The development of modern materials changed the face of railroad signals and related infrastructure, and affected thousands of employees. Michael Brotzman looks back at a time when materials and maintenance were expensive, and labor was cheap in "Materials of Yesteryear." Read it on The Trackside Photographer.

http://thetracksidephotographer.com/201 ... esteryear/

Thanks
Edd

I thought this was going to be completely different -- how the materials were made and designs optimized to produce best results or lowest costs.

One example they might have used is early bridge design, where iron was expensive but even relatively skilled fabrication cheap. Many Phoenix Bridge Co. structures show how this philosophy of design produced marvelously lacy-appearing designs. Sometimes ... as with some of the 'semi-automated' elevated-railroad construction in New York in the first wave of mass construction ,,, the designs were too light for their own good, or had a rapidly decrementing effective factor of safety when corrosion or other forms of poor maintenance set in.

Temptation is to look at 19th-century machinery as klunky and heavy, and fabrication and tolerancing practice crude. That can be very far from the truth even with respect to heavy or strong devices, and some of the power means that drove them. I found 'steam plowing' an interesting example to study.

It can be interesting to recover 'lore' on the effective use of older materials to see how things were done well in 'those days'.

Mr Ellsworth,

Interesting points--why don't you consider writing an article for us along these lines? Submission guidelines are at http://thetracksidephotographer.com/submit/

Thanks
Edd Fuller

Can anyone help me contact "Jersey Mike"? It is annoying that these blogs, etc. make it so hard to contact the authors.

Steven,

PM sent.

Thanks,
Edd Fuller