In the pictures I've seen, I noticed that only one side of the wye has safety rails installed. Does anyone know why?
Looking at various photos, I see that the early side variously has, does not have, partially has guard rails. I even see one shot where it looks like they've got some rail in position for extending them from the curve towards the tunnel. The westward tunnel, to be more accurate.
As to the whys (yuk, yuk) and the why nots, I dunno.
Ed
Looking at the dates of the various photos of the Keddie Wye bridge it appears that both branches originally had guard rails. Then the guard rails were pulled back to the curve on the north branch. The most recent dated photo (2010) shows no guard rails on the north branch, with guard rails the full length of the south branch (the east-west mainline.)
Why no guardrails on the northern extension? Possible answers:
With no information, which, if any, reason applies is an open question.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I found this soon to be unavailable photo:
Note the loose rails on the left. They were being removed, as they were there before (as guard rails) and they will be gone at later dates. The upload date for the photo is January 6, 2009. Since guard rails are normally the most inoffensive of things, I suspect problems arose at this location--why remove something that's just happily sitting there, otherwise? I am sure it cost more to remove than than was made on resale, so there goes the profit motive.