Vanishing NEC Pneumatics (and other News)

The NEC continues to see a wide scale reduction in the number of pneumatic point machines. Within the last year BIDDLE and OAK interlockings on the southern end have been replaced by electric, BAY interlocking has been half replaced, LANDOVER interlocking is en-route to be decommissioned entirely and just recently FAIR interlocking in Trenton has started seen selective replacement of its still impressive pneumatic plant.

BIDDLE interlocking with new M3 point machines.

The HAROLD re-signaling project in support of East Side Access is not largely complete, however some track and switch work is ongoing for the physical connections to the new lines.

On the Shore Line a new interlocking, LIBERTY, has been commissioned west of the Kingston, RI station to support the new third track and island platform.

Around Boston, the ACSES PTC system is being installed on North Side MBTA lines, although it is not clear if this is in conjunction with cab signals or not. Normally ACSES is designed to work in conjunction with cab signals and ATC, but modifications to allow operation without cab signals is within the real of possibility.  Also notable is thatACSES transponders have not appeared in the Guilford Rail System territory, which is generally exempt from the PTC requirement and has demonstrated hostility towards installing it for the Amtrak service if not required to.

For some updates regarding recently reported stories, the Rule 562 'C' boards are up in both directions at OAK interlocking, although not in service and all of the PRR pedestal signals on the SEPTA trunk line between Suburban Station and 30th St station have been replaced by the new ersatz variety.

UK Lickey Incline Classic Signaling

I found an interesting video on the manual block setup on Lickey Incline, the steepest Main Line gradient on the UK.  This 2.65% grade stretched over two miles on the line to Birmingham and due to the under powered nature of UK locomotives, most trains, passenger included, would need help getting up.  Although the line was fitted with track circuits, manual block was still employed.  To ease operations, an intermediate manual block signal was provided so that two trains could climb the grade at the same time.  This video details how the blocks were worked and how the helpers were dealt with.



Compare with operations on the steepest main line grade in North America, Saluda.

Website: Hidden Trackside Treasures Of Southwestern PA

I wanted to take a moment to plug another blog I just found that takes an in depth historical look at the PRR Main Line between Altoona and Pittsburgh.  Given the title, I am sure that it will eventually cover other topic, but at this point the articles have focused on the PRR Main Line, specially the transition from the Classic PRR configuration of the 1950's and 1960's. to the modern Conrail configuration of the 1980's. 

 The articles are well researched with much scanned and displayed primary source material. One series covers the lost interlockings and interlocking towers of the Western PRR Main Line, like Latrobe's KR tower, seen above. 

The future CP-WING, with and without CTC applied as the Penn Central envisioned it.

Another series covers the Penn Central's plan to convert the PRR Main Line to CTC operation a decade or two before Conrail was able to complete the task with its influx of Federal funding.  It's just say things would have been a lot more interesting if the line was rebuilt with the PC's understanding of how railroading would work.

My only criticism is that over the past 3 years there have only been a handful of posts, so let's show the creator some appreciation with the hope that he'll increase his output ;-)

Amtrak NEC Happenings

Just wanted to provide a quick update on some operations on the Southern NEC.  I previously reported on Amtrak's plans to extend Rule 562 operation southward to BUSH interlocking.  Currently 562 is only in service between BACON and GRACE, but this past month work started at OAK interlocking to both remove the pneumatic point machines and install new signals with 'C' boards.

At this point OAK interlocking only has a single crossover between tracks 4 and 3, creating a combination trailing point ladder when combined with GRACE.  This crossover will be replaced with a new electrically powered concrete model and some other reports hint of a second crossover creating a facing point ladder as well.

The southbound 'C' boards indicate an immediate risk for the 4 automatic signal locations between OAK and BUSH.  I have been able to document those at Perryman and Aberdeen, but the others are less accessible :-(

Finally, Amtrak is adding a new trailing point ladder at PERRY interlocking to carry trains from the Pord Road, across the two through tracks and over to the track 1 siding.  Apparently this is in anticipation of track work on the track 4 siding or switches at PRINCE interlocking.