They were slated to be removed in early 2009, although they were still in place as of November 2009. In 2011, the CASO sub was abandoned and the wigwags were removed. The wigwags at the crossing that mark the location of the western terminus of the BNSF in Richmond, California became pawns in a fight over local control in 2003. The two upper-quadrant wigwags are the last of their kind paired together in active use, and are on land that the BNSF developed.
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Its removal and that of the Anaheim signal the previous year marked the end of Southern California wigwags still in revenue service. Devil's Lake, Wisconsin in 2005. These signals were retired in 2012.
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The swing of the banner was produced through a drive shaft. Some of them, particularly on the Boston & Maine Railroad, had chase lights mounted above the banner that simulated the movement of the banner. The last one of this type with the chase lights was removed in 1985 and US&S; wigwags were thought to have disappeared from the USA until the discovery of the specimen in Joplin. There are a number of US&S; wigwags that have been preserved and restored by museums.
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This is a reduction from 1983 information from the Federal Highway Administration (FRA) that showed 2,618 crossings equipped with wigwags. Of these 1,098 crossings having wigwags, 398 are in California, 117 in Wisconsin, 97 in Illinois, 66 are in Texas and 45 are in Kansas. A total of 44 states have at least one railroad crossing having a wigwag as its warning device. As of 2020, only one wigwag in the U.S. remains on a main rail line; a Magnetic Flagman upper-quadrant at a rural crossing in Delhi, Colorado on the BNSF Railway.
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In the interest of safety, signs were posted at the wigwags stating that the wigwags are non-operational. The ability to be activated by trains will be retained, but only for special events. In 2011, a water main break caused a catastrophic ground collapse under one of the Point Richmond wig-wags and it was removed for safekeeping while the area was being repaired. On the episode of American Restoration aired on April 16, 2013, a pair of WRRS Autoflag #5 wigwag signals were restored for the Nevada Northern Railway Museum in Ely, Nevada.
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It remains in use today, although with a yellow background and the cross rotated 45 degrees into an "X". Some railroads, among them the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, used a concentric black circle on a white background, resembling a bullseye, but that scheme was rare, partly because the L&N; used few wigwags.
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Until destroyed by a truck in April 2004, a lower-quadrant Magnetic Flagman wigwag protected a private crossing of a BNSF line hidden from public view by a sound barrier in Pittsburg, California. The wigwag, the last "Model 10" in active use, was replaced by standard highway flashers. The Model 10 was distinguished by its short, low-hanging cantilever and use of crossbucks mounted higher than the cantilever. They were almost exclusively used by the Santa Fe, although there were also a few of this model on the Southern Pacific. In 2011–12, working replica wigwags were installed at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California along the Red Car Trolley as well as show wigwags that were placed in Radiator Springs Racers.
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US&S; and WRRS wigwags were also used by the CPR on its Canadian lines. There were two wig- wags in service in Canada, located on the CN CASO sub near Tilbury, Ontario. Both were WRRS Autoflag #5s with disappearing banners. Disappearing banners were the only style of wigwag approved for use in Canada.
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Wigwags manufactured by WRRS and its predecessors were once numerous in the Midwest, with almost every town using them to protect their main crossings. The most common model was called the Autoflag #5. They functioned in much the same way as the Magnetic Flagmen. They utilized alternating electromagnets to swing a shaft with an attached illuminated banner.
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The BNSF was also bowing to pressure from the state's transportation authority to upgrade the crossing with modern signals. Richmond is preserving the crossing with historical designation and other planning tools. According to information recently posted at Dan's Wigwag Site (see below), the crossing was updated with gates, modern flashers and bells. In an unusual compromise, the wigwags will remain as non-operative decorations at the crossing, with the modern gates, red lights and bells are in place.
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This lower-quadrant Magnetic Flagman wigwag signal was retired after more than six decades of service atop its Union Switch & Signal base on Mountain Avenue in Redlands, California. For economy, railroads occasionally installed signals on existing utility poles. This particular unit was replaced with as-yet unused () highway flashers and gates as part of construction for Arrow commuter rail service. The earliest wigwags used by Pacific Electric, built in the railroad's shops, were gear-driven, but proved difficult to maintain.
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After the distinctive signals were installed, train and car collisions decreased at PE grade crossings. The signs became so common throughout the area that they were near-icons of Southern California motoring. Their popularity meant that Magnetic Signal wigwags began appearing at railroad crossings across the United States, including Alaska on the Copper River and Northwestern Railway and several Hawaiian railroads, as well as Canada, Mexico, and as far away as Australia. There are also photographs of the Magnetic Flagman in use in Europe.
