Here is a short blog post I wrote about a concrete Chicago Great Western whistle post I found still extant along a stretch of main line grade in Dodge Center, Minnesota:

http://www.tonyheld.hoboandbowser.net/d ... stle-post/

As I note at the end of my post: "I love it when extant railroad artifacts remain standing along abandoned lines; they stand like monuments to past glories."

Only question is: did the CGW use these to denote the crossings of other railroads, or in towns with many street crossings like Dodge Center once had?

Anybody here know anything about the concrete whistle posts the Chicago Great Western used and how many might still be extant today in their original location like the one along the grade in Dodge Center, MN, is?

The eastern part of CGW is now a bike path, and I have never seen any whistle posts, or mile markers, or other old signage along the route when riding my bike. I don't know if UP removed them when they pulled up the rails, or if the Prairie Path people removed them, or if they would up in railfan's basements. In general, there are few remnants of the railroad along the path, except for the occasional forgotten rail or joint bar.

@ctjacks:

Wow, if that's the case on the CGW's east end, then the whistle post in Dodge Center is quite the rare find! Hope whoever owns the land will make sure it stays in its original spot.

In Iowa the CNW pulled some of the mile posts and whistle posts and used them as riprap around bridges and culverts. Others got knocked down in snow clearing operations. In Illinois, where the Lake Michigan water line was laid along the ROW, many of these got bulldozed by the contractor.

The CGW used WX signs at grade crossings with roads. WS were station signs.
A few posts stand on Great Western routes that have not been turned into bike paths. However, much of the Minnesota branch lines are now path and some whistle posts and mile markers can be found along said paths.
Ryan
Rochester, MN