Magnetic Signal Company

The Magnetic Signal Company of Los Angeles, California was the manufacturer of the ubiquitous "Magnetic Flagman" wig-wag railroad crossing signal seen all over California and the western states.

Its general offices and factory were located at 3355 East Slauson Ave. in Los Angeles, near the cities of Maywood and Huntington Park (named for the founder of the Pacific Electric Railway, whose signal engineers developed the first wig-wag signals). The Union Pacific's old Los Angeles and Salt Lake line to the harbor ran just east of that location, and the main lines of the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe ran by just north of there as well. This probably had a great deal to do with those three railroads being some of Magnetic Signal's biggest customers.

This was an ideal location for a company that would eventually supply over 7,000 wig-wag signals to the country and the world, as it had great rail access for not only shipping its products out, but for bringing in the raw materials needed to manufacture its products.

In its heyday, Magnetic Signal not only manufactured wigwag signals, but also the alternating-flasher type railroad signals, reflectorized "Railroad Crossing" signs, button reflectors for highway signs, traffic island beacons, curb beacons, flasher relays, automobile and bicycle reflectors, and even a "Portafount" portable drinking fountain. The company had sales offices located in New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Although it is known that the Signal Department of the Pacific Electric Railway developed the first "Magnetic Flagman" wigwag signal, under the direction of a Mr. Albert Hunt (some sources list him as J.B. Hunt), it is not known at what point the Magnetic Signal Company became a separate entity. What is known is that it soon became a subsidiary of the American Brake Shoe and Foundry Company of Los Angeles, which also owned National Bearing Metals Corporation and Canadian Ramapo Iron Works. It remained a subsidiary of American Brake Shoe until it was purchased by the Griswold Signal Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota sometime in the 1940s. At that time, the offices and factory on Slauson Ave. were closed down, and relocated to Minneapolis.

Sources

Dan's Wig Wag Site, 1926 and 1940 editions of the Magnetic Signal Company Catalog, "The Life and Times of the Pacific Electric" published by the Orange Empire Railway Museum.