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.

New Signals at Portland Union Station

For the last year or more, Portland (Oregon) Union Station has been involved in a slow motion re-signaling project that will unfortunately zap the last active vestiges of VC Tower, which closed in 1996 as Oregon's last active interlocking station. 

Until labor dynamic forced a change in the early 2000's it was not uncommon for railroads to splice old interlocking hardware, like switches and signals, into new control logic. VC was one such example where the eastbound signals were left untouched. 

These included a short mast signal off of passenger track #1 with a mix of GRS type E and L&W modular lamps, a modernized GRS type MF triangular dwarf, (popular with UP in the 80's and 90's) off main track #4 and two vintage GRS type MD dwarfs on track #3 and #5 that likely date back to whenever VC tower changed over from semaphore signals. 

The replacement will be an obtrusive double cantilever mast for tracks 3, 4 and 5 and a likely modern type mast on track #1. 

The current two lamp dwarf signals appear to consist of a red lamp over a yellow lamp, which would provide for Y Approach, R/Y Diverging Approach and *R* Restricting, although was not able to observe actual operations. The new signals seem to bring Y/Y Approach Diverging to the table. 

The changes aren't limited to the east side of the terminal. For some time passenger tracks 1 through 4 have been un-signaled with the west end of of those tracks being reached via non-interlocked M23 powered switches. Based on bagged station track signals and a bagged through track mast it appears the west end will also be interlocked, including the presently hand throw station track #1.

This will hopefully cut a couple of minutes off the run time, with trains possibly able to make hotter stops, instead of creeping down the super long platforms. 

Arizona's Sky Island SP Signals Vanish

In southern Arizona one encounters the phenomena known as sky islands, where isolated mountain ranges, separated by harsh desert, become in effect islands for various plant and animal species due to the cooler temperatures and relative abundance of water. The Dragoon Mountains were one of these ecological islands that also happened to host an island of late model Southern Pacific signaling with short stature modular target signals. They had even survived the PTC asteroid with the familiar antennas installed to their original relay cabinets. This island was located on the double track section between VAIL XOVERS at Milepost 1000 and Dragoon Road at Milepost 1053. You can therefore imagine my dismay when I was passing the Sybil Road crossing at Milepost 1041.8 and saw a set of new Union Pacific LED signal masts.

Sybil Road 2016

Sybil Road 2024

The re-signaling took place between 2020 and the end of 2021. I suspect that Phoenix became so hot that the signal crews migrated to the cooler 4000 foot elevation of the Dragoon pass. In fact the riding temperatures of the southwest may have played a factor in shifting the signal locations nearer to road crossings. The Southern Pacific Milepost 1041 intermediates were actually a half mile to the west.

Sorry again for a late report, I just hadn't realized what had been lost until I was physically on site. The signal relocations and approach lighting so make the new signals more useful for railfanning train movements, however quite has been lost regarding the actual photo composition.

Southern Caltrain Signaling Changes

With Caltrain's new electrification set to kick off soon, I have been checking if there have been any additional signaling changes beyond the removal of the King St Terminal cantilever. While most of the action is happening north of San Jose Diridon, the wires do extend down to the Tamien Station, which has a direct VTA connection and has always seen a bit of through service. Here is what I found when I checked in on the Southern Pacific era signaling on that part of the line.

First up was CP-CAHILL and the southern end of the Diridon terminal. As expected these were replaced some time ago, getting the traffic light treatment in early 2017.

Next were the SP signals at CP-DELMAS about a mile to the south These lasted quite a bit longer, being replaced by US&S modular traffic lights around 2021-2022.

The most interesting changes occurred at CP-MACK at the Tamien Station. CP-MACK had southbound Sp masts, a northbound Sp cantilever and a northbound two "head", 6-module dwarf stack. Around 2021 the track two cantilever signal was changed from SP to Darth Vader type. Then later in 2022, both cantilever signals were replaced by two "head" LED searchlights. 

In an even more baffling turn of events the dwarf stack was replaced by a two "head" mini transit style signals. 

Your guess is as good as mine as to why, but its definitely something to see. As for the rest of the line to Gilroy and beyond, it appears to be unchanged.

BNSF CTC Replacing Union Pacific Julesburg Sub ABS/TWC

Just a heads up that about 24 miles of ABS/TWS (aka Rule 271) on the Union Pacific Julesburg Sub in northern Colorado is being converted to CTC as BNSF takes over maintenance of the entire Bush Sub/Julesburg Sub corridor between Union and Sterling, CO. This line represents one of those dual operating arrangements where as traffic levels dropped, two competing railroads turned their parallel lines into a single joint. In the case of the Bush and Julesburg Subs, the division point was the small railroad location of UNION.

