Signals of the Reading and Northern Lehigh Line

Pennsylvania's Wyoming Valley, today home to the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, was the West Texas or Saudi Arabia of the 19th century due to its massive reserves of Anthracite coal. A premium product demanding premium prices, anthracite coal was the way that industrializing America kept warm in the water months after the landscape had been stripped bare of trees for firewood. This is how the Wyoming Valley could fund the operations of three major railroads (the Lehigh Valley, Central RR of NJ and Delaware Lackawanna and Western) and similarly explain why those railroads seemed to evaporate without a trace when the world moved on to oil and natural gas.

Perhaps nothing optimized the uniquely American phenomena of direct railroad competition like the LVRR and CNJ, whose main lines were both functionally and in some places literally parallel. In the 1960's the anthracite collapse was well under way and a decade before Conrail, the CNJ had decided to throw in the towel and allow the LVRR to consolidate its operations to Scranton. North of its large yard in Lehighton, PA, the LVRR was able to stitch together a hybrid route, using better aligned portions of the CNJ over the Pocono mountain summit between White Haven and Laurel Run. Later, Conrail would choose to use the CNJ main line between Lehighton and Allentown creating a Frankenstein's monster "Lehigh Line" between NYC, Scranton and NY's Southern Tier. As the region's industry continued to shift, Conrail shoveled off the Lehigh Line north of Lehighton to the upstart Reading and Northern in the 1990's.

All this history is necessary to understand why the signaling on the Lehigh Line portion of the Reading and Northern's main line between Reading and Pittston, looks the way it does. Recently made visible by the series of R&N Iron Horse Rambles and its regular weekend Lehigh Gorge excursion service, the current signaling on the upper Lehigh Line reflect its unique history. In the 2024/2025 time frame I was able to gather enough content to put together a signaling guide covering the old Lehigh Line between Mauch Chunk and Pittston.

We begin at R&N's COAL interlocking, which was built new by them to support the R&N's "Main Line" concept between Reading and Pittston, but also its Lehigh Gorge tourist operations. Using a salvaged lattice cantilever mast, COAL connects what was the old CNJ route to the former LVRR route at the south end of the Lehigh Gorge.

Into the 2000's, Conrail (later NS) owned and operated this portion of the Lehigh Line as a double track Rule 251 main line. Traffic was so light that the southbound track was used bi-directionally with northbound trains needing to get a Form D, while the southbound track had its signal system taken out of service and used for R&M excursions and freights. NS moved first to convert the southbound track to Rule 261 (CTC) operation, with the R&N converting the former northbound track to Rule 261 in the late 2010's. Each track has a single ABS signal location in this line segment, NS at LVRR milepost 126 and the R&N's at its own milepost 124.

A quick note on Mileposts. In the Conrail era the Lehigh Line would alternately use legacy mileposts from the CNJ, LVRR and LVRR Mountain Cutoff. The Reading and Northern switched this to its own mileposts that continues the Reading Company chaining from the old Reading Terminal.  Somehow this has managed to match up with the legacy CNJ mileposts within a few tenths, but LVRR mileposts are off by several miles. I will be using the R&N mileposts for most of this article.
 

CP-M&H JCT marked the transition between double track ABS and single track CTC through the Lehigh Gorge and, starting in the 1990's, the start of the Reading and Northern lease. CP-M&H JCT was re-signaled by Conrail around the time of the lease and has the typical Conrail hallmarks of a CorTen steel relay hut and color tri-light signals. What sets CP-M&H JCT apart is the use of "budget" L&W brand modular signals in the tri-lights. It's entirely possible that the lease arrangement had Conrail responsible for some portion of the signaling system (the interlockings still appear in CR's 1997 signal charts) resulting in signaling that looked Conrail, but with different hardware.

When the R&N lease came into force the arrangement still created a gap in the R&N's conceptual Main Line between Mauch Chunk and CP-M&H JCT where they had to run under Conrail rules and dispatching. When NS finally transferred the northbound track to the R&N in the mid-2000's, they were so thrilled to be in total control that they built a new interlocking back-to-back with CP-M&H JCT named INDEPENDENCE.

The mast is for CP-M&H JCT and the dwarf for INDEPENDENCE.

