2023 Searchlight News

 For the last post of 2023 I'm going to go through my backlog of searchlight related news items. First up is the Florida East Coast where we are all aware of the re-signaling in the Brightline Zone, but it appears that the remaining searchlights on the north end are also on the way out. The Bayard siding, just south of Jacksonville, had no evidence of signal replacement in Feb 2023, but new masts were in place by September.

Up on the former B&M Main Line east of the CSX zone in Ayer, there was been a good deal of searchlight attrition, but this has been a piecemeal process and at milepost 425 near the VT/NY state line the MP 435 searchlight was still standing as of may 2023.

East of Ayer CSX hasn't quite had enough time to start re-signaling projects as they are still trying to rebuild the connector from Warcester to Ayer. Getting out to the two searchlit interlockings between the Lowell and Fitchburg MBTA zones are high on my list.

Up on the former Montana Rail Link the searchlight replacement is ongoing with new signals up around EAST BOZEMAN.

Unfortunately around 2019-2022 many remaining searchlights on the BNSF San Bernardino Sub lost its ATSF vintage searchlights except for a few around the Riverside Station.

Finally on the UP/BNSF Joint Line south of Denver, an interesting situation has developed where CTC has been added to one of the two former single direction ABS tracks and the other has been left as ABS with no PTC due to a lack of need. This has at least temporarily saved a number of searchlights, including the mast at Milepost 226.8 just of US 85 north of Castle Rock, which has had a replacement hovering over it since 2018.

That's all for now. Remember there's no time like the present to get out and get your photos. I'll be doing a followup piece on re-signaling on the New England Central line in the CT River Valley in a few months.

Caught on Camera: Mendon, MO Level Crossing

 One side effect of taking photos from the back of long distance Amtrak trains is that from time to time you get a good shot of what might end up in a national news story. When the Mendon, Missouri grade crossing accident and derailment first took place in the summer of 2022 my impression was that it was located at a random farm crossing in the middle of nowhere. Since the former ATSF main line lost its searchlight signals over a decade ago there was no real need to check on the status of a notable signal such as this Conrail era signal that almost got wiped out in an Columbus, OH area derailment.  

Anyway, while watching the above Plainly Difficult production on the incident, I spotted what appeared to be a signal location adjacent to the collision site on County Road 113. Checking the archives I discovered a clear photo of the accident site along with the Milepost 363 intermediate signals taken from the rear of the Southwest Chief in 2013.

In addition to the signals and the unprotected grade crossing we can also see the ATS inductors that allowed for 90mph speeds across the state of Missouri. These had been recently removed by the time of the accident due to PTC making the legacy system unnecessary.  Anyway the moral of the story is to take photos of everything because you'll never know what might be historically significant.

Caught on Camera: The US&S M22

The Union Switch and Signal M3 series of switch machines (including the M3, M23 and A and B models of both) is so ubiquitous and has been around for so long that one might assume the model spring fully formed from the head of George Westinghouse. However it is important to remember that the "M" is the family, not M3 and unlike General Railway Signal, where their switch machines Models 1 through 4 were radically different than the Model 5, the US&S Style M has remained fairly consistent since its introduction in 1918. In fact one of the reasons its easy to assume that the M3 (or M23) has been around far longer than its actual introduction date of 1951, is because the M22 is similar enough that both times I encountered one in the wild, I only noticed the machine was actually an M22 when I was performing unrelated photo research years later. 

To review, above is an US&S M23 switch machine as previously installed on the former C&O Washington Sub near Charlottesville, VA. Below is an M22 switch machine as previously installed about 10 miles to the east in Gordonsville, VA.

I'm not going to go into all the technical details as to how they differ, there's already a page for that, but the big giveaway for an M22 vs an M23 is the non-concentric selector lever that swaps the machine between manual and power operation. The second giveaway is the bolt pattern on the top of the central gearbox with the M23 having 2 large bolts and the M2 4 smaller bolts and a more bulbous cover. Unfortunately I have yet to encounter an M2 in the wild and from the few photos online I cannot determine an easy way to differentiate it from an M3. Anyway, these and any other M22's along the former C&O Cardinal Route (now operated by the Buckingham Branch shortline) were removed in a 2013/2014 re-signaling project.  However there is another M22 I just discovered situated about 5 feet from a busy public right of way.

