This railroad crossing from Grenada, Mississippi had a siren to warn when a train was comming. It was built in the 30’s and was demolished in the 70’s due to a neon shortage (the sign was a big neon sign) and the siren having the tendancy to go off randomly. This is probably the most unique use for a siren I have seen. It’s hard to see the siren in the picture so I have no idea what model the siren is.
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Ah yes, the famous Billups Neon Crossing Signal, made in response to numerous car-train collisions at that railroad intersection (including one that supposedly involved a family member of the creator). Lionel came out with a replica a few years back (they didn’t get the operation correct though):
Billups Crossing Gate (lionel.com)
In addition to that it’s been said by a Youtube commenter who apparently saw the signal operating several times that:
#1: Only each instance of the word “STOP” would flash on & off, while the word “DEATH” & the skull would stay solidly lit (the skull also being lit by a white non-neon light rather than a red neon light: all the words were lit by red neon lights however)
#2: The arrows would light up (again, in red neon) to show the direction of the approaching train (according to a photo of the crossing in action the arrow would point in the train’s direction of travel, rather than the direction the train was coming from: i.e. a train coming from the right would cause the left arrow to illuminate).
#3: The siren would stay on until a train finished passing (basically “alert” to siren enthusiasts).
#4: If the normal neon lights failed the standard pair of crossing lights that can be seen underneath the main gantry would activate as a backup.
As well as the siren getting stuck on after a train came through until someone from the railroad got out to the crossing & manually shut it off (apparently due to relays that weren’t very reliable & that would get jammed).
I’ve seen people say that it would have been a small siren like the Federal Signal Model A.
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