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.

 

 

 

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

All Askew - Remaining Users of Offset Auto Signals

Back in the day, setting the heads of a multi-headed signal on opposite sides of the mast was an effective way as marking a signal as an automatic.  Although the presence of a number plate was an accepted and inexpensive way of doing the same thing, reflector technology wasn't as advanced as it is today.  Some railroads even went as far as placing markers on single headed automatics simply to make them more visually distinctive.

However as time went on this practice, like many, was seen as a luxury that did little for safety.  Since the 1980's most railroads have placed their signal head in line, regardless of automatic status.  However there are still a few that have stuck with the old ways.

Canadian National / Canadian Pacific

The CROR signal ruleset is perhaps the more strict when it comes to offset head placement as it is the only option to designate a signal as automatic as number plates can also appear on absolute signals (on absolute signals plates are used to denote the lever number).  On single head signals left hand placement is used to provide the distinction in addition to absolute signals always having two or more heads.

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell this policy does not apply to CN and CP's United States operations, although some vestiges exist like these somewhat modern unilens signals on the former D&H.

Flordia East Coast

Regional operators often become museums of signaling practice and in this regard the FEC has preserved the practice of offset head placement.  The FEC also uses a robust cab signaling system so this is even more interesting single they could probably eliminate waysides entirely if they wanted to.

Former Boston and Maine (Guilford Rail System / MBTA)

Public transport agencies are another place where traditional signaling practices can live on and combined with a regional freight operator we have the former Boston and Main system as our final holdout on the use of offset signal heads. Some of the newer heads are a bit less offset than others, but it's clearly still a thing.

Well that's all the ones I am aware of at this point.  There are probably others (I'm omitting the Reading and Northern cause that's somewhat of a special case). Please let me know if you know of any that I have missed.

Canadian Pacific Mystery N-Lamps

For those of you who remember the case of the CP Mystery Searchlights, it seems that Canadian Pacific has been at it again, this time with mystery single unit traffic light style signals similar to US&S N types.  I first spotted these in photos about 2 years ago, at first thinking that they were recycling old US&S N-type signals, but then noticing the much more generic appearance.  Well I finally managed to get up close and personal with a few that were being installed up at CPF-483 in Mohawk, NY and, well, I don't know much more than I already did.

 They share the fully oval shape of the US&S type N, but the flat, rear panel of the GRS style traffic light.  The signals were not clearly labeled or branded so I could not tell who was responsible for their construction.

The faux N-types were being installed in mixed company with more typical Safetran clamshell type modular color light, Darth Vader configured signals.  Although a welcome break from the monotony of the Safetran monopoly, they are horribly generic to the point of not even having a knock off brand name or symbol or whatever.  If anybody can shed some light on this mystery please leave something in the comments.

It makes me thing.  With former CP hatchet man Hunter Harrison now at CSX, I wonder if he'll bring some creative cuts to the signal budget.  Of course he might have been the one to shift CP from their home grown searchlights and plunge them into the arms of Darth :-(

Signaling News Update

Well its time again for some signaling updates and like usual its all bad news.  First of all at CARROLL interlocking the only complete B&O CPL anywhere in the world was removed and replaced by a cantilever with a pair of full CSX Darth Vader heads so the world is officially a less interesting and diverse place.

Up on the Chicago Line the CSX resignaling has reached the railfan hotspot at CP-215 in Little Falls, NY.

And lastly, on the former D&H main line the re-signaling there has hit the Tunnel Hill area between Albany and Binghampton with the expectation being that bland LED Darth Vaders will replace the classic D&H searchlights.  Where said searchlights have already been refreshed the outcome remains to be seen.

Updates: BNSF and D&H, Bad News All Around

Leading off, if you remember a few days ago I posted that Canadian Pacific had abandoned its policy of replacing old three head searchlight stacks on its former D&H main line with similar Unilens units and instead decided to abandon all sense of style and just go with Darth Vader types.  Well it appears that what was sighted at CPC-100 was not an isolated replacement, but instead part of a whole line re-signaling that has now reached the signals at CPC-37, including the widely photographed D&H bracket just north of the Saratoga Springs Amtrak Station. 

