CSX Accelerates Boston and Maine Resignaling

It appears that CSX has put its foot to the floor regarding resignaling the former Boston and Main Eastern Route Main Line. From the MBTA division post at CP-PLAINSTOW to Exeter, new signals are already in place with prep work underway between Exeter and the Maine border. 

Blocks are being lengthened from 2 to 3 miles and even the LED target signals recently installed by Guilford are being replaced. Perhaps the most shocking turn of events is the conversion from NORAC to Seaboard signal rules, despite the presence of NORAC rules and cab signals on both MBTA and former Boston Line territory. This also closes the door on any potential Rule 562 cab signal conversion, even if all of the locomotives running on the line will have to be cab signal equipped. It is unclear when the new signaling will be cut over as CSX has been known to move quickly on new hardware before following up with the logic and testing, but I would suggest that any interested parties move with all possible speed to get their photos, and maybe some video of the flashing Green single dwarf Limited Speed signal at CP-PLAINSTOW.

THORN Tower's Last Act

Amtrak's THORN tower has been staffed 24/7 and routing trains on the former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line since 1938, however after having gone on a rather extensive diet in recent years, THORN tower appears to be entering its last act. However its not going without a few strange twists.

As a CTC era tower with both local and remote relay based interlockings, THORN presents a fairly easy case for remote control, as was the case with THORN's sister tower COLA back in 1987. Already Amtrak has chipped away at THORN's territory, re-signaling CALN interlocking and transfering control to the Section C dispatcher in 2020.  Now it appears that the plan is to re-signal and transfer control of the local THORN interlocking in the middle of 2025.  

While this would typically mean the closing of THORN tower itself, the news is that the tower will continue in service controlling GLEN interlocking via the 1938 CTC machine and FRAZER interlocking on the 1994 vintage unit lever panel. Much of THORN's work involves FRAZER interlocking as that is where SEPTA trains for the busy R5 Paoli/Thorndale service lay over.

Plans also include the removal of DOWNS interlocking with deadhead movements continuing on to THORN. For years track #2 between THORN and GLEN had been in terrible shape with Amtrak operators and dispatchers looking for ways to avoid using it.  However it has been recently rehabilitated and train managers are looking to make better use of the asset. 

With these changes I would expect to see "C" boards for Rule 562 operation on both sides of THORN and if DOWNS is removed it is possible that cab signal only operation will extend all the way to FRAZER (track #1) and GLEN (track #4). Whatever happens, I'll keep everyone informed.

Some Apalachian Signal News

We first head to the N&W H-Line where ARCADIA interlocking is the next to get hit by the replacement ax. See my previous report for a more detailed status of H-Line signals. This location seems to be pretty accessible for anyone traveling the I-81 corridor this holiday season.

Next comes news from the CSX Big Sandy Sub in eastern Kentucky, known for its surviving C&O signaling. Due to declines in coal traffic, CSX has been removing or shortening passing sidings in a bid to save costs (and sometimes having to restore the sidings in a bid to set money on fire). Anyway while this didn't matter much on the re-signaled main line, its now affecting the classic signaled Big Sandy so expect interlocking removal/automatic downgrade to follow track removal at locations like SK Cabin in Thelma Kentucky. 

Most worrisome is the fate of the milepost 55.7 two track intermediate signal gantry on the other side of town. Although the situation has persisted for the better part of a year, this absolutely constitutes a railfan emergency.

 Finally in another "whoops I missed it" moment, the often photographed "modern" style C&O bracket masts adjacent to US 23 south of Catlettsburg, KY were replaced sometime in 2023. Likely installed in the CSX era, the replacements are typical color light masts displaying the same C&O signal aspects.

Wish I had some better news, but the wins are few and far between.

PHOTOS: Amtrak CORK Tower

 A while ago I posted the first part of my coverage of the Pennsylvania Railroad's 1929 CORK interlocking tower in Lancaster, PA which covered the tower's history and the layout of the interlocking on the PRR's Main Line. Today we cover the tower itself, heading inside to see how it functioned in both its pre and post re-signaling phases. The exterior photos date from 2005 when the interlocking complex was in the process of being resignaled. 

To recap, CORK interlocking and tower were constructed as part of the 1929 Lancaster station project which moved Lancaster's busy passenger depot away from a downtown alignment with slow speeds, lots of grade crossings and partial street running. The resulting interlocking plant spanned approximately 3.3 miles of main line track, which was an outlier for early 20th century direct wire controlled interlockings in North America. Like the contemporary Lancaster station. CORK was built of a dark brick and featured a prominent bay window sheathed in copper cladding. 

 

 

The tower had one auxiliary building that housed the primary compressed air plant and was situated on the south side of the tracks in line with the extreme west ends of the high level station platforms. The tower had an internal staircase with the shelf type relay room on the first floor. With its brick construction and slate roof, the tower was in excellent physical shape as it entered the 21st century. 

 

Heading inside the tower we find a typical layout with the operator's desk sitting in front of the US&S Model 14 interlocking machine. A defect detector readout and overhead catenary section breaker control panel are to the operator's right with the lockers, clock and old telecom plugboard sitting to the left. One interesting feature is that the room has retained its original 1929 vintage overhead lamp fixtures. 

The operator's space is feels like a more cramped version of HARRIS tower with less space around the interlocking machine on all four sides. The gap between the scoreboard style model board and the rear aligned internal staircase is particularly small. As with other PRR Main Line towers, lever blocking devices are stored on top of the interlocking machine and the bathroom is in the left rear corner. Also note the location of the refrigerator, notice board and train order hoops. 

The sprawling CORK interlocking plant was controlled by a relatively modest 67 lever interlocking machine with 49 active levers in its 1960's configuration consisting of 23 levers for switches, 23 levers for signals, 2 levers for electric switch locks and 1 crossing lever for the Reading's Lancaster Branch diamond crossing. The plant was divided into three timer zones, A, B and C with the A timer handling the Conestoga section, the B timer the central Cork plant and the C timer the Reading crossing. The short run was 1 minute with the long run being about 5 minutes and 30 seconds. The tower also had 4 horns for Conestoga, the tower itself, Lancaster West, Dillersville yard and the Reading crossing (Longs Park).

One interesting feature was the presence of Rusty Rail tabs instead of the more usual placard. Besides that the levers were of the standard US&S crank type.

Although CORK's model board was a standard PRR illuminated type, it had several interesting features features. Grade crossing status lights were located at either end of the board to indicate the activation status of the Irishtown Road (east) or Eby Chiques (west) crossings. There were three low air alarms for East and West Conestoga in addition to the Cork main plant. In the post-1960 era two block indication lamps were added for tracks 1 and 4 eastbound. These had some interaction with PARK tower to the east as well as the intervening temporary block station at LEAMAN with track #1 being lit by the regular 2 lever and track #4 by a button on the operator's desk console. Best I can tell this was some technical method to prevent conflicting movements beyond what would be afforded by train orders and the dispatcher. Finally the most endearing model board feature was a framed photo of CORK tower itself that is also present in photos from c. 1992.