Small Changes at Western Ave

While out visiting METRA TOWER A-2 at Chicago's Western Ave for the first time in many years, I noticed that the US&S H-2 dwarf searchlight signals at the adjacent TOWER A-3 interlocking had been replaced by L&W LED searchlights with a small backing target. It is unclear if this took place in conjunction with the 2019 removal of legacy PRR position lights at TOWER A-2. TOWER A-3 is remote from a panel inside the staffed TOWER A-2 and the interlocking's other distinctive features including gantry mounted main line searchlights and A-5 pneumatic point machines had been left untouched. You can see the difference between the old H-2 searchlights and newer LED dwarfs below.

  


An interesting feature is that the 6L dwarf appears to illuminate only with a route is lines (or I assume upon the occupation of adjacent track circuits). This signal is placed after a train exits the main line, but before it is routed to a yard track. I managed to catch the 6L LED dwarf displaying a flashing red "Restricted Proceed" indication for a yard move, in conjunction with a lunar white Restricting aspect on the 10L gantry signal. (Note the 10L signal displays "3rd head Restricting" with a phantom center head.)



I assume that the H-2 yard dwarfs always displayed R stop or L Restricting and the LED units changed this to *R* Restricted Proceed as is the style today. I guess its cheaper to have an LED unit with just a single color of LED's, but I will point out that Union Pacific did choose to use lunar LED searchlights at the nearby KEDZIE interlocking.

METRA's 16TH ST Tower to Close, Following CY

I just got word that METRA's famed 16TH ST Interlocking tower at the triple crossing of the Alton (CNIC), Saint Charles Air Line and the Rock Island, is slated in close in early April. Built in 1901, the tower and its original Taylor Model 2 pistol grip type interlocking machine have been in continuous service since 1901 or 124 years! Unlike some other towers where the closure comes out of left field, this one has been telegraphed for some time. 16TH ST (and presumably its interlocking hardware) has been falling into increasing disrepair and I am honestly shocked it did not manage to catch fire or fall down on its own.

16TH ST in 2017, it looks worse now.

Cost cutting on the part of Canadian National, starting in 2019, have reduced the 12 diamond plant to just 4, as what had been a Y split of two double track main lines crossing another double track main line, was reduced to two single track lines crossing a double track line. It was clear for some time that once all the work was finished to rebuild the complex crossing to some sort of new standard, the tower would be closed.

Given the wooden tower's condition, its also pretty clear that the tower is beyond saving, even in situ, but I'd expect parts of the interlocking machine and model board to make their way into preservation similar to what we saw with CALUMET about a decade ago. Anyone looking to grab some photos during the final days in service can snag a view from the corner of 16th St and Clark.

In other bad news, the late model Chicago Northwestern CY tower has also been closed by Union Pacific as a downstream outcome of UP looking to transfer METRA commuter operations to METRA itself. The operator at CY had control of the local interlocking and much of the METRA UP-Northwest line, where Metra was the primary source of traffic. This was likely a way to better allocate the costs of dispatching the line. Run from a video display interface for years, control might end up in the METRA operation's center with staffing of the still open LAKE ST tower, also taken over by METRA.

Unlike 16TH ST, CY is of far more sturdy construction and will likely serve as an maintenance base for decades to come like its sibling KEDZIE tower on the UP-WEST line. With these two closures the Chicago area will be reduced to four traditional interlocking towers on main line railroads, LAKE ST (CNW), TOWER A-2 (Western Ave), TOWER B-17 and JB.  Three of these towers are on the METRA UP/CNW-West Line between the CNW Terminal and West Chicago with the fourth being on the Milwaukee West Line.

