Another Ramapo Switch Stand question. I have an early tall switch stand from the Erie RR (Ramapo #31 or #37) and the long shaft that holds the target flags and the switch light is all bent up. I know there must be a way to remove it, I have taken the bolt out at the shaft base and tapped it with a hammer, heated it with a torch with NO luck. Is there a secret to taking it out ?

Kevin K.

Do you have a photo? I've never seen a #31 Ramapo stand. The tall versions were 19, 18 and 17
in increasing order of height. I can tell you with the #17 stand the inner square shaft, which is
maybe 2 inches by 2 inches in section, tapers down to form the smaller shaft where you can mount
a target or lantern. It is all one big long shaft, which ultimately winds up at the bottom and becomes
the eyebolt socket. Seriously, the shaft is like 5 feet long!

If it is badly bent, I would cut it off and weld in a new piece of stock. You are going to have a hard
time getting it through the whole switch and out the bottom. That 2x2 (approx) square shaft runs
through the larger square casting, to which throw handle attaches. To take the whole thing apart,
you need to remove the bolt/nut that holds the handle to the casting, and then there is another
pin that goes through the casting and through a "half-moon" slot in the inner square shaft.

It is a very convoluted design.