CP-M&H JCT wasn't an isolated re-signaling as it appears that all of the signaling in the Lehigh Gorge proper was replaced around the time of the lease. This was possibly due to the desire to replace any pole line based system due to the inaccessible nature of the right of way in the Lehigh  Gorge. The new Conrail style signaling again reflected the economic decline of the region with a shift to extra long 3-4 mile signal blocks versus the standard 1-2 mile length. ABS signal locations in the gorge are at R&N milepost 130, 133/134 and 138. The 133/134 location split the Jeddo tunnel for visibility reasons.

134S from behind

It appears that the pole line was retained to supply 440v power to the signal locations, however it is unclear if this supply is still in service.

The end of the 90's re-signaling is at the controlled holdout signal CP-WHITE-HAVEN, which is just a few miles shy of the alignment change from LVRR to CNJ. I do not currently know the status of the CNJ main north of Lehighton prior to 1965, but the re-signaling boundary is surely related to the relative utility of the CNJ signaling versus the LVRR signaling. One possibility could be a post-war investment in CTC by the CNJ to cut costs that exceeded the standard of whatever the LVRR was up to at the same time. 

Inside the US&S A-5 Switch-Point Machine

This blog devotes a lot of coverage to the plight of the pneumatic switch-point machine and its long decline since its heyday between 1930 and 1955, but apart from the ka-chug--woosh sound, what makes them distinctive? Well its actually their simplicity compared to their electric counterparts and its that simplicity that made them so competitive with electric point machines despite the overhead of making and distributing compressed air. 

Above we see a Union Switch and Signal model A-5 pneumatic point machine. (An earlier A-1 model also existed and you can tell them in photos because the housing looks like a miniature Quonset hut.) At one end we see the double acting air piston, at the other we see a connection for the control circuits and a blind tube without an air piston, and in the middle we have a fairly plain looking box.

Next lets quickly go over a standard power operated switch layout using some casual terminology. Moving away from the camera we have a stretcher bar that provides rigidity. Next is the throw mechanism that transmits force from the point machine to the points via a rod. This uses a slack coupling so the point mechanism can begin to move and break the static friction. Finally we have the detection rods that accurately detect if the points are hard against the stock rail and communicate that state to the signaling system.

Exposed US&S A-5 pneumatic point machine.

The mechanism can be set up for operation from either side.

Here we see a naked A-5 without its cover on showing off the simplicity of the action. The air piston connects to an action bar which runs through a crank mechanism that transmits force to the point rodding and also its positional state to the circuit controller.

The crank (left) and circuit controller (right).

The coupling between the air piston and the action bar.

The air piston, these came in 3 inch and 5 inch diameter models.

The throw rod couples to the crank assembly. In the photo below this connection is the bolt hole on the stubby arm below the pivot pin. The detection rods sit under the circuit controller have the golden coated nuts on them.

The circuit controller pulls double duty, detecting both the position of the points for the signaling system and also the position of the action bar / air piston, which is sent to the style CP air value unit to cut the flow of air and dump the pressure in the piston. We can see the hind end of the action bar that is given room to push outward under the covering.

The upper two rods provide the actual point detection while I believe the lower rod that extends through the mechanism provides a physical locking function in conjunction with the action bar. When this technology was new that rod would serve the role of the familiar facing point lock.

The goal of the mechanism is to lock the switch point securely against the stock rail even when air pressure in the cylinder has been exhausted, but allow smooth movement of the action bar and points when air is admitted to move the piston. A similar concept is present in firearms where the bolt is locked against moving rearward by the force of gases in the chamber, but is able to be easily unlocked via motion in a different axis.

While I have personally captured video of an A-5 point machine performing a throw cycle, it only showed the points moving along with the admittedly cool sound. However I recently came across a different video from a UK rail museum that has their own flavor of a US&S A-series set up for live demonstrations. Still popular on the London Underground, these instances are commonly used without the protective cover which allows visitors to actually see how the mechanism functions. This flavor of Westinghouse point machine is intended to be set between the rails and has the throw rods moving through the mechanism. The extra circuit controller on the back provides feedback to the pneumatic value.

