Toronto Terminal Railway Update

The long running project by multiple parties to re-signal the Toronto Terminal Railway, aka Union Station Rail Corridor in Canada is showing progress in the form of new signal bridges going up between SCOTT ST and CHERRY ST interlocking towers. Those, along with JOHN ST comprised the signaling control infrastructure that went in with Toronto Union Station in 1927. The large GRS supplied plant made use of Model 5B pistol grip type interlocking machines in the style of Buffalo Central Station. 

SCOTT ST Tower

JOHN ST Tower

 While the 1927 dwarf searchlights are still in place it is unclear what exactly will replace them. The new signal gantries are equipped with LED searchlights so my assumption is that there will be some manner of LED dwarfs in the station, but there are still a number of possible configurations and vendors.

You can see in the photos below the new signal bridges. You can also see that the GRA Model 5A point machines have been replaced by a US&S M3 derivative.

We have seen examples of these new LED searchlights elsewhere on Canadian railroads.



Google Street View is also fairly useful here with the new giant signal bridges being equipped with 3-head high signals, which is on par with Canadian practice. If they will display anything better than slow speed indications is another question.

 Another interesting tidbit is that the CHERRY ST tower got a full rehab in 2021.

Anyway if you are Canadian it might be a good idea to get down to Union Station and get as many photos of the old interlocking plant as possible. 

The NS Bridge Line PTC Adventure

For years concerns of PTC interoperability drove all manner of decision making at freight and passenger railroads. For example's CSX decision to isolate itself from SEPTA's Regional Rail network, NICTD choosing not using the cab signal codes present on its line because Metra Electric wanted to use the freight-centric ETMS and MARC dumping ACSES for reasons. However one common thread is that when push comes to shove, equipping locomotives with multiple PTC systems is not a big deal (although it certainly isn't free).

Case in point are the SD60E locomotives that are always leading certain Norfolk Southern intermodal and manifest trains traveling on its New England Bridge Route between Harrisburg and Ayer, Mass. Between Harrisburg and Sunbury its on ETMS, then its off PTC entirely all the way to Binghamton. Then it on CP's ETMS all the way to Mechanicville, NY. From there it hits the former Boston and Main which is again PTC-less, but at Wachussetts it enters MBTA territory which uses Rule 562 cab signals and ACSES the last few miles to Ayer. These SD60E's are dual equipped for PTC and ACSES and although less needed on the NEC due to Amtrak dual-installing ETMS, they found a new home on this run. If I ever get close to one I'll see if I can get a photo of the antenna. 

Anyway, I heard that due to the shift of NS New Englande route internodal trains to the former Conrail Boston Line, this unique PTC situation will soon be obsolete as manifest freight might terminate at East Deerfield or something. If you're a fan of oddball leading equipment quirks, get your photos while you can.

NS D&H Re-Signaling Hits Afton, NY

In yet more fallout from the NS purchase of the former D&H Main Line, the re-signaling ax has hit the siding in Afton, NY after randomly bouncing around the line between Schenectady and Sunbury, PA. The real shame was that at least the north end of the siding, CPF-587, was on track to stay searchlit under CP ownership.

As of 2014 CPF-587 had two CP type GRA SA searchlight masts on the south end that replaced a D&H style searchlight bracket at some point between then and 2008.

CPF-587 also had a D&H vintage single track cantilever mast at the north end that remained untouched until the summer of 2022(!) when a Canadian Pacific in-house type searchlight mast went up.

It is unclear if this was part of a long term Canadian Pacific plan that NS management later nixed or just something NS scraped together as a temporary measure, but by fall 2023 both the out of service bracket and active cantilevers were gone with Darth Vaders and a new relay hut in place.

Although this was always to be expected and CP was in the midst of its own scattershot re-signaling of the D&H line. It is a major shame to lose one of the best preserved interlockings on the route in so short a space of time. Unfortunately the D&H route is well off the beaten path and I my best efforts have only allowed me to nibble at the ends. If you live in the I-88 corridor please do your best to get some photos at those interlockings that remain.

 

 

 

New Signals at RONDOUT Tower

Way back in 2005 METRA's RONDOUT Tower was closed, however because it was a relay plant with a US&S unit lever machine, RONDOUT interlocking was not actually re-signaled, just placed under the remote control of the Canadian Pacific dispatcher. This left the fairly new US&S H-2 searchlight signals in place to the delight of rail photographers everywhere. Well since about 2020 RONDOUT interlocking has been undergoing a slow motion reconfiguration to improve throughput to the plant and recent photos have shown LED traffic light style signals arriving on site along with tubular gantry hardware.

You can this work already underway (or completed) on the overhead with the Fox Lake branch running down as a third track, crossing the EJE on a new diamond and then merging in at the southern end of the plant. The whole former MILW C&M Sub has been undergoing a slow motion re-signal for the better part of a decade now, having gone from majority searchlit to having only a few searchlight locations near the Milwaukee end of the line. 