METRA Confronts Sticky Speeds

METRA recently announced that they were looking to raise speeds on its electric division from the current 65mph to 80 or even 90mph. Typically this is the sort of project that justified a 8 or 9 figure capital spend with concrete ties and brand new signaling. However this announcement explained that management simply looked at the facts on the ground and concluded there wasn't actually anything precluding those faster speeds. Apparently the entire operational management of METRA has assumed that the 65mph figure was a fundamental limitation of the current ABS/CTC block signaling distances that were laid out with the electrification programme in 1926. In reality those speeds and signaling distances were tied to the braking profiles of  Pullman-built heavy weight MU cars that were built for the "new" electrified service at the same time. Management had simply neglected to update its prior assumptions both time the IC/Metra Electric fleet was renewed.

To be fair to Metra, in 1972 a "stopping distance" related crash between heavyweight and Highliner stock killed 45 people probably made Illinois Central management less enthusiastic about making the line faster, especially when 1926 Pullman stock was still in South Shore Li8ne service. In 1983 when the last of the old cars were finally retired the IC Electric division was run under contract to the Chicago Regional Transportation District (later branded as Metra) with with Metra formally purchasing the line in 1987. The accident plus the delayed retirement of older equipment and topped by the contract operation and then change in ownership goes a long way to explain why the electric district speeds stayed unchanged through two equipment replacement cycles, however the problem of sticky speeds isn't unique to Metra and bedevils rail operations across the United States.

Back in the day railroad operating speeds were a somewhat nebulous concept. The number one limiting factor on how fast trains went was fast they could go. Often the timetables would only list restrictions with everything else left to the skill of the engineer because, except for a few crack passenger locomotive classes, in the age of steam trains just didn't go that fast (and the fastest trains had the most experienced crews). It was the 1948 ICC rule requiring ATS for speeds 80mph and higher that was the harbinger for the formalization of railroad speed limits that took place in the 1970's and 80's. Objective regulated standards replaced the judgement of railroad superintendents in areas of track geometry, signaling and, most recently, grade crossing warning time. Railroads tended to get a bit of pass on what was already in the rulebook or in service so they were ok as long as they didn't try to make anything faster. 

This is now we have things like the old RF&P being a 70mph railroad while the adjacent "A-Line" is an 80mph railroad despite both being run by CSX to approximately the same standards. Raising those speeds require expensive consultants to dot all the i's and maintainer hours to adjust all the grade crossing equipment, all to say a few minutes for trains the freight owner doesn't run. Passenger operators like METRA are also not immune as the inevitable grade crossing or trespasser strike will have lawyers pouring over any recent decision to raise speeds. Long story short management will see little benefit from raising speed, but assume a great deal of professional and institutional risk. The exception lies in cases where significant amounts of money are available to rebuild a line to make the speed increase effectively free. 

Fortunately as we have seen with the NYC Subway and now with METRA's electric division, transit management seems more willing to take on the risk to improve performance. SEPTA in particular is notorious for its 1930's vintage speeds set to match the performance of heavyweight AC MU cars.

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.

GRESHAM JCT's Sequence Switches Explained

 Years ago I wrote up a profile of METRA's GRESHAM JUNCTION tower on the Rock Island division south of Chicago.  Not only had GRESHAM JUNCTION managed to stay open into the 21st Century, it was a unique North American example of a sequence switch interlocking. Supplied by the Standard Telephone and Cables Company of London, the interlocking used telecom grade sequence switches to carry out the interlocking functions instead of relays.

In my original post I provide photos of the equipment as well as a general concept of how sequence switches work and some sequence switch interlocking circuit diagrams from the UK, but without time and access to the equipment or someone who was intimately knowledgeable about how it functions, my commentary had to remain at a very high level.  Fortunately, the gang from the Connections Museum in Seattle is on the case because sequence switches is pretty much how Bell Number 1 Panel central office machines functioned (again, as opposed to later relay based technologies). I could try to go into things, but fortunately the museum's YouTube channel has video that is specifically about how sequence switches work. 