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This device was quickly adopted by other railroads. A few wigwags continue in operation . During this period, the Los Angeles Railway provided local streetcar service in central Los Angeles and to nearby communities. These trolleys were known as the "Yellow Cars" and carried more passengers than the PE's "Red Cars" since they ran in the most densely populated portions of Los Angeles, including south to Hawthorne and along Pico Boulevard to near West Los Angeles to terminate at the huge Sears Roebuck store and distribution center (the L.A. Railway's most popular line, the "P" line).
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Signals removed and crossing upgraded to modern signals in 1973. Wigwags were also manufactured by Union Switch and Signal (US&S;). They were primarily used in the northeastern US, with a few in Florida, although the Frisco had some in the Great Plains. An example was also pictured in a review of Hawaiian sugar cane railroads from the 1940s.Hawaiian Railway Album World War II Photos Vol 3 -- Plantation Ry's on Oahu They were manufactured in both a disappearing banner style in the East and standard two-position in the Great Plains.
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That, along with other rules about grade crossing signaling that the wigwags were unable to meet due to their power requirements, rendered them obsolete for new installations after 1949, but grandfathering laws allowed them to remain until the crossings they protected were upgraded. The Magnetic Signal Company was sold to the Griswold Signal Company of Minneapolis shortly after WWII. Production of new signals continued until 1949, and replacement parts until 1960. The symbol of a black cross on a white background was adopted in the US as the traffic sign warning drivers about an unprotected grade crossing and was incorporated into the corporate logo of the Santa Fe Railroad.
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Bells were not integral to the devices as with the Magnetic Flagmen. They employed standard bells that were used on other types of signals, and mounted either to the mast or to a bracket on the top of the center harp style, as in the Devil's Lake, WI photo. Autoflag #5s were widely used on the C&NW;, CB&Q;, Illinois Central, Soo Line and the Milwaukee Road. A few were also used on the Louisville & Nashville and the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio as well as other roads in the US and Canada. Most of these wigwags were removed in the 1970-1980s as crossings were updated.
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Most, if not all, of the 600 VDC units were used by PE. With the conversion to diesel power after PE sold its passenger operations in 1953, those 600 VDC wigwags were gradually converted to 8 VDC units. There were also some 110 volt AC models of Magnetic Flagman used on several railroads, including Norfolk and Western, Winston-Salem Southbound, and the Milwaukee Road. Since AC power did not generate good torque, a coil cutoff device was installed that utilized all four magnets until full motion of the banner was obtained, then two of the magnets went off line and movement was maintained by the remaining two magnets. Various options were available.
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Few wigwag signals currently remain in place, and the number dwindles as crossings are upgraded and spare parts become scarce. Once broken down and sold (or given away) as scrap as modern flashers took their place, they are now railroad collectibles, commanding a hefty price and winding up in personal collections of railroad officials, train spotters, and other individual collectors. Magnetic Flagman made in Minneapolis, Minnesota after production was moved from Los Angeles are especially rare and are valued by collectors. According to Federal Railroad Administration data from 2004, there were 215,224 railroad crossings in the U.S., of which 1,098 were listed as having one or more wigwags as their warning device.
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A link between downtown Los Angeles and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, this line currently sees less traffic since the completion of the more direct Alameda Corridor between downtown and the harbor. This project eliminated many at-grade crossings along Alameda Street and a number of Southern Pacific wigwags remaining from the PE era. Those remaining protect crossings of lightly used spur lines primarily in California and Wisconsin, the latter state featuring a different signal produced by Bryant-Zinc purchased by the Railroad Supply Company, which later became the Western Railroad Supply Company (WRRS). According to Dan's Wigwag Site, the signal was removed sometime in late April of 2020.
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The lights are normally rectangular and landscape orientated, but where space is limited or to improve visibility special lights can be fitted that are portrait orientated. In some cases a now non-standard traffic light type was fitted (still seen at Marshbrook, Minffordd and on the Isle of Man), consisting of the individual lights arranged vertically in a red–amber–red arrangement. Many of the lights nowadays are LEDs due to the cost efficiency, easy maintenance, and clarity, the first LED wigwags were trialled at Bentley Heath level crossing in 2006 but not fully adapted until July 2007. Incandescent halogen lights are no longer manufactured as they are wasteful on electricity and can cause accidents such as at Beech Hill Crossing in Nottinghamshire, in which a fatality occurred due to the lights' dimness in the low sunlight.
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