Movable bridge cabins are the invisible step children of the interlocking tower scene, but its easy to forget that they have all the same stuff that regular towers have including the full compliment of electro+mechanical interlocking machines. While poking around YouTube I found this video of someone's 1994 tour of the Souther Pacific's SUISUN BRIDGE movable bridge cabin. This vertical lift drawbridge is a crossing of the Carquinez Strait, which connects Suisun Bay with San Fransisco Bay and hosts Amtrak's Capitol Corridor, Coast Starlight and California Zephyr services.
As far as I am aware it is still a staffed interlocking station, although I am not sure if it retains the US&S Model 14 machine and panel seen throughout the video (specifically 10:30). In the video you can also hear the sound of a signature US&S pneumatic switch machine at 4:00 as it locks down the lift span under the control of a Model 14 lever.
Based on intro and outro clips of ABS searchlight signals on the south bank, I suspect this pre-dated the era of SP style tri-light signals that remain at the bridge today and therefore implies that the Mode 14 was replaced by a panel or VDU.
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| Westbound home signals SUISUN BRIDGE |
The panel shown at various points in the video also lacks the VISTA crossover immediately west of the eastbound signals.
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| Westbound home signals VISTA interlocking with eastbound home signals SUISUN BAY |
So it looks like the "Southern Pacific" style re-signaling was going on quite a bit later than I had figured what with the mid-90's Union Pacific merger.
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