New Standard C&M Sub signals and station sign.

With the new signals on site replacement operations could take place at any time. If you are looking to get out to RONDOUT for photos be aware it is not only a work site, but also a very active maintenance base. However the northbound searchlight gantry is fairly accessible from local roads and the southbound gantry is visible from a grade crossing,

At least the tower has found good use to support all the various local operations...for now.

The Ongoing Saga of D&H Main Line Signaling

Last we checked in on the former D&H Main Line between Albany and Sunbury/Scranton, NS had reversed its decision to abandon all of the signaling below Binghamton. Since that time NS has made some alterations to the signaling it had inherited from Canadian Pacific and after a couple of field trips and Google street view surveys I can offer up a summary of the goings on. 

First we need to dive into the crazy quilt of signaling on the old Delaware and Hudson main line that is under the control of NS after purchasing the route from CP in order to access New Englande markets via the Boston and Maine route. I previously discussed the complex ownership history of the D&H in an article on D&H interlocking naming conventions.

The D&H currently exhibits 6 different generations of signals in the 200 or so odd miles between the NS Buffalo Line in Sunbury and the Boston and Main division post in Mechanicville, NY. They can be broken down as follows:

Generation 1 includes the legacy D&H with GRS SA searchlights, relay based logic and iron/steel mounting hardware including masts, cantilevers and brackets. 

Generation 2 covers the early CP era in the 1990's with SA searchlights and relay based logic using modern aluminum structures.

Generation 3 is the Unilens Era where CP applied a solid state upgrade of its older SA searchlights, primarily at automatic block locations as those present less of a testing burden than interlockings. I believe this began in the late 90's and overlapped with some Gen 2 signals being installed at interlockings. By 2005 end of life Gen 1 interlockings were being actively replaced by Gen 3.

Generation 4, the Mystery Searchlight era, is the shortest, taking place from around 2009 through 2011. This represented CP souring on its Unilens solution and falling back on older SA searchlight guts in a custom housing. 

Generation 5, starting around 2011, is the great CP resigning that have up on searchlights entirely looked to replace Gen 1 signals at relay-based interlockings north of Binghampton with typical Safetran CL-20 type Darth Vaders.

Generation 6 is modern day with NS type Darth Vaders going in to replace both Gen 1 signals select relay plants, but also to replace Gen 3 signals at newer 2005 vintage interlockings. On the remaining CP territory this included the use of mystery N-type signals in place of CL-20's.

So how do things stand today? The CP re-signaling of the 2010's zapped pretty much all of the old D&H signaling north of Binghamton except CPF-499 and the Afton siding beginning at CPF-587.

In fact CPF-587 is seeing NS replace its southbound D&H Cantilever with a leftover CP mystery searchlight!

South of Binghampton D&H signals are holding on at CPF-648, CPF-650 and CPF-679.

CPF-650, still original D&H.

However Gen 3 Unilens signals have been replaced by NS Darth Vaders at CPF-630, CPF-631, CPF-659, CPF-661, CPF-714 and CPF-716.

CPF-716, Unilens signals replaced by Vader masts in 2022.

Interestingly enough, the intact Unilens masts have been gathered at the NS Scranton yard and the adjacent CPF-673 and CPF-672 were in their Unilens (or SA?) configuration as of November 2022. Nevertheless, almost all of the intermediate signals remain as Unilens, with just a handful having been converted by CP to CL-20 Vaders.

It will be interesting to see what the future holds, especially if NS extends between Scranton and Sunbury or if the need to replace the Unilens intermediates prompts an expansion of cab signaling.

2022 Hudson Valley News

My 2022 road trip up the Hudson River valley uncovered several more newsworthy elements than I had encountered in 2021.  The first and foremost of these is that Amtrak has likely completed its refresh of signaling at Hudson Line interlockings with the anticipation of eventual Rule 562 operation.  Although no 'C lamps have been fitted, the Conrail era searchlight signals have been replaced by Safetran modules LED target signals.  At CP-103 these are in new masts at the same location and at CP-114 they have been mounted on the legacy tubular cantilever masts.  In 2021 footings for new signals were in place at CP-94, likely spelling the doom of the bracket mast there. I do not have information about the signals at CP-124 or CP-125.

CP-114

CP-103

At intermediate signal locations the searchlights are still in place and little/no work has been started to install solid state "signal indication point" huts.

In the Mechanicville, NY area, the last gasp of Canadian searchlights are still in place at CPF-470 and adjacent interlockings.  These use a custom housing to hold what are probably railroad-stock searchlight mechanisms.

I also noticed that the entrance signals to the former Boston and Main / Guilford Rail System Freight Main Line at CPF-467 was protected by GE branded signal heads that were a thing due to their takeover of Harmon Electronics. This is fitting given GE's presence in the area.