 

MARION (AC) Tower's Missing CTC Machine

A couple years ago the folks at the Railroad Media Archive Youtube Channel posted a video covering the last months of Conrail's MARION (formerly AC) tower in Marion, OH.  Originally built by the Erie Railroad in 1902 and located at the parallel crossing of the CSX Toledo Sub and NS Sandusky Branch with the Conrail Indianapolis Line, the video shows off the tower's GRS/Taylor Model 2 interlocking machine with its proto-pistol grip type levers. At the time, MARION's operator only had control of the local interlocking, which seemed reasonable considering that they had to deal with train movements on separate railroads. However a new video from Railroad Media Archive shows a whole other side to operations at MARION. Sometime after the closure of the Eire main line around 1978, MARION gained CTC control of the Indianapolis Line between Belelfonte and Galleon (CP-BURT) with a 80's "Traffic Master"-style CTC panel and interface situated behind the operator's desk controlled by a compact interface of action keys and a numeric keypad.

In the posted video full attention is given to this CTC panel, with MARION's legendary lever frame barely making an appearance. We watch freight trains slowly cross MATION's territory while the operator discusses his duties and lines routes while text annotations appear in the video's side bars. It is mentioned that the tower would be losing its CTC territory by the end of the year (1989). 

The video captures that fleeting period between classic towers and train order offices, and modern point and click computer dispatch interfaces. By the time MARION was fully closed in 1995, all traces of its 1980's CTC territory had been removed. 

Clear to Next Interlocking Rule 280a Displayed at CP-SOLOMON (EAST PITT)

In NORAC-aligned cab signal territory where wayside intermediate signals are not provided, Rule 280a, "Clear to Next Interlocking", allows trains without cab signals to proceed under signal indication instead of needing a track warrant or moving at Restricted speed. Related to the old concept of manual block clear, Rule 280a consists of a flashing lunar white light under the letter 'C' adjacent to a wayside controlled signal. These are normally pretty hard to catch in the wild because they are intended to be used to remedy en-route cab signal failures which are both rare and impossible to predict. For a time it was policy for Norfolk Southern dispatchers to run some Amtrak trains under absolute block protection and I was informed that some would display the  Rule 280a "C Lamp" where available, but I never managed to observe this practice for myself. 

That being said I did stumble upon a scheduled use of Rule 280a that one can catch if they are ever in the Pittsburgh area. After arriving at its Pittsburgh terminus, Amtrak Pennsylvanian Train 43 must reverse about 5 miles to CP-HOME where the closest turning wye is located. Because the rear coach lacks cab signal capability, the "C lamp" is displayed in along side the interlocking signal at CP-PITT, CP-EAST PITT (aka CP-SOLOMON), CP-BLOOM (if necessary) and depending on the order of the wye move, CP-HOME. 

Somewhat ironically the first three interlockings, CP-PITT, CP-EAST PITT and CP-BLOOM, are all back-to-back with no code change points between them. NS could have designated that track segment as normal Rule 261 without the "C" lamps, but their policy followed that of Conrail to provide the "C" even where it is not necessary. (Amtrak had chosen to do the opposite up until about 2010).

Anyway, here we see the 2E mast signal governing track #1 eastbound at CP-SOLOMON (EAST PITT) on the former Conrail Pittsburgh Line displaying Rule 280a in conjunction with a Medium Clear indication reverse move of Amtrak's westbound Pennsylvanian Train 43. CP-EAST PITT is only about half a mile from CP-BLOOM and directly adjacent to office parking making it and ideal spot to Rule 280a in the wild. 

I got this video from the east end of CP-PITT, which a shorter walk from downtown. About 30 minutes after its outbound passage, Train 43 will get more more "C" lamps displayed for a second long reverse move back into Pittsburgh Penn Station however the 2W signal at CP-PITT will display a Restricting into the station track without the "C" indication.

CSX Continues to Attack the Big Four

Turns out that the River Line isn't the only part of Conrail territory currently under attack by CSX signaling crews as I just saw that CSX had replaced the 1990's Conrail vintage signals at CP-37 on the former Indianapolis Line in Wellington, Ohio. This portion of the line had been re-signaled late in the Conrail era and could otherwise be considered "modern" instead of a NY Central legacy holdover. The three track eastbound signal bridge could be considered a local railfan landmark.