It's this fellow, the northern end of the #1 crossover at CP-ASH in sunny downtown San Diego. In fact its directly adjacent to the Little Italy light rail station.

Although my photo is from 2015, a quick check of Google Street View shows that it is still in place as of October, 2022.

So if you happen to be in San Diego or out and around some rail line that hasn't seen a switch replacement since 1951, know how to spot an M22 and make sure you take plenty of photos if you come across one.

The Trials and Tribulations of Los Angeles' Closed Towers

This post fits neatly into the "old news" category as the events I am noting took place something like 4+ years ago, but it will provide some closure for anyone else who has not been paying attention. The West in general is known for its general lack of towers compared to the East and Midwest.  Certain area of California had more towers than most of the west, but the number was still rather low and from that level there was been a high level of attrition as those, largely wooden, towers were closed and demolished. Most of So Cal's surviving towers were in the general vicinity of Union Station with TERMINAL TOWER and MISSION Tower being the most well known. 

However a bit to the south were two attitudinal towers on the former ATSF Chief route, HOBART and REDONDO.  Each governed a single track diamond crossing of the busy AFST main line.

Built in 1906, REDONDO was located at the ATSF crossing of the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, that became Union Pacific's primary route into the Port of Los Angeles. The redwood frame tower was ultimately equipped with a GRS Model 2 pistol grip interlocking machine and the junction controlled the southern end of the LA passenger rain engine and car facilities. The tower was closed in 2001 when a passenger flyover was built over what would become the Alameda Rail Corridor route to the port of Long Beach that converted the sleepy UP main into a 3-track intermodal superway.

Located in a fairly isolated area the tower was generally left along for the next 15 years until some time after December 2016 the tower either caught fire or was tagged for demolition. By June 2017 the tower was a husk and by Octover 2017 it was gone. In 2001 the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority was nice enough to commission an historical pamphlet with a selection of interior photos.

HOBART interlocking is located about a mile east of REDONDO at the west end of Hobart Yard where the UP San Pedro Branch crossed the former ATSF main line. Also equipped with a GRS Model 2 pistol grip power frame, the tower was a bit more modern than REDONDO being made of concrete. Closed in 2002, its location at a major yard and non-flammable construction gave HOBART a fighting chance of survival.

 

Unfortunately between May and December 2017, a fire started by homeless persons gutted the tower.  Although the concrete structure was still generally sound, the tower was now on the glidepath to demolition, a fate that was ultimately carried out in May of 2019.

Of course the fates can occasionally smile on old interlocking tower.  DAYTON AVE tower, located at the southern end of the Southern Pacific Taylor Yards north of Union Station, was saved by relocation not once, but TWICE.  

When Metrolink was building a new maintenance facility in the 1990's, DAYTON AVE tower was relocated from its initial site on the LA River to a site adjacent to the Metrolink Facility entrance on San Fernando Rd.

Later in ~2013 when this site was tagged for a new development, DAYTON AVE tower was moved again to a new location 3 blocks to the southwest on part of Metrolink's rail storage lot.

At the start of this article I mentioned TERMINAL TOWER and MISSION tower.  TERMINAL TOWER is currently used as some sort of MoW or signaling support base part of the greater LAUPT complex.  The long closed MISSION tower is less critical to operations, but is likely owned by a government entity and has been generally protected by local preservation groups and general governmental paralysis.  I recently found a 1980 vintage film on Youtube documenting ATSF operations at MISSION tower with its GRS Model 2 pistol grip type interlocking machine.

Enjoy.

Searchlight News

 I just realized that I had a growing backlog of news items regarding searchlight signals, some of it a little bit old, but still worth highlighting. First up the TWC/ABS territory on the end of Harvard Sub north of Harvard, IL is having its US&S H-2 searchlights replaced along with an associated code-line.  There are reports that this will not include CTC, however without any sidings on the track segment the addition of traffic control would be expected. This is the most up to date news so anyone in the area can probably still document the old signals.
 

