-mile up the line from the wye. Passenger service, until it ended, was by both the NYC and PRR (NYC south from Clearfield, PRR north from Cresson, both ran west to serve Heilwood, Clymer and Idamar at the end of the line).

On a related note, the station at Patton on the Cambria & Clearfield also had a station sign without the keystone. This may have well been because Patton was a union station, serving both the New York Central heading north to Clearfield and the PRR heading north to Punxsutawney.

[Statkowski]

A follow-up to the follow-up. Here's the flag stop at Pine Flats, located between Manver (connection with the Cambria & Indiana) and Wandin, connecting the Possum Glory Branch with the Cherry Tree & Dixonville main line.



PRR-style signage, no keystone.

[Statkowski]

The original (built circa 1893?) Cherry Tree depot is shown here, circa 1905 (http://west2k.com/papix/cherrytreeold.jpg).

Looks like black or red on a white background, subsequently changed to the standard PRR gold on tuscan red background.



So, you've got one color scheme early on, followed by a later color scheme, with 1910 being in between the two.