BNSF Moves to Abandon Chicago Cab Signaling

Following in the footsteps of Union Pacific, BNSF has petitioned the FRA to abandon its cab signaling system on the former CB&Q Chicago "Racetrack" Sub between Chicago and Aroura, IL.  In service only for METRA commuter trains, the system dates from the heyday of first generation safety systems following an ICC order in the 1920's.  With PTC being the cited reason, it is now up to the FRA to decide if new technology is an acceptable replacement for the simpler, yet far more resilient safety systems from the 20th century.  Although the burden ostensibly falls on METRA, which contracts BNSF to run the commuter rail service, BNSF is still responsible for maintaining the physical plant.  If the CB&Q cab signals are discontinued, it will be harder to justify METRA's Rock Island district 20 mile segment of cab signals between Blue Island and Joliet.

All of this represents a stunning reversal of fortune for cab signaling in North America as the system has seen robust expansion over the first part of the PTC era as northeastern railroads relied on it to meet the mandate. While Class 1 road NS has also been recently expanding its cab signal territory, CSX has applied to discontinue use of the CSS based ATC system on the RF&P Sub in Virginia.  The latter is less problematic as the ATC only enforced a minimum brake pipe reduction upon cab signal downgrade as is made completely redundant by PTC protections.  CSX has states no intention of removing the cab signals, partly due to the pending takeover of the corridor by the State of Virginia for increased passenger operations.  It remains to be seen if the future 110mph S-Line restoration will feature cab signals or rely solely on PTC.

Early US&S Promotional CTC Video

The first Centralized Traffic Control installation was developed by the General Railway Signaling company in 1927 for the New York Central in Ohio.  1927 also saw the first motion picture "talkie", the Jazz Singer with Al Jolson. It looks like Union Switch and Signal only has enough time to respond to one of these new technologies because I found an early 1930's SILENT film released by US&S promoting the advantages of a brand new CTC project on the Burlington Route between Denver and Akron, Colorado. The film is 30 minutes long and goes into great detail about how the new technology works and the time is saved over manual traffic control (aka Train Order) systems.



Remember that CTC dispatching was pretty advanced for the 1950's.  This was 20 years before that and a dispatcher's console with an illuminated real time model board must have been able to absolutely blow people's minds. 

Hot Summer News

It's been a pretty slow summer for new, but I have a few items built up I should probably get around to sharing.

First up , the famous Rochelle diamonds in Illinois seem to have entered some sort of Schrodinger's Box because they are both re-signaled and not-resignaled.  This is because the former CBQ searchlights on the BNSF line have been replaced while the former CNW signals on the UP line continue to hold on.

If you remember my early 2016 news reports from upstate New York, the Albany-Rensselaer terminal had been partly re-signaled.  Well the new CP-143 has been cut over and work has moved on to CP-145.  Not sure when LAB tower will close.

New CP-145 with double slips and LED searchlights.

New signal masts going up at CP-145.

We are also starting to see more and more B&O CPL signal replacements on the previously immune CSX Toledo Sub, so again, try to get out there and take some photos.  In related news, thanks to a crash in traffic resulting in partial abandonment, some of the Indiana Sub B&O CPLs might survive a bit longer.

 Down south the re-signaling is also progressing in Seaboard land as seen in Douglassville, FL where a restricted speed siding looks to be getting full signaling protection, albeit still over a slow speed turnout.

 The NS Pocahontas District re-signaling is continuing.  It's not just the CPL bracket masts ad gantries that are at risk.  These double split masts are perhaps rarer than either and are slated to be replaced by cookie cutter side masts.  Imagine if the ICC had never repealed the right hand signal placement rule...

 Via Google Earth I just learned that the surviving PRR CTC huts on the Enola Branch have finally all been demolished by NS.  These include the structures at the former CP-PORT, CP-MANOR and current CP-LAKE.  One can also see the new signals at WAGO.

 Finally, the spectre of re-signaling doesn't just apply to the wayside equipment and dispatching offices.  Here we see the cab of the last unrebuilt Metro-North GP35R, #102.  Note the old school center mounted, bulb lit cab signal display.  It will soon be sterilized in a rebuilding process.