Next, the former ATSF diamond in Plainview, TX is also losing its searchlights as of November, 2020, so they might alread be gone. 

Next, with the CNW ATC out of service, UP appears to feel free to now alter the interlockings on the Geneva Sub (former CNW main line) between West Chicago and Iowa, which had formerly gotten a reprieve. This will see the replacement of the CNW hallmark oval target searchlights.

Finally I have another case of some signals that got away.  In early 2020, the Guilford Rail System retired the signals on the Northern Main Line between Nashua and Manchester, NH due to low traffic and the generally failing state of the system.

While the above diagram doesn't make this abandonment look that bad, there were 6 automatic signal locations and 3 interlockings north of Nashua compared to only 2 automatic locations and 2 interlockings to the south. What's even worse was that I was in the are last Labour Day, however I was fixated on the Lowell terminal area due to the MBTA's Rule 562 project and didn't even realize that the North Main Line was even signaled.  I passed within 1200 feet of the retired CPN-28 without realizing it was there only to find out a few months that the signals had been taken down.  Not sure what the state of the other locations are, removed or just turned, but its probably still worth checking out.

The Final* Wig Wag

In March of 2021 the final active Wig Wag style grade crossing warning device on a North American main line railroad was retired from service on the former ATSF Raton pass route, also known for hosting the last instances of main line semaphore signals. Located in the ghost town of Delhi, Colorado, the Wig Wag was signed for the Santa Fe Trail, but according to the map serves county (dirt) road 88 and was about 100 off of US Highway 350.

Preserved, along with the semaphores, because of the only use of the line is for Amtrak Trains 3 and 4, the Southwests Chief and, until recently, the route was under perpetual threat of abandonment.  With additional funding obtained to keep the Chief routed through southern Colorado, BNSF is engaged in a slow process of replacing the traditional signaling elements. 

Although the Delhi Wig Wag will join several other Wig Wags in various states of preservation in museums and on tourist lines across the country, it was the last example operating on a railroad main line with signaling and high speed operation.A cursory search of Youtube shows a number of others in various states of operation scattered around California and, until December 2020, Wisconsin.

Don’t forget the Van Ness wigwag which was also restored! (Motor was dead for 2 years, they finally fixed it a few weeks ago) pic.twitter.com/mzRrE5C4rY

— Fresno Railfan (@FresnoRailfan) March 17, 2021

If you are into technology connections, Wig Wags represent the general lag in display technology that was also seen in the audio visual world.  Electric power was limited, long life bulbs weren't very bright so electro-mechanical systems that moved a thing were the best way to get people attention in daylight.  From a time where any grade crossing protection that wasn't some dude with a flag was cutting edge technology, the Wing Wag has joined other vintage railroad technologies that today live on only in museums or literal backwaters.

BNSF to Retire Most ATSF ATS on 2/15/21

On Presidents Day 2021 (likely at Midnight between Sunday and Monday), in a move that was entirely foreseen and entirely understandable (unlike with the UP cab signals), BNSF will retire the Santa Fe era IIATS Automatic Train Stop system that was popular during the first wave of technical railway safety aids in the 1920's and 30's.

Bi-directional ATS shoes under a classic ATSF signal bridge on the Marceline Sub.

 The inductive system, similar to the magnetic Automatic Warning System in UK service, was identifiable by the upside-down canoe shaped shoes mounted to the right of the track.  When activated by a signal displaying an indication other than Clear, the shoes would trigger a warning horn in the cab and failure to acknowledge would result in a penalty brake application.  Set as the most basic requirement by ICC directive for travel 80mph and over after 1948, railroads couldn't abide by its modest cost, resulting in an unofficial nation-wide rail speed limit.  While the Southern, New York Central and Santa Fe maintained hundreds of ATS equipped route miles, all but the ATSF managed to abandon their systems around 1970 with the general collapse of passenger services.  For whatever reason, the ATSF Chicago to LA "Super Chief" route retained its ATS system, allowing the successor Amtrak Southwest Chief to travel for long distances at speeds up to 90mph. 