Once you see them in action at the Connections Museum, their function in the photos from GRESHAM JCT will become obvious. Of particular note is the function of the magnetic clutch mechanism that rotates the switch spindle. Perhaps if I stare at things enough I can determine what each sequence switch corresponds to in the interlocking.  Is each a complete route? An entrance? An exit? An entrance-exit combination? Let me know in the comments if you figure it out.  BTW, if you like this video take some time to watch the rest of the Museum's content.  It's top notch and does a superb job of explaining some normally opaque topics in the realm of pre-modern telephone switching technology.

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.

Chicagoland CNW ATS Retired

The Intermittent inductive automatic train stop system in service on two former Chicago Northwestern commuter lines was taken out of service on October 19th, 2019.  UP/Metra received FRA permission to abandon the system due it being generally rendered unnecessary through the deployment of PTC.   Known for its distinctive "upside-down canoe" track mounted inductors, the IIATS system was developed by General Railway Signal in the 1920's and at its peak covered thousands of miles of main line track with the New York Central, Southern and Santa Fe being the most prominent users with the system supporting high speed operation after the ICC 80mph regulation came into effect in 1948.

ATS inductors partly hidden in the snow below Metra UP-Northwest Line Signal 48.

 Although the Central and Southern dropped the system in the 1970's, the Chicago Northwestern installed ATS on the North line to Kenosha in 1952 and the Northwest line to Harvard in 1967.  The system provides a in cab alert if the train passes a signal displaying an indication other than Clear, which the engineer must acknowledge.  Although the system is no longer is service, removing the inductors has not been a priority and there was likely no alterations made to any signal logic as the greatest operational impact of ATS is the pickup shoe mounted to the leading truck of the locomotive or cab car.  The ATS shoe must be properly gauged to prevent false activation or damage as well as tested like any other technical safety system.  The immediate result of the October 2019 retirement was the removal of equipment mounted ATS shoes with the track mounted inductors slated for removal over time.

This means that there is still a window of time for fans to get out there and document the trackside component of the ATS system as installed by the CNW, especially on the Northwest line with its three track arrangement on the UP Harvard Sub.  At this point ATS is still in service on portions the former Santa Fe "Chief" transcontinental route between Chicago and LA, the Surfliner route between Fullerton and San Diego and the New Jersey Transit RiverLINE where it functions as a positive stop enforcement device at interlockings.  Currently UP is undergoing a dispute with METRA over operation of the former CNW commuter routes with UP looking to offload responsibility.  As the North and Northwest lines see minimal freight traffic, an outright sale to METRA could keep the inductors in place for many years to come.  The Southwest Chief route in New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas has the ATS system "out of service" for over a decade, but the equipment left in place due to general disinvestment in the line.

ATS inductors at CY tower in Chicago.

Left unresolved is the fate of the CNW Automatic Train Control two aspect cab signal system.  Although targeted for retirement by PTC, continuous cab signal systems have proven to be a more reliable form of wayside to train communication and the FRA is still generally in favor of ATC as a PTC supplement.  Union Pacific with its extensive network of traditionally cab signaled track, may look to convert the CNW system or keep it in place as the differences can be ultimately handled in software.

METRA Western Ave (Tower A-2) Position Lights Removed

Seeing as how I reported on the removal of the position lights at Racine (aka CP-MORGAN) in April of 2018, I might be a little late to the party on reporting this, but it seems that METRA was indeed unwilling to support a number of oddball signals, even if it meant modifications to a US&S Model 14 plant that will eventually be replaced by some sort of flyover. 

As you can see in this photo, the position light signals have been replaced by 4-lamp Metra style heads that support the mostly restricted speed crossovers.  The exception is the 68R signal that saw its two headed position light replaced by a two headed color light.  If it is any consolation the CNW signals and pneumatic point machines were left untouched.  These were possibly the last main line PRR position light signals in the Chicago Area.