Post-Thanksgiving News

Tis the season for signaling (or re-signaling) news.  I first have something to report from a recent Chicago trip in that the large search-lit UNION AVE plant immediately adjacent to Union Station has been completely re-signaled, including the two "new" semaphore bridges on the curve into Union Station.  I was hopeful that the re-signaling effort I had seen last December would have dragged on like the Aurora/Eola effort, but no, they wrapped it up in under 12 months.

Gone.

Also, new signals were going up at METRA's Blue Island Vermont Street complex.  Site of METRA's BLUE ISLAND tower, it is not clear if these are isolated replacements, or a plan to fully re-signal the interlocking and close the tower.

 No matter where the 80's Santa Fe searchlights may be, BNSF appears ready to hunt them down like these ones in Texas.

 Moving down south, somehow NS keeps finding more Southern Rwy signals to replace such as these near Thomasville.

 More signs of waste down in Southern territory with this freshly painted Southern mast signal already flagged for replacement at Villa Rica, GA.

 NS had long been replacing signals on the Chicago Line, but here at CP-379 if you look closely, a more modern bracket mast in the opposite direction appears to have been spared.  Keep an eye out on that one.

 This classic NY Central 4-track gantry in Elyria, OH will not be so lucky.

 I finally found an example of NS not throwing away old signal structures on a line in Tennessee.  If you look carefully you can see the modern style gantry is one of the first generation varieties.  It is also not a cantilever.

With the decline in coal traffic one even wonders why NS is investing in its former N&W region.  The mixed PL/CL cantilever is well represented in railfan photography.

We leave off with a little comic relief in the form of a pair of new Darth Vaders near Montreal that are mounted on what have to be some of the tallest signal masts I have ever seen.  I'm assuming there's a clearance issue, but I'm not sure what it would be.

 

Down in CSX land, somehow the C&O main line has still not been completely re-signaled, so that's a bit of a plus, but make sure you act soon as new signals are starting to go up on the last remaining sections. 

To finish with a bit of good news, the Heber Valley Railroad acquired a former DRG&W 3-track signal bridge from the UP re-signaling efforts in Utah.  The bridge included three GRS searchlight signals.

Two More Chicago Icons to Fall

I guess it serves me right for not checking through the interwebs for a couple of days because when I came back from a trip I found not one, but two pieces of devastating signal news.  The first is that the remarkably preserved CBQ and CNW signal bridges at the Rochelle, IL diamond crossing are all being replaced.  These appear often in railroad media due to the proximity of the Rochelle Railroad Park.  Once again we see both local government and railroad management being completely tone deaf when it comes to the preservation of a local tourist attraction.  Yes, I know new signals are somehow "cheaper", but couldn't an offer have been made to somehow preserve the look and feel of the old setup?  Especially devastating will be the loss of another set of CNW style oval target searchlights.

Across the metro area it appears that the venerable CP-506 is on its last legs.  Located just east of the General Hammond-Whiting Amtrak Station, CP-506 marked the Chicago Line's transition from the Central to the Pensy RoW and featured a position lit west end and color lit west end.  From the photo it appears that the long snaking interlocking limits are being shortened.  It also looks like a third track could be part of the project.

 In addition to CP-506, CP-507 at the opposite end of the General Hammond-Whiting station is also being re-signaled.  This is a bit of a surprise as the interlocking was installed new in the 80's or 90's along with a modern style PL cantilever support, but in this day and age it doesn't matter if the old signals are 5 years or 50 years of age.

 Elsewhere on the Chicago Line NS is continuing its rather haphazard replacement of NYC and Conrail era signaling.  Locations include Huron and Waterloo.

Resignaling is also spreading on the former N&W territory including the well known asymmetric cantilever featuring one CPL and one traffic light.

 Further east there is some work going on at CP-88/CP-BETHLEHEM.  The layout there was already strange so we'll have to see how much of the interlocking is changed.

 The SEPTA West Trenton separation project will mean the end of a great example of Conrail era 4-block signaling between CP-WOOD and CP-TRENT.  If you live nearby try to take advantage of the railfan window for some photos or video.

Out west it appears that the effort to remove the last semaphores from the Raton pass is a bit more extensive than it initially appeared with low cost traffic light signals popping up at multiple locations despite BNSF's capitol improvement freeze due to funding hangups.

Like usual lots and lots of bad news, however I am slowly collecting a few silver linings so stay tuned.