So much for the authenticity of the Saratoga and North Creek tourist operation.  Anyway, the re-signaling is going to spare the recently re-signaled plants like CPC-36 and CPC-481, concentrating on the relay logic plants in order to aid PTC adoption.  (See why the signal vendors were lobbing so hard for this?  Cost effective "overlay" my ass!)  The fate of the plants that recently had signals replaced without back end improvements remain to be seen.  What is even more unfortunate is that CP is piling cheap upon cheap and installing signals unable to display bottom yellow Restricting indications for many of the routes.  At least CSX gets some credit for rectifying this oversight on the former Seaboard system interlocking plants it is "upgrading."

The saving grace for the former D&H main is that all of the automatic signals have already been replaced with searchlights of the Unilens type and modern relay and track circuiting equipment.  Moreover the line has one passing siding per 20 route miles, instead of the usual 7-10 so a majority of the signals will stay Searchlit.  Still, its a shame that CP couldn't stick to its guns and continue providing the D&H with a higher quality signaling experience, even if that meant LED searchlights (which are not being given a fair shake IMHO). 

Second update comes on former CB&Q Main Line where pole-line serviced searchlights mounted mostly on two track gantries have been under attack for the last couple of years.  While that replacement was long in coming, it appears that the Altoona of the CBQ is also facing extinction with the A, B and C plants at Galesburg now under a death watch despite lack of pole line feed.  What a waste.  Good news here is I'm scheduled on a Zephyr trip and should be able to document them in time.

Looks Like Someone Retired on the Old D&H

 Until now the former D&H division of Canadian Pacific that runs from Montreal to Scranton clearly had a few old hands buzzing about in the signal department as whenever it became necessary to replace aging searchlight block signals with something more modern, the go to signal was not one of those horrible Darth Vaders, but solid state Unilens style searchlights. The same went for interlockings with modern searchlights mounted on modern gantries. Well whomever that was appeared to have retired because on the latest re-signaling project going on at Ford Edward, NY those standard of standard Vadars were replacing the last bit of D&H charm.  Even worse they weren't even sticking to the D&H practice of using three heads on all absolute signals.

Boo you CP, way to ruin another railroad.

Good News For a Change - New Searchlights at XO Tower

 For those of you down about the credit downgrade and the generally bum economy I finally have some good news to report.  The NS/Guilford Rail System joint venture that links the Hudson Valley and the Atlantic port at Boston, MA and Portland, ME over the formerly 100% GRS Freight Main Line has begun upgrades to the massive weed covered field west of Mechanicville, NY that used to be a major interchange yard between the old Delaware and Hudson and Boston and Main systems.  Both the D&H (now part of CP) and B&M (now part of Guilford) were and are strong supporters of searchlight style signals with neither road having migrated to use of the dreaded Darth Vader lamps.  While the D&H has switched to Safetran Unilens type signals, Guilford has continued to install General Railway Signal model SA searchlight signals, except where funding and planning is from an external source like the Downeaster route or the MBTA.


Anyway I came across this picture on Railpictures.net showing some new signals at CPF-467, the far west end of the Guilford freight main line.  This might be more familiar to some as XO tower, as it sports a preserved New York Central interlocking tower from the line to Albany that also used to tie in there (which now is also part of CP Rail).  The former yard at Mechanicville is going to be converted into brand new intermodal terminal so some interlocking work at either end was inevitable and in this case a new CPF-468 will replace CPF-467.  As you can see not only do we have new searchlights appearing on brand new shiny masts, but the heads themselves are freshly painted silver in back and black on the front.  Bravo Guilford for sticking with tradition.

Unfortunately this will not be a +1 as the existing CPF-467 already sports a bunch of searchlight masts, however not only will this increase their number and quality, but also lock them in for at least the next 4 decades.

UPDATE!

I found a recent YouTube video tour of both the new CPF-468 and its opposite CPF-470 at the other end of the yard.  CPF-468 will not only have the two masts shown in the picture, but an additional eastbound searchlight mast and an additional eastbound tubular aluminum cantilever with two searchlight signals on it (!).  So that is a +2 on three-head searchlight signals at CPL-468 and the new interlocking at CPF-470 will bring +1 to the searchlight equipped interlocking total and at least +3 to the total of number of discrete searchlight signals.