 

The former NY Central XO tower in Mechanicville has been taken over by the local Chamber of Commerce and someone is building a model railroad layout in the former opeator's level.

Finally I can confirm that the ancient searchlight mast on the former D&H Colonie Sub in Cohoes, NY has been replaced by a CP style Vader mast about a quarter mile to the north of the old location.

Well that's all the news from upstate.  Not great, but not terrible.

Stop vs Proceed - Telling the Difference

Where railroad signals are involved there are two schools of thought.  Should I stay or should I go?  Usually this is pretty clear cut, but where Red signals are involved sometimes one should kind of do both.  Back in the day in North America, there were long stretches of railroad that were literally out of all communication.  A minor failure of some kind could leave a train stranded with no means of proceeding for perhaps hours.  Therefore signals not protecting against a conflicting movement or other crash inducing hazard were defined as being permissive in that trains could pass them at slow speed and proceed until a more favorable signal indication was passed.  Of course with three standards colors (R,Y,G) and signal heads only capable of displaying 2 or 3 aspects, railroads needed to get creative in how they indicated which signals could be passed, and which could not.

The first solution was to use the color and shape of a semaphore blade to define the type of signal and the rules involved.  Absolute signals were painted red with a squared off end while distant signals were given a fishtail end and painted yellow.  When permissive automatics came on the scene the fishtail was inverted into a point with the yellow background and black band remaining.

Of course semaphore signals are only disable during conditions of daylight.  For the nighttime a marker light was applied below the main head.  Also popular on position light signals, marker lights were the common way to define an automatic in the position/semaphore systems. Although there were the occasional exception of using a marker to denote an absolute signal (I'm looking at you N&W), more often the markers were used to make absolute signals that could be switched to act like a permissive signal.

Alright, you have your marker, but what if you also have absolute signals with more than one head.  It's possible to mistake the marker for a lower absolute head in the darkness, even if the marker was smaller.  One solution would be to use a yellow or lunar marker, but back in the day railroads still wanted a distinction between Stop and Proceed and a rolling Restricting.  The solution was to offset the signal heads, using the relative position to convey the permissive meaning.

At this point someone realized that maybe they should just tell the crews that a signal was permissive.  In the United States a number of railroads, typically in the South, adopted the (P) board for "Permissive".

Canadian railroads, on the other hand, have gone with a [R] Board for Restricting.

Of course the easiest/cheapest solution was to simply use the milepost number plate, useful in defining the particular the signal location, to also indicate a permissive status.  Now milepost number plates have been around since the dawn of the automatic signal era with Hall Banjo,  so why the need for markers and offset heads?  Well reflector technology was pretty primitive up until the 1960's, either consisting of white paint with a bit of glass or glass cats eye jewels.  Film plastic reflectors was what gave the railroads assurance that the number plate would be distinguishable at sufficient distance at night (at least when they still cared about such things). 

 Of course one outlier from the whole number plate system is Canada where offset heads or [R] boards are used instead.  In fact, virtually all signals, absolute and permissive, come with a number plate denoting either the milepost or signal (lever) designation.

I'm sure for many of you this was pretty basic information, but these pages tend to come up in Google searches so its nice to have a comprehensive guide to the North American way of distinguishing permissive signals from absolute signals.  The same distinctions also apply overseas, but there most countries have more unified sets of signal rules.

Another Secret Stash of Signal and Tower Videos

It's always been interesting how few tower videos there are compared with like aircraft stuff where Youtube can not only provide videos of every approach, but also how to start up and steal most types of commercial airliner as well xD  I guess part of it was that much of the towers vanished before the smartphone revolution, but it's still interesting given how many fans are also railroaders and how it was clear since the 1980's that all the 1930's tech was going to vanish sooner rather than later. 

Sometimes it turns out that these sorts of videos may just be hiding in plain sight.  One such nondescript channel goes by the name of M. P. Hicks and contains all sorts of general VHS-quality railfan content from around the globe.  However Mr. Hicks also appears to have been a railroad dispatcher and was able to fenagle all sorts of cab rides and tower visits.  Here we see a 1990 video showing a Conrail run from Pavonia to Abrahms Yard via Arsenal.  Of course in 1990 this route had not yet been separated from Amtrak so SHORE, NORTH PHILADELPHIA, ZOO and ARSENAL towers were all manned and were controlling the movement.  Moreover, even the pure Conrail parts had vintage signaling and some closed towers were still standing, like NORRIS. 



In this video we have a METRA cab ride on the MILW-West line that ends with a visit to TOWER A-5.



In this video with no description and a completely non-rail related title, are embedded 7 minutes of footage showing the operation of an 80's vintage computerized dispatching system complete with a lamp based model board display!