If you were wondering why there were a bunch of PRR position lights orphaned on Metra, it was because the former Pennsylvania Railroad Panhandle Route to Logansport came in Chicago via the back door, going up the west side then back east before entering Union Station from the north. You can read more about the history of this interlocking in my previous articles.

CN Cripples Chicago 16th St / 21st St Corridor

In a move that could only make sense as part of some nefarious plan to cripple Amtrak service, Canadian National has single tracked a critical portion of its connecting line between the former Illinois Central main line and it's Chicago area distributor that runs west to Joliet on the former Chicago and Alton alignment.  Specifically the mile or so long segment between the two major passenger crossings at 16th St and 21st St, the former controlled by a famous METRA interlocking tower and the second by Amtrak's Chicago terminal train directors. 

As you can see in the above diagram CN has cut Main Track 1 between a new 18TH ST interlocking and the existing CERMACK interlocking.  The method of the cut will create bottlenecks for Illini Service Amtrak trains on and off the St Charles Air Line from downstate and Lincoln Service trains entering and exiting the Heritage Corridor at CERMACK due to Conrail style interlockings that eliminate any sort of parallel operation.  Why would they do such a thing?

The answer is diamonds, and not the kind that makes one wealthy.  Elimination of Main Track #1 will also eliminate 5 diamonds between both interlockings.  For those of you who don't know, main line diamonds are expensive maintenance items that also require fairly periodic replacement.

As we can see from this photo at 21st St, the small signs seem to indicate that the diamonds are the maintenance responsibility of CN.  The bottleneck will be felt as freight white periods at both crossings cause CN traffic to back up along the line and this will now preclude Amtrak service from being able to sneak by.  Perhaps that is the ultimate point.  "Unavoidable" delays may force the State's hand in funding alternatives to the diamond crossings like an overpass at 16th St and the Grand Crossing connector on the NS Chicago Line south of the city. The real loser is the 16th St tower which will loose a substantial number of its remaining active levers :-(

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.

Racine PLs Removed! A Chicago Icon is No More

Well the famous "Racine" position light signals inbound towards the north end of Chicago Union Station were suddenly replaced last week.  If anyone was ever wondering why there were PRR position lights in Milwaukee Road territory, since taken over by METRA, it is because the former PRR Panhandle Route to Chicago came up the west side of the city, took a right turn and entered Union Station from the north. (This was discussed in my article on Tower A-2).

This was not part of a re-signaling effort, the signals were cut into the existing interlocking logic one by one over the course of  several nights.  The replacements were METRA standard non-Darth LED traffic lights.  Fortunately the bomb-proof PRR signal gantry was re-used and will probably live on until the end of time.

Photo courtesy Robert Jordan

While located at the Racine St grade crossing, the signals are officially part of CP-MORGAN, a remote interlocking controlled from TOWER A-2. There are two facing point crossovers with movements made at Restricting speed.  Under Metra signal rules the lower LED heads will display R and L.

Photo courtesy Robert Jordan

The signals at the other end of CP-MORGAN were converted to searchlights sometime in the 1980's.  Word is that this will be replaced in the near future.

PTC Assimilates METRA Beverly and Fox Lake Branches

PTC is in the news after that CSX wreck and it came to my attention that, as one might expect, METRA's solution to some of more oddball signaling arrangements is replacement with bog standard CTC.  One of these quirky signaling setups is the Rock Island District's Beverly Branch, which, amazingly, still runs under time separation.  The 30 mph line with frequent stops and many level crossings basically gives all stops locals a 10 minute buffer behind them.  Following trains work under timetable and line of sight.  Well of course one could try and emulate this with some sort of moving block system...or just installed CTC, which is what METRA is doing.

The other casualty is the Fox Lake branch, that turns off the old MILW main line at Rondout and heads west to Fox Lake.  This single track line makes use of an interurban style Automatic Permissive Block system with meets taking place at Gray's Lake.  Again, there is nothing that would prevent a PTC system to just plug into the existing signals, even ones worked automatically, however once you have to test everything you might as well replace it.

