SP 0-6-0 Wrote:
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> Some goofy answers above. But oh well. Other
> details:
>
> Switch in foreground appears to have a sprung
> frog.
>
> In the distance is a ground-mount type search
> light, or "Pot Signal" mounted to a pad on the
> ground. Per the SLO RR museum website, "signals
> like this were often used by the Southern Pacific
> on sidings to govern movement over the switch
> leading back onto the main track." That leads me
> to wonder, what track did the signals on the tall
> pole govern? Main track?
>
> Whatever the crossover was for (helper moves?) I
> imagine there were special instructions how to use
> a hand throw cutover between siding switches, esp.
> if this was CTC territory, and maybe there was
> dispatcher phone here outside the photo frame.

A common reason for using a "pot" or low signal is between tracks where a full-height signal mast would not allow sufficient clearance for an employee riding the side of a car (which could conceivably be necessary at any location), as is the case in the photo. The alternative would either be to have one track swing out and around the signal, or to build a (rather expensive) signal bridge to carry the signals above the track.