Mr M. P. Hicks has scores of videos uploaded, but there isn't always a good way to find it without skimming through them all.  Of course some are explicitly labeled as cab rides like this one on the Chicago to Milwaukee MILW route that starts with a slow tour of the vintage CTC machine in the Chicago CP dispatch office.



Anyway, happy hunting and enjoy the ride :-)

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.

2019 Empire Corridor Trip Report

I have once again completed my annual trek to the heart of New York Central territory via Amtrak's Empire service.  The good news is that between the division post at CP-75 and the start of Rule 562 at the new CP-138 south of Albany, no additional re-signaling has taken place.  The double track project is complete to Schenectady and the new station there ha been completed along with the re-signaling of CP-159 and CP-160 which I reported in 2018.

While non-Darth Vader target signals with 'C' boards are a positive, the whole setup still feels a bit off with blinding LED signals and OSHA approved aluminum masts.  One addition is the brand new CP-149 that provides a mid-point crossover between CP-157 and CP-145.  ACSES transponders are also in place.

I also noticed that the CPO-1 on the old D&H Colonie Sub had been removed which is about time seeing as according to Google Street View that happened sometime around 2016.  For those of you who don't know this was the interlocking in the middle of I-787 in downtown Albany.  It was replaced by a new CPO-2 about a mile to the north.

Even the gantry was cut down.

I visited CP-SK at the east end of Selkirk yard and was able to confirm that it was still in it's late Conrail configuration with no signs of any impending re-signaling.  Some Conrail target masts have been replaced by CSX Darth Vader signals, but a slim majority are still of the classic touch.  A new CP-12 had been constructed immediately to the west of CP-SK since my last visit a good 10 years ago, but in an interesting twist Conrail signal rules appeared to still be in effect throughout with Seaboard rules starting at the west end of the yard complex.

R/R/Y is still Restricting at CP-SK

I might have issues getting back to the Capitol Region in the future, but I'm pretty satisfied with the coverage I was able to get over the last 14 or so years with the multiple re-signaling efforts.

Signs! Signs! Everywhere a Sign! - Eastern Class 1 Freight

Station signs are a uniform way of figuring out where you are on the railroad.  Sure mileposts work to, but important landmarks like stations and interlockings and block stations aren't always placed at whole mileposts.  Station signs aren't only a navigational aid, but in many cases a reminder device as many movement authorities are given between stations and if thew sign isn't obvious one is more likely to blow right by it. Of course every railroad is going to have it's own idea about what makes a good sign, some even have more than one.  Here in Part 1 we'll look at the eastern freight railroads, in Part 2 the western freight railroads and then in Parts 3 and 4 the eastern and western passenger railroads respectively.

Kicking things off,, Conrail use what I think is the most visually distinctive station sign in modern times using it's trademark blue and the Futura Bold font.  The signals were typically placed on either side of the main relay hut, although interlockings with two huts could support one each and of course special circumstances could lead to other mountings.  The standard signal was a reflective white lettering on a blue background.

However an alternate version existed that also contained the milepost.  This existed for a time in the late 80's and early 90's, but I'm not sure if ever fully replaced the regular signals. 

There was also this deluxe style sign with a white border and a different font that may have been a one off due to a rush order or something. .

Conrail used a slightly different sign for it's DCS block limits which was based on the PRR style of a vertical name surmounted red and yellow lamps..

Conrail's signage is still relevant today because after the split-up, Norfolk Southern decided to keep the style on all of the former Conrail territory (with a few exceptions early on).

Elsewhere, Norfolk Southern adopted the style of the Southern Railway with a green background and white lettering.  The signs are smaller than the Conrail variety and use a stick mount with one plate in each direction.  Some of these Southern style signs have appeared in Conrail territory, although the practice seems to have ended.

Southern era signs sometimes have a white border around the outside of the sign.

Moving on to CSX, CSX is a party pooper and doesn't really use station signs.  At interlockings it just stencils the interlocking name on the sides of the relay cabins.

 The policy applies even to new interlockings in Conrail territory. 

CSX used to use a Direct Traffic Control system with their own signage.  But DTC was largely replaced on CSX by DCS using mileposts.

The Guilford Rail System, currently known as Pan Am Railways, is known for painting some of it's rolling stock in a retro Pan Am inspired livery.  When it comes to station signs however, they can barely be bothered. 

A change in milepost prefixes has further degraded the artistic styling of the already bare bones signs. 

I have previously discussed interlocking names on the former Delaware and Hudson, and likewise, their interlocking signs reflect the period of Guilford ownership, although the association with Canadian Pacific did make things a little better.

The newly re-signaled interlockings have a more standard Canadian font, which I assume is bi-lingual in some manner.

Well that's all the Eastern freight railroads I have photos for.  Sorry Florida East Coast and Grand Trunk Western :-P