California Zephyr: Then and Now

Two weeks ago I took Amtrak's California Zephyr from San Francisco to Chicago, IL recreating a trip I had taken in 2012.  Then as now I spent a lot of time in the rear of the train taking photos of the signaling along the line and while it will be months before I am able to post the 2014 photos I can at least report on what is changing signaling wise using images from the 2012 set.

First up is the former Southern Pacific Capitol Corridor between Oakland and Sacramento.  This is home to many former S&P target type color light signals and in what counts as good news none were removed since 2012.

DAVIS interlocking, which has the relay logic and unit lever emergency control panel inside the former interlocking tower, is still a searchlight and pole line plant with no new signals in evidence.

Hangin in there.

Of course Sacramento lost its searchlights with the station improvement project.

Moving on over the Donner Pass UP is in the process of converting the double track ABS segment on the western slope into CTC.

On the pass itself past SWITCH 9 the three searchlight signal bridges at MP 172, 174 and 176 are being replaced by a pair of Darth gantries.

Going, going...

The searchlights at SHED are safe for now as are the SP color lights between there and the next Searchlit interlocking at WEST NORDEN.  However between there and TRUCKEE all the searchlights have been removed, including several two track gantries on the horseshoe curve.  A few have been left in place with signals turned or removed. :-(

Zombified.

Beyond Truckee all the "reverse" ABS signaling is also being prepared to CTC conversion.

Catch it while you can.

Out on the Reno sub the entire western half that is still searchlit and pole lines is currently undergoing replacement.  This includes recently resignaled interlockings with new searchlights.

New signals to be replaced.

The western section with SP signals is completely untouched, but the area around Winnemucca had also lost its searchlights and new signals were going in at WESO and presumably the DT ABS Elko sub as well.

Gone.

Kinda good news in Utah where the two track DRG&W main east of Helper has not had the resignaling project begin and the new signals installed between Helper and Grand Junction have only been cut in on the far western end.

Two years and still not in service.

The searchlights in the Grand Junction terminal have also been replaced including the repeaters on the passenger siding.

Now Amtrak trains can be delayed in block.

The DRG&W signals between Grand Junction and Glennwood have also been replaced.

On the Moffat Tunnel sub many of the signals have already been replaced, but a clump of surviving searchlights hang on in the Byers Canyon and Granby area.

Still there!

Even New Signals Aren't Safe

I know I've brought this up before, but one of the most disturbing trends over the last 10 years is how railroads are unwilling to simply preserve signal or signaling hardware that still has many decades left on the clock simply because it is cheaper to build new than splice into old  The latest, although not all to unexpected victim of this trend is the JD Tower interlocking complex in Hyattsville, MD on the CSX Capitol Sub.  As profiled on the JD Tower website the current B&O CPL signals were installed in 1992 when the original tower was closed.  However only 20 years later those signals are on the chopping block just like other new-build CPLs like the ones at CARROLL and DORSEY and numerous other locations.  Looks like its time to plan another expedition to catch some classic signaling before it bites the dust.  :-(

Brand new in 92

Here we see evidence of the ongoing resignaling on the former Southern RR line near Chattanooga with some really strange ancient searchlights on a functional, yet admittedly rusting beam gantry.  I guess I'm not surprised when this sort of signal is replaced by a pair of cheapo masts...

But at the other end of the interlocking is a brand new tubular signal gantry with Safetran seashell signal modules, same as the newer Darth Vaders use also slated for replacement.  Really?

To pick on NS some more we have an update from BURKE interlocking which apparently is being completely re-signaled.  In this case NS actually replaced the heads of the on the southbound Southern style signal bridge with Darth Vaders, but is now throwing the whole thing out for a cantilever.  There were times when a modification such as that would save a bit of historic signaling for decades more, but not apparently any more.

Ok, you get the point, but since this is a new post no point stopping there.  I have the sad duty to anounce that after over a year of being "on notice" the remaining CBQ searchlight signals on the 3-track Aurora racetrack away from the Eola yard complex have finally been replaced.  I was lucky enough to bag two sets of photos of these signals on the California Zephyr in 2012 and 2013, both coming and going.

Finally if you were looking for a railroad that isn't installing Darth Vaders look no further than SEPTA which recently installed new target color lights at its redone FORD interlocking as part of the R6 Norristown Line CTC project.  Here we catch the new three headed mast signal, replacing the previous dwarf stack, displaying Medium Approach the old fashioned way to an approach NS freight off the Morrisville Line.