Inert "always on" ATS shoes protecting a permanent speed restriction on the Marceline Sub

A clever system that could fail safe with just inert steel components, IIATS was in service on the Marceline Sub across Missouri and the Needles, Seligman and Gallup Subs between Barstow and Dalies, allowing for speeds of up to 90mph on Class 5 track.  Unfortunately the system relied on careful clearances between the lineside shoes and the pickup coils, that were mounted, as needed, only on the head end locomotives on freights traveling this territory. Moreover, BNSF went out of its way never to expand the system from what they had inherited, therefore as tracks were upgraded to bi-directional operation, the ATS would remain in the old single direction ABS configuration. In other cases ATS was only in service in one direction on both tracks.  

ATS shoes for westward movements only on both tracks on the Seligman Sub.

The good news is that active PTC is being accepted by the FRA as a valid ATS replacement.  Moreover, in the affected areas since signaling, track and grade crossings are all configured for 90mph, speeds will either remain at 90mph or will be raised to 90mph where ATS did not cover specific directions of travel.  It remains unclear if previously non-ATS territory that is equipped with Class 5 (90mph pass, 70mph freight) track, will see similar speed increases. I have been informed that, similar to the METRA ATS shoes, the timetable for removal is 90-180 days.  However the BNSF ATS territory is probably 10+ times the total route territory, so we'll see.

Railrunner territory semaphore with ATS shoe on the Glorieta Sub.

Due to absent or incomplete PTC, ATS will remain on parts of the Glorieta (controlled by New Mexio Railrunner), Raton, LaJunta and Topeka Subs, however it has been all or partly suspended on most of this territory since the early 2000's, lowering speeds to 80mph where applicable. Due to the nature of how ATS works, I have been told that Amtrak Train 3 and 4 run with the system on, but do not report any activation issues.

ATS shoe on the NJT RiverLINE.  The only instance where IIATS is used as a trip stop.

In addition to the Chief route, ATS will remain in service, enabling 90mph on the former ATSF San Diego route, now playing host to Amtrak Surfliner Trains as well as on the NJT RiverLINE where the technology is used, shockingly, to enforce positive stops at absolute signals.  Anyway, get your photos (or after 2/15 get your ATS shoes) quickly because after President's Day, they could start to vanish without warning.

Signs! Signs! Everywhere a Sign! - Western Passenger Roads

 It's been a while since my post on Western Freight Railroads, that that's due to the unfortunate situation that many of the commuter agencies that do operate track between Chicagoland and the West Coast put little or no effort into their interlocking signs.  This installment will attempt to cover the interlocking signs of Metra, the South Shore, Railrunner, Denver RTD, Coaster, Metrolink and Caltrain. 

Starting with METRA, it directly owns and operates those lines that were cast off from freight railroads where there was little or no freight service and/or a general bankruptcy and abandonment.  This consists of the Rock Island division, Electric Division and SouthWest Corridor. In all these cases it appears that METRA just stencils a barely legible name on the relay huts with black paint.



There is an exception to this on the Milwaukee District lines that are are jointly operated between METRA and Canadian Pacific. In this territory interlockings are provided with white on Metra blue signs.

In the Chicago Union Station area, Amtrak provides Conrail style white on blue signs, although the font isn't quite right.

One might have thought the Chicago South Shore and South Bend would use some sort of heritage inspired sign, however this is not the case with plain white black on white stick mounted signs located at the interlocking limits.

With its strong roots in transit instead of traditional railroads, Denver's RTD just labels its signals with a lever number and milepost.

Albuquerque RailRunner uses cute ATSF inspired  black border signs at interlockings as well as maintaining a few originals. 

 

 

While  LA Metrolink has gone in with the METRA style of not giving a damn.

However across the county line, San Diego Coaster has gone all in for a period correct ATSF black border type sign.

Last and least we have Caltrain that has gone in for the stencil method.  However the stencils are larger and more legible and Caltrain also provides secondary signs with the full interlocking name.arranged in a vertical format at every interlocking entrance.

