tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4579330861580053658.post2468613482339473130..comments2024-03-16T00:31:43.492-07:00Comments on The Position Light: CP-ALBURTIS: Then and NowJersey Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10170958563337725933noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4579330861580053658.post-18289730611027976702016-03-15T15:22:09.095-07:002016-03-15T15:22:09.095-07:00What happened with Cor-Ten at a lot of railroads i...What happened with Cor-Ten at a lot of railroads is the inability of Cor-Ten to resist salt water in air environments, proximity to roads where salt is used for winter treatment, proximity to chemical plants where certain chemical byproducts are released ....and when in the Fall, if large concentrations of leaves(when wet) accumulated on areas of these Wayside Cor-Ten enclosures...all of these aforementioned conditions interfere with the ability of the "Weathering Steel" oxidation process to perform reliably. Whereas, these are not a concern at all for structural aluminum alloys. <br /><br />However, steels are still used and especially popular on Transit Railways here in the U.S., and in both Transit and Freight Railroads in Mexico, Canada, and Central & South America and all of it is painted and if the Wayside enclosures are going to see the effects of the aforementioned; special paints and/or top coatings are used to protect from corrosion and rusting. <br /><br />Dave Quail<br />SERRMI Products, Inc. dquail@serrmi.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16811921431935329633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4579330861580053658.post-50314083372590127752016-03-15T03:22:54.953-07:002016-03-15T03:22:54.953-07:00Cor-Ten was first introduced by United States Stee...Cor-Ten was first introduced by United States Steel in the early 1930's and US Steel touted Cor-Ten as "Weathering Steel". US Steel targeted specifically the fabricators of coal cars for the Railroad Industry. US Steel continued to refine the process into the 1960's and eventually it found its way into the fabrication of railroad wayside instrument houses/bungalows/huts and instrument case enclosures as well. <br /><br />A simple explanation of how Cor-Ten works is by the "bleed" or "blooming" of an oxidizing process of a yellowish, rust colored appearance that exudes to the surface and this layer was intentionally designed by US Steel to dramatically slow the process of corrosion and rusting. Although it may be prepared for and painted...the classic aluminum paint on steel as one example....CONRAIL is the only railroad I'm aware of who used Cor-Ten by the way it was intended to be used; with no paint.<br /><br />Under your "Amtrak Label" with 49 pictures...if you scroll way down to where your following description starts with..."I didn't know what this was at the time, but I later yearned this rather large relay-hut looking thing was actually the southern supply point for the 6kv 100hz signal power line running from here to Enola"...this is a PERFECT example of a Cor-Ten House/Hut.<br /><br />So when people see these Huts they are inclined to think they are rusting hulks...truly they will rust away some day...but it will be a long, long time before that happens. <br /> <br />To my knowledge, back at the height of CONRAIL, SERRMI never painted any Cor-Ten structure it fabricated for CONRAIL. CONRAIL's people understood and embraced Cor-Ten for its merits and was used as it was truly intended..."Weathering Steel".<br /><br />Dave Quail<br />SERRMI Products, Inc. dquail@serrmi.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16811921431935329633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4579330861580053658.post-19170654725518696902016-03-11T15:34:56.409-08:002016-03-11T15:34:56.409-08:00Wow, this is the most interesting "spam"...Wow, this is the most interesting "spam" comment I have ever gotten XD Thank you so much for posting! <br /><br />BTW I'm personally a big fan of CorTen, but I guess the manufacturing processes has made Aluminum more cost competitive since the 1980's.Jersey Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10170958563337725933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4579330861580053658.post-54620286290426875802016-03-09T19:30:02.991-08:002016-03-09T19:30:02.991-08:00First, absolutely love these 44 photos! I'd li...First, absolutely love these 44 photos! I'd like to add some additional info for some of these pictures. I am the Sales Manager for SERRMI Products, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia. I am going to identify our products in some of these pictures. Starting with the photo at the top of the page as photo 1, count down to photo 20. <br /><br />The Instrument House in photo 20 is actually Aluminum Alloy 3003-H14 structural grade