The westbound cantilever was likewise replaced. The portion of the Indy Line between Berea and Greenwich is notable for carrying bulk of CSX traffic from the former Conrail territory in NY State before it switches onto the old B&O route to Chicago via Willard. 

To be determined if this is a wide area project or more hen pecking. The signal aspects being Conrail or Seaboard will be a hint. Other signals south of Greenwitch, like these NYC-looking tri lights at CP-189 in Ansonia, OH, are also being replaced.

Unfortunately this is not a part of the country that I have good access to so hopefully some locals are getting all the necessary pictures.

Harrisburg Power Office Is Now Mostly Up and Running

When we last checked in on the Harrisburg Power Director's office about a year ago in 2024, the Big Board had been fully illuminated and most of the Westinghouse "Visicode" SCADA equipment had been reactivated with the help of modern technology simulating the presence of the field equipment like substations and such. However, because the 1930's PRR electrification projects had been funded with depression era WPA loans, the PRR had to spread the wealth and about half the office used GE "Code Selector" hardware that was more complex in operation and not as well documented. 

Well between March and September 2024, members of the Harrisburg Chapter NRHS managed to locate the documentation for the GE gear (it was sitting on a storage shelf) and were then able to restore most of the GE panels to operation, which is especially useful that represents the bulk of what was still operational on the old PRR Main Line up through 2013. The GE gear brings the added fun of step switches being used to store digits instead of all-relay registers for the Westinghouse part of the office.

As if step-switches weren't enough, between September 2024 and March 2025, the team also reconnected the alarm lamps and bell which further adds to the effect.

Still to be addressed are the metering circuits along with programmed simulation elements that would allow visitors to participate in directing flows of 25hz power to virtual train movements. Still, the Harrisburg power office  is mostly complete in terms of being "a thing that functions as it once did" so watch out for planned opening dates as the chapter is still trying to figure out how to manage regular hours.

Another One I Missed: Conrail BRIDGE Tower Closed and Demolished

Up through 2019 Detroit featured what I would like to call the Iron Triangle of staffed interlocking towers, DELRAY, NS BRIDGE and (Conrail) BRIDGE. As you might guess the latter two involve movable bridges over the River Rouge. In November 2020 I covered the closure of DELRAY tower as the last active long lever interlocking machine in North America, however I was then unaware that Detroit's iron triangle had already been broken with the closure of Conrail BRIDGE tower in late 2019. I'll blame the COVID era for it taking 6 years for me to notice the unfortunate change in circumstances, but I am going to post about it nevertheless so people don't have to sort through Facebook groups to learn what happened.

Conrail's BRIDGE tower benefited from a perfect storm of circumstances that saw it last well into the 21st century as an active block and interlocking station. First it was attached to a movable bridge, a thing that until recently required human presence, and second, it was part of Conrail Shared Assets, which is a 50/50 joint venture between NS and CSX creating a "Port Authority" type situation where slight inefficiencies can persist. Moreover, when FN tower in Trenton, MI closed around 2003, the operator at BRIDGE was given control of that territory becoming a mini-dispatcher of the Conrail SAO Detroit Line. This situation is similar to the operator at UPPER BAY tower in Conrail SAO's New Jersey division being assigned additional interlockings over the last 20 years or the CSX/Conrail operator at the Livingston Avenue Bridge acting as a mini-dispatcher for the Amtrak Albany Terminal (until Amtrak re-signaled the area around 2018).

BRIDGE had previously survived one brush with re-signaling around the time of the Conrail split where its S&F lever frame was replaced by a more modern unit function type panel. The efficiency movement finally caught up with BRIDGE in late 2019 with the tower being closed and then demolished between August 2019 and November 2020. The BRIDGE drawbridge was likely being placed under remote control as was the style with several other Conrail SAO operated movable spans at as of late. With DELRAY closing in 2020, this left NS BRIDGE, aka NS ROUGE BRIDGE aka ECOURSE JCT as the last remaining staffed traditional tower in the Detroit area (although in theory the drawbridges connecting Zug Island to the mainland also count as towers).