Well that finishes my coverage of railroad "station" signs in the United States.  If I am able to get enough references I'll see if I can do the same for Canada.

Fall 2020 Signaling News

 After a long period of not much going on I recently uncovered a bunch of signaling new, little of it good.  First off, the last pure ATSF signal bridge on the BNSF 3-track raceway out of LA is being replaced by a traffic light cantilever.  The signal bridge, which supports 6, two head US&S H-2 searchlights, is located in Riverside and sees joint UP, BNSF operation.  Although the ATSF bridge was modernized with new concrete footings and the signal location was equipped for PTC, something still managed to upset the powers that be.  Other searchlit locations on the San Bernardino sub appear to be unaffected.

Moving over to the east, the ex.NKP KM interlocking in Vermillion, OH is in the midst of a slow motion re-signaling as its US&S elephant ears are being replaced a mix of current NS signals and an a non-Darth traffic light that appears to have been pulled from the parts bin.  The replacement mast was dropped off on or before mid-2019 and has been recently installed so if you live in the area document the old mast while you can.

Finally, after many many years and false starts, new signals are going up on the BNSF/ATSF/Southwest Chief Rtaon pass route to replace the elderly semaphores.  I guess this is good for the future of the Chief, but bad for the future of semaphores :-(  The photo I have is from Colmor, but I have to assume this is part of a general re-signaling effort.

The only bit of good news I have today is that at this point in time, the main PLs at ARSENAL interlocking have survived the major SEPTA track project of May 2020 that installed a new interlocking south of University City station.  So there's that. 🤷

Surviving BNSF Marceline Sub Searchlights Retired

While this probably isn't breaking news I am still going to report the fact that the last two intact ATSF era signal bridges on the Marceline Sub in eastern Missouri were de-signaled in late 2019, some 6 years after the rest of the route was re-signaled in the summer of 2013.  The two-track, weathering steel I-beam construction signal bridges at mileposts 243 and 241 not only remained standing, but also retained their US&S H-5 searchlights.

MP 243 signal in 2013

MP 241 signal in 2013

These signals were located between Argyle and Ortho and also retained their prefab concrete relay huts.  As you can see from the above photos, PTC antennas had been erected and no replacement signals were on hand.  However, seeing that the signal heads on the bridge at MP 238 had been turned in place, I just assumed that the MP 241 and MP 243  signals would likely be replaced or removed in short order.  The replacement signals at MP 243 and MP 241 use 1 mast and one cabinet mounted half mast.  The ATSF structures were still standing as of April 2020 and as far as i am aware the few color light equipped ATSF signal bridges are also still in place.  My 2013 survey of this line segment can be found here.

Signs! Signs! Everywhere a Sign! - Western Freight Roads

Well it's time to cross the Mississippi and get this series finished up.  Today I will be exploring the signs of the Western freight roads.  Today this would be UP, BNSF, KCS, CP (former SOO) and CN (former IC).

We'll begin with the BNSF and you can't spell BNSF without ATSF.  Spoiler, western railroads had a big thing for white signs and black lettering so most of this post is going to be discussing all the ways one can do a white sign with black lettering and in my opinion the ATSF did the best job with white signs on black letters by adding a black border to the signs and a somewhat distinctive font. In this photo below we can see an example on the BNSF Raton Sub showing a single interlocking with a free standing ATSF style sign (probably from late in the ATSF era in the 1990s, and then more plain black on white BNSF signage mounted on the relay hut.

Elsewhere on the Raton sub we see a non-black border sign with the same ATSF font.

And finally we have a BNSF standard font.

On the BN side of the house we see a similar style of free standing black on white sign using a two post support.  On certain single track territories, interlocking signs would sometimes be replaced by a station sign similar to the one seen below. 



Note the variety of fonts.

