The N&W color position light signals that guarded westbound movements at Lee (MP N184) were toppled on the night of Tuesday, November 30, 2010 by high winds associated with a strong storm system. Lee is the west end of the double track at Appomattox, Virginia on the former N&W Norfolk Division mainline between Roanoke and Norfolk. This signal was a beacon for railfans that traversed US 460 through the area as it was quick and easy to pull off the highway and check to see if a westbound movement was lined up. In fact, it was almost tradition to do so!

The mishap was first noted by the crew of westbound 22A. Despite running on a clear signal indication at Appomattox, the crew slowed their train as they approached the interlocking as they could immediately tell something wasn't right. What the crew observed was a clear signal indication, but the signals weren't in their usual location. Instead they found the westbound signal mast laying over on it's side, nearly in the eastbound lanes of US 460. NS signals crews quickly went to work and installed new Safetrans pole signals on Thursday, December 2, 2010.

This 2002 photograph illustrates the signals at Lee in better times. Even the classic N&W concrete mile post has vanished from the landscape, having been replaced with an aluminum sign in 2009.