While not as iconic or as accessible as DELRAY, BRIDGE was still the second best example of an interlocking in the Detroit metro area. It's another sad loss in a city that hosted diverse mix of active and disused towers well into the 1990's. 

The River Line's Last Conrail Signals - Part 1

Over the years I have reported on the CSX re-signaling efforts on the former Conrail River Line along the west side of the Hudson River. These efforts go back to the early 2000's as CSX looked to increase capacity on the route after its takeover and culminated in the recent re-signaling of CP-SK in Selkirk, NY.  CP-SK was able to hold out as long as it did because it was itself completely re-signaled by Conrail immediately before the CSX/NS split, dropping the need for capital improvement way down on the list. However for those Hudson Valley Conrail fans looking to get signaling fix, two small islands of Conrail era signaling remains. 

Back in the 1960's, the old West Shore route was given a healthy dose of efficiency by the innovators at the  New York Central, changing a double track line into a single track with passing sidings spaced every 10 miles. This budget CTC system featured single block, restricted speed passing sidings about every 10 miles and fit in with the decline in northeast freight traffic, especially after the Penn Central and Conrail was able to divert traffic away from the former NY Central main line and the West Shore Route. However, as intermodal traffic picked up in the 1990s, Conrail found its River Line under capacity as every pass would require a painfully slow restricted speed pull-in.  Therefore it began to signal the sidings and modify the old New York Central small target searchlight signals to support Medium speed diverging routes, generally working south to north.

Just prior to the CSX takeover in 1999, Conrail was largely finished with this project, however for whatever reason the old passing siding between CP-104 and CP-106 was found to be lacking and the siding was expended a little over a mile to the south to a new CP-102 with CP-106 also being completely rebuilt. In the same project,  the siding at the southern end of the line from CP-22 to CP-24 was extended to a new CP-26. In a manner similar to CP-SK, CSX put replacing both these patches of late model Conrail signaling low down on the priority list and today these two sidings and some adjacent intermediate signals are the only remaining Conrail signals on the River Line. Here in Part 1 I will cover the northern island with CP-104, CP-106 and the intermediate at milepost 100.

With CP-106 directly adjacent to US 9W just south of Catskill, NY and CP-102 behind the quaint West Camp, NY post office, both locations are generally accessible and equipped with two Conrail target type color light masts, a 3-lamp Safetran dwarf stack, CorTen weathering steel relay huts and those iconic blue station signs.

The the 1008/1009 automatic signal, distant to CP-102, is just south of the Malden Turnpike grade crossing at River Line milepost 102 and also pretty easily accessible. This one makes use of premium US&S target type color light signals as opposed to the Safetran signals at the two interlockings.

In a future Part 2 I'll throw up some photos of CP-22 and CP-26 the next time I find myself driving to Upstate NY or New England. It's highly likely that CSX will also replace all these signals whenever some manager happens to notice the non-conformity. Moreover, without their presence there would not be much stopping CSX from a wholesale change in signal rules on the River Line from Conrail to Seaboard, so get out there and get your photos of R/*Y* Medium Approach while you still can. 

New Signals at IVANHOE

Just saw this pic of new signals going up at IVANHOE crossing on the former Conrail Porter Branch. Built as the Michigan Central's main line into Chicago, these are likely the mast Michigan Central style small target searchlights on the route along with an equally rare bracket mast so if you happen to be in the area get your but in gear and get out there to get some photos.

 IVANHOE is where the Porter Branch crosses the EJE belt line, now owned by CN. It once supported a well known interlocking tower that was closed and demolished in the 1990's.

Owned by CSX, but previously used as a back door into Chicago from the Conrail Chicago Line, now owned by NS, the Porter Branch has been in a bit of a limbo since the Conrail split of 1999 with a lot of the traffic being from other railroads.  Many of its interlockings are diamond crossings and have already been re-signaled, but the Branch still retained NYC vintage GRS style G block and interlocking signals on the eastern end of the line including CP-243 as of fall 2024.

I had the privilege of riding this line in the fall of 2006 on an Amtrak detouring around a serious Chicago Line derailment where I also got to see the since closed CALUMET tower. 

 
Anyway, I guess we'll have to wait and see if this is the beginning of end of interesting signaling on the porter Branch or just another chapter in a long slow decline.