Caught on Camera: ATS Ding

Intermittent Inductive Automatic Train Stop (ATS) was that thing that met the minimum safety requirements for high speed rail as laid down by the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1948, and although adopted by the New York Central, Southern, Santa Fe and others, was pretty much ripped out everywhere it could be after the end of most private passenger operations in 1971.  ATS soldiers on in those few places where it could not be so easily discarded, namely the former Santa Fe transcontinental Southwest Chief and San Diego routes and the former Chicago Northwestern commuter lines out of Chicago.  The latter two routes both feature bi-level cab cars where one can, in various degrees, get a railfan view and hear the going on in the cab, so it becomes possible for one to hear just what sort of alerts this safety alertness system produces.

METRA Up-NW Line Typical ATS Inductor Setup

Now I was expecting something similar to a British AWS activation horn, which is quite loud and designed to get the operator's attention.  However, when I reviewed my video, what I heard in METRA Gallery cab cars was small analogue bell chiming once. You might even need to replay the video a few times as you might miss it right after the train passes the Diverging Clear signal.



In this Amtrak Surfliner video you can hear a small electronic beep right after the passes a diverging signal at T=11:20 and an Approach Diverging Signal at T=6:55.  Again, very underwhelming.



These are just two examples of videos where one can hear the ATS ding, but they cover both types of equipment passengers can reasonably expect to hear a ATS activation from. I may post updates here if I find cab videos from other equipment.

Conflicting Route Conundrum

So the following photo drew a number of questions on both its own page and also a few of the signaling forums.  As one can see it appears that two conflicting routes have been lined over the same switch at the end of a passing siding, something that appears to indicate some sort of failure in the interlocking, or some photographic trick like multiple exposures.  The photo was taken on a Norfolk Southern line in Georgia and it's location is one reason that people are so confused.

Before I give away the answer I'll first state that the signaling logic is functioning as intended and there was been no photographic trickery.  Still, Clear and Diverging Clear appearing next to eachother in this context should be contradictory.  Here's I'm going to post another photo from a different part of the country that is a pretty big hint about what's going on here.

This was taken on the former ATSF Raton pass line where the last operational semaphores in North America are located. These semaphores are constantly being photographed, but nobody seems to be confused as to why adjacent signals can both display clear like this.  Well, there are two reasons.  The first is that there is something about Diverging Clear sitting next to a Clear at the end of a siding that just seems plain wrong.  The other reason is because the sort of signaling where this circumstance occurs is much more common out west than it is in the east.

This is your last hint before I give away the answer/

 If you haven't figured it out yet the answer to the puzzle is that the signals in both these pictures do not protect an interlocking and are not part of a CTC setup.  They are part of an ABS-TWC (aka NS Rule 271) arrangement, that also likely an example of Automatic Permissive Block .  The signals operate automatically based on occupancy of the line ahead and, more importantly for this post, trains exiting the siding do so over a spring switch so both routes through the control point are valid.

Surprise!  It's a spring switch and its also not an interlocking.

ABS-TWC / Rule 271 can actually take a couple of forms.  The first involves signals placed only on the main track so trains on the main and the siding will encounter the same signal and act accordingly.  The other places signals on both the siding and the main.  Since they are operating automatically and they 'protect" a trailing spring switch, both signals will default to a Clear indication.  Out west if there is only one possible route from a signal then the railroads don't bother with a lower head since they are happy to have route signaling handle the switch speed through the timetable.  However in the east it is standard practice to provide reduced speed movements with a  Diverging or Reduced Speed Clear signal indication.

Same situation, one less signal.

 This arrangement is not always an example of APB because APB involves an element of traffic control with absolute headblock signals that prevent trains from entering a line segment where an opposing movement is under way.  Typically the presence of absolute signals at siding exits implies APB, but this is not always the case and NS Rule 271 operation requires Track Warrants for traffic control.  In theory an APB line can operate under Rule 261 with the Conrail Southern Tier Line being one example

Well, what's enough of me rambling on.  Like I said this arrangement is far more common out west and there you don't see the Diverging aspect.  This is why it is absolutely critical to have a good understanding of how traffic control applies to various methods of signaling.  Realizing the line was running under Rule 271 with manual traffic control, it is clear how two trains could never take both routes simultaneously.