I am going to laugh and laugh when someone markets a PTC solution based on computer vision with no wireless wayside components.  So much fire and fury, all for nothing.

METRA Cab Ride Videos Courtesy METRA

The METRA commuter rail network has been seeing a lot of re-signaling as of late, but there is still a lot of interesting stuff out there like searchlight signals, CNW signal bridges, ATS shoes, Rule 251 operation and a few open and closed interlocking towers.  Thanks to METRA's use of gallery cars there are quite a few railfan window videos from METRA trains floating about on YouTube, however earlier this year a new source came on the scene, METRA itself.



Taking a cue from Chicago's CTA, METRA has embarked on a project of creating HD head end videos of all its major commuter routes, both inbound and outbound. While they aren't the most exciting (no effort was made to video express runs) they do capture the current state of the signaling hardware as well as live signal behavior (as opposed to everything just displaying Stop).



The videos are going up every few weeks.  I am looking forward to the UP West and UP North lines as both of those have a lot of surviving CNW features as well as ABS operation. 

Well, There's a New One

Last week, while on a field trip to Chicago, I encountered a new Class 1 railroad signal indication I was hitherto unaware of.  Approaching Tower B-12 interlocking on the former Soo/Wisconsin Central line (now owned by Canadian National) to Chicago on a METRA North Central Service train, I saw a signal flashing yellow over a steady green (*Y*/G)  This was nothing I had ever encountered before, however it was not difficult to surmise that it was Advance Approach Diverging.  At the next interlocking I was proven correct as a Y/G Approach Diverging was displayed for a R/G Diverging Clear at Tower B-12.  The Advance Approach Diverging was warranted for the short signal distance between the Approach Diverging at Junction 16 and Tower B-12.



Upon reviewing my CN documentation from 2010, both this and Diverging Clear Approach Diverging (R?*G*) were listed in the operating rulebook, so I should have been aware of it, but I usually refer to the late 90's rule card I have in a more accessible location.  I suspect that the signal was likely deployed for the first time for the re-signaling project on the NCS line and might even be a unique situation.  It's still an interesting developing for a route signaled line as most others begin to employ speed signaling to various degrees.  Of course I should save any more in depth analysis for my BKASS article on CN route signaling ;-)

Chicago 75th Street, Western Ave and MO Videos

Not sure how I missed these gems.  Both of these videos have been on Youtube for a number of months and I am just getting to them now. The first is an old school video tour of the B&OCT 75th St tower shortly before it closed in 1996.  This was one of the last major "all mechanical" interlocking plants that even had a number of mechanically worked signals. It was located on the joint B&OCT/PRR Panhandle trunk line that snaked its way up along the western part of the city through Dolton Jct, Brighton Park, Ash Street and many other complex crossings and junctions.

By 1996, the PRR was gone, both both the Wabash and Belt Railway crossings were in place. The videos shows movements passing by the tower, but also the operator manipulating the 132 lever S&F mechanical frame. One interesting thing to note is how the facing point lock levers were stored in the unlocked position, instead of locked as seen at most other North American towers.   Make sure you have some time booked, because even at 46 minutes you'll want to watch the whole thing.



The second video is an inside tour of METRA Tower A-2 shot in 2015.   I have previously covered this tower on this blog and I was actually able to use info from the video to solve a few mysteries such as where the rundown timers were. So check out the video and feel free to check back with the Tower A-2 page on this blog for the updates.



Lastly I found some vintage clips of MO interlocking and tower in operation in a 1975/76 public information film on railroad operation.  Begining at the 8:13 mark is a segment on signaling that includes film of the big old GRS Model 5B machine being manipulated inside MO tower, along with its model board showing switch position indicators. Fancy stuff!

Updates!