wall, door, and roof panels and the structural frame members you can't see are made of Aluminum Alloy 6061-T6. On each of the 4 corners are a SERRMI patented "Pipe Style Drop Down Pier". Holes are dug in the ground to predetermined depths by the installation contractors or railroad crews.The aluminum shrouds cover the mechanism that is utilized to "level" the House and final grading is completed. Pictures 35 & 36 with the "ALBURTIS" sign are also made from the same materials. These SERRMI style of Aluminum Instrument Houses are circa 1990's style and were adapted from our previous 1980's Instrument Houses made of steel....moving to structural aluminum was a move promoted by SERRMI and became more popular as the 1990's continued and now a very popular material specified by most Class I "Freight Railroads". These aforementioned pictured Houses roof style were changed by SERRMI at the end of the 1990s. We are rebuilding our web page, but you can simply type in your Browser's Search Line; Serrmi Products, Inc., scroll all the way to the bottom and to the left you will be able to download our PDF. file SERRMI 2016 Catalog. See pages 2-10 for pictures and the 3 styles of Piers. <br /><br />Pictures 21 and 34 - The 3 "stackable" signal heads of the Dwarf Signal, are atop of SERRMI's galvanized steel and cast aluminum terminal box assembly that acts as the mounting or the signal heads, the foundation that is placed into the ground, allows the signal cable to be drawn up the foundation and wired or "terminated" inside the cast aluminum terminal box onto terminals SERRMI places inside the cast aluminum box...the Railroads specify whose signal heads, how many, and the number of terminals. Picture 21 shows the assembly before burial and 34 is a typical finished installation....on Page 22 of the SERRMI Catalog 2016 you will see more info.<br /><br />Pictures 25,26,28,39, 40-43 - Are SERRMI's High Color Light Wayside Signals. Various types of signal heads...as well as the signal heads with "Darth Vader" hoods....may be mounted atop the signal brackets. These are SERRMI Catalog # 40395 Wayside Signals, 2 Units High, Single Direction. See pages 11-15 of the SERRMI Catalog 2016.<br /><br />Many thanks for all your hard work to preserve the history of railroading. <br />Dave Quail<br />Sales Manager<br />SERRMI Products, Inc.<br />5290 Tulane Dr., S.W.<br />Atlanta, GA 30336 <br /><br />dquail@serrmi.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16811921431935329633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4579330861580053658.post-30997344363708848302014-11-07T20:12:28.697-08:002014-11-07T20:12:28.697-08:00The small target New York Central style searchligh...The small target New York Central style searchlights were a Conrail trademark. The eastbound SL mast is clearly a 1980's install given the mast design and base. The westbound mast might be original with SL's replacing the target signals.<br /><br />I have since found the same interlocking diagram you make reference to. Perhaps I'll update the post.Jersey Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10170958563337725933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4579330861580053658.post-27812800335089384182014-11-07T18:48:14.499-08:002014-11-07T18:48:14.499-08:00I know it's over 3 years since you posted this...I know it's over 3 years since you posted this, but thought I'd correct some of your assumptions. I have the track/signal diagrams for every interlocking on the Reading as of 1976 (courtesy of Conrail) and most hadn't changed in years. Except for the removal of some siding trackage, Alburtis as you saw it in 2002 was essentially as it was going back to 1963, at which time the switches were electrified and the control transferred to Oley Tower. The original Reading signals were indeed searchlights. In your photos the heads do look better than the mast, but if they were changed by Conrail, I couldn't tell you why. And offhand I'm not aware of any location where Conrail replaced Type G with SL. Reading made extensive use of searchlights on the East Penn Branch and they date at this interlocking from 1946. While the Type G were dominant system-wide (often including the horizontal two-light heads), SLs were indeed used at various locations with both small and large targets. <br /><br />Also, on the Reading, from what I can see on these diagrams, all crossovers were considered interlockings and eventually remote controlled. You're right that the Reading was a heavy (and early) user of CTC and they began remote controlling back in the early 60s. Many of the towers I used to see in the early 70s were long out of use (unbeknownst to me at the time).<br /><br />Love your photos and your postings. Mr. Trashcanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10261758448183790169noreply@blogger.com