Hall Signal Company

File:Hall disc signal 1909.jpg

File:Hall wigwag signal ad 1916.jpg grade crossing signal]]

The Hall Signal Company was an American manufacturer of railway signaling equipment in the 19th and 20th centuries. Hall's equipment was widely used by American railroad companies. The company's founder, William Phillips Hall, was an inventor who developed several important devices in the history of railway signalling. The company manufactured automatic block signaling systems, disc signals (also called "banjo" signals), a rotating semaphore signal, grade crossing signals, and the first searchlight-style signal.{{cite book |title=Trains and Technology: The American Railroad in the Nineteenth Century |last=Bianculli |first=Anthony J. |year=2003 |publisher=Associated University Presses |location= Cranbury, NJ |isbn=0-87413-803-5 |chapter= Volume 4. Bridges and Tunnels; Signals |pages=146–147 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tbtdcXXnq5kC&q=hall+signal&pg=PA146 }}{{cite book |title=Railroad Signaling |last=Solomon |first=Brian |year=2003 |publisher=MBI Publishing |isbn=978-0-7603-1360-2 }}{{rp|52}}

The company was established in 1871 with main offices in New York City and a factory in Meriden, Connecticut.{{cite news |title=To Terminate Corporate Existence; Directors of Hall Railway Signal Co. Have So Voted |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8HNHAAAAIBAJ&pg=1203%2C5142135 |newspaper=Meriden Weekly Republican |date=1907-06-13|page=7}} In 1892 it built a new, larger factory in Garwood, New Jersey.{{cite news |title=Hall Signal Company's Factory |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LO9KAAAAIBAJ&pg=2723%2C604250 |newspaper=Meriden Weekly Republican |date=1892-04-14|page=5}} The company reorganized in 1912 to raise capital and expand its Garwood factory.{{cite news |title=Hall Signal Co.'s Plans |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0B12FB3F5813738DDDA00994DB405B828DF1D3 |newspaper=New York Times |date=1912-03-19}} In 1925 Hall Signal Co. was purchased by Union Switch and Signal, principally for the value of its searchlight signal patents.{{rp|36–37}}