Bungalow Signal Cabinets in the 1950s?

[JPD]

Near modern-day railiroad signals you will see large silver cabinets to hold electrical components and wires. I believe railroaders call these structures bungalows. Would they have been present in the 1950s? Were they typically painted silver? I am modeling the Milwuakee Road if that makes a difference. Thanks in advance for your responses.

[Overmod]

JPD

Would they have been present in the 1950s?

Likely present anywhere signal systems were complex enough to require the corresponding number of relays and frames.  I believe in the '50s most cabinets would be smaller; I don't really remember the current metal-building size until the '80s, but I'm far from an authority.

Silver reflects sunlight to aid in keeping the equipment cool.

[gmpullman]

JPD

Would they have been present in the 1950s? Were they typically painted silver?

Short answer, yes.

I have some catalogs form Union Switch & Signal and General Railway Signal and in both I found examples of various sized relay cases, mostly steel but a few in concrete. These catalogs are from the mid-and late 1930s and later. The advent and adoption of CTC and the remote-controlling of sidings and signals brought about upgrades to the cabling and remote relay installations.

I recall being in a few in various places over the years, again some concrete and others steel. Aluminum didn't enter the mix until perhaps the late '60s.

From what I've seen the general thinking was to house a lot of this circuitry and batteries in the lower level of older signal towers. After a while it became apparent that maintaining these towers was getting expensive and, possibly were a tax burden for the RRs as well.

Early on there were more of the "cabinet" type enclosures but as more of the towers were being razed the larger "walk-in" bungalos or cabins came about.

GRS_housing by Edmund, on Flickr

Good Luck, Ed

[BEAUSABRE]

Don't forget a railroad would tend to standardize the designs it used Some lines would design and build their own relay boxes. I've never heard of "bungalows", but each line tended to have its own terminology. Signal towers on the PRR, for example, were "Signal Cabins", while the New Haven called them "Signal Stations"