Alright, I have an fairly major update of my METRA BLUE ISLAND Tower page to announce.  I had an opportunity to visit Blue Island in December, 2015 and was able to add a good number of exterior tower photos as well as interlocking layout photos.  Please go and check it out.

I also recently lost my long time web hosting mirror.  You might remember the problems I was having a few years back with photo hosting.  I actually went and swapped some of my posts over to use the backup host.  I believe I was able to change them back, but the occasional photo might still link to the old, palter,org site so if you see any broken links pointing there, please let me know and I'll fix them post haste.

METRA TOWER A-5 (Pacific Jct) Closed

Again this is a bit late, but I recently confirmed that METRA's famous Tower A-5 was closed, effective November, 17th, 2015.  This is the third major METRA tower to have closed in the last year or so as long simmering capitol improvement projects begin to chip away at what traditional signaling remains in the Chicago area (the others were UD in Joliet and Rondout).

 A former Milwaukee Road Tower, it controlled the busy junction between the northern route to Milwaukee and the western main line to Bentonville Yard.  The line is technically owned by Canadian Pacific, although METRA employed the operators at what were the three towers on the route, A-2, A-5 and Rondout. 

Much of the CP Chicago and Milwaukee Subdivision has been undergoing a re-signaling effort resulting in the closure of the towers and a loss of much late model searchlight signaling.  At Tower A-5 the old school interlocking suffered from crossovers signaled at Restricted speed and a lack of parallel moves.  The new scheme included splitting the former A-5 territory into three new interlockings, A-5, A-6 and B-6, so if there is a silver lining it is CP/METRA maintained the MILW naming scheme.

It wasn't entirely certain that Tower A-5 would be closed since having the route controlled by CP dispatchers has its downside when there are conflicts between revenue producing freight trains and moey losing commuter trains.  Before this METRA had effective control of the route from Mayfaire interlocking, all the way through Union Station.  Now, they only control from south of Tower A-5 interlocking.  Remember, even thought the tower operators worked under the CP dispatcher, there is always an advantage in having the passenger operator signing their paychecks.

Farewell Tower A-5. 

Caught on Camera - Episode 7: Restricting

Ah Restricting, not the rarest of signal indications, but definitely special in certain circumstances, especially in the now vanishing instance of running against the current of traffic in Rule 251 ABS territory.  I had a number of CoC candidates featuring the Restricting indication in my queue so I decided to throw them up in their own episode.

Here we see an interesting situation at the old 67TH ST tower on the Metra Electric division.   This outbound train is wrong railing on the South Chicago Branch and just passed the 114 signal, displaying a Restricting indication.  The logic of the old GRS Model 5 interlocking machine is such that the signal will continue to display even if there is a train occupying the track.

Of course US&S would never stand for such signaling shortcuts.  You can bet when a train passed the 60R signal displaying Restricting at THORN interlocking, it would drop to Stop.

Sometimes a Restricting was just an inexpensive way to signal low speed crossovers, as seen here at Metra's TOWER A-5 and UP's KEDZIE interlockings.

Here we see the eastbound PRR PL signal gantry at CP-GRAY with the track 1 signal displaying a Restricting indication.  More often than not freight railroads do a pretty good job keeping signals at Stop so this one must be fleeted for a wave of eastbound movements.

This photo illustrates the use of lowest yellow Restricting with the middle middle head.  Here a light engine move is heading into the yard at Clinton. TN as an osprey takes flight.

 Moving into N&W territory I managed to catch a route lined for the yard in Shenandoah, VA.

Yards are a pretty popular place to catch Restricting indications, like this one at EAST BRUNSWICK as displayed on a B&O CPL.

 Here is another example of a train being signaled into a yard, this time at Collier, VA on the old SCL A-Line.  This example shows how the Seaboard would need to find space on the US&S N-3 elephant ears for the awkward 4th color.

 Finally in Bluefield, WV we see an automatic  N&W style position light with a fixed Restricting indication.  Simple in operation, but stunning in the right light.