Over the last decade or so BNSF upgraded their side of the line and, as their traffic levels increase, they gained more control and have decided to apply CTC to the Union Pacific portion of bi-directional ABS. Although Union Pacific ABS signaling had eliminated use of the pole line and installed PTC, it also made use of short mile long signal blocks with US&S N type color lights at mileposts 77, 70, 69, 67, 66 and 65 in addition to fairly uncommon late model US&S modular color lights at mileposts 71, 72, For example the CTC interlocking replacing the ABS hand throw siding end at MP 58.8 in Sterling will have its distant at the MP 61 signal location. Union Pacific appears to have already been reducing the block length with 2 mile jump to a new Safetran signal at MP 63. The project will also include new interlockings and the currently hand throw searchlit ABS siding between WE and EE MESSEX and two new intermediate signals at mileposts 79 and 78 between MESSEX and UNION. 

 

It remains to be seen if BNSF will remove/replace all of the old UP intermediates or just those directly adjacent to one of the new interlockings, but for anyone in the area all of the existing signals are easily accessible from public highways including US 6 and County Rd 178.

Last SP Donner Pass Signals Retired

This definitely falls into the category of a news story that fell through the cracks, but after a bit of uncertainty I can confirm that all of the remaining Southern Pacific vintage signals on the Union Pacific Donner Pass route (Roseville Sub) between SHED 10 and and WEST NORDEN have been retired and replaced by extra height aluminum signal bridges of the same type already seen between SWITCH 9 and SHED 10 and east of EAST NORDEN. This  change took place sometime in the 2020-2022 time frame with the searchlights at WEST NORDEN being the last converted.

Donner Pass Phase 1 replacement gantry at MP 173 in 2017

Although this development was not entirely surprising, the surviving SP signal locations, with the exception of WEST NORDEN, used Safetran CL-20 modules in a target configuration and had PTC antennas mounted on the steel lattice signal bridges. Although not part of a PTC project, it is likely that UP desired to replace the relay based signal logic and simplify maintainer access. In total 5 automatic locations and WEST NORDEN interlocking were affected.

WEST NORDEN was the former location where the old 1860's main track #1 split from the later main track #2 with the interlocking being completely covered in a snow shed. After the completion of the first phase of Donner Pass re-signaling in 2017 it was the only remaining set of searchlights on the entire Donner Pass route (US&S H-2's)

If there can be any consolation it is that the steel lattice signal bridges themselves have remained in place due to the inaccessibility by road cranes. In face, some of the phase 1 locations left the searchlight heads turned in place.  

Unlike phase 1, phase 2 replaced the old SP locations on a 1 for 1 basis with most locations remaining the same except for the Milepost 181 automatics which have been removed in their entirety, creating a single 3.2 mile block where a 2.0 mike and a 1.2 mile block had existed before. In addition the the Vader type signals were moved off the westbound SHED 10 lattice gantry and replaced with masts at the mouth of the snow shed 450 feet to the west.

I finally got confirmation of this sad development due to media posted of the 2023 Donner Pass rotary plough training run so if you search out media of that event you can likely catch sight of some of the converted signal locations..

Fort Worth Tower 55 Facing Demolition

In a huge surprise it seems that Fort Worth's iconic TOWER 55 is under threat of immediate demolition with work to begin on Monday, November 14th. A report went out on Twitter, but the planned date was pushed back. 

The iconic railroad interlocking Tower 55 in Ft. Worth is being demolished today noooooooo 😭

RIP King pic.twitter.com/PBr9gWMfm7

— Metalheadrailfan 🎅 (@metalheadrailf1)

As we have seen with demolition efforts with AR and MG towers near Altoona there are numerous factors that could yet scuttle the demolition plans, including detection of hazardous substances like lead or asbestos. It is also unknown if the tower will need to be gutted first or simply demolished as-is.

TOWER 55 is located in downtown Fort Worth and consists of a3x2 diamond crossing between two major Union Pacific main line with connecting tracks on all four quadrants. The junction is so complex that it has its own signal committee posting handy "you are here" signs. It is on the order of such towers as SANTA FE JCT in Kansas City or F TOWER in Fostoria.

The tower checks none of the boxes of demolition risk. It's made of brick, in very good condition with modern windows on the operator's level.  It is located in a quadrant of the jct behind a fence line and is used by local MoW or C&S crews. The most likely explanations are some sort of spite (aka "cost cutting") or a need to expand the east-west line from 2 tracks to 3, which could require running the new track through the tower's footprint.  If anyone knows anything more specific or has updates about TOWER 55 please leave them in the comments.

Union Pacific to Abandon ATC and ACS Effective June 1, 2022

 Well after about 18 months of regulatory approval, Union Pacific is set to remove all mention of the CNW Automatic Train Control and more general Automatic Cab Signals from the rulebook effective June 1, 2022.  As explained before the legacy CNW ATC system was super clunky and was definitely not worth keeping in the face of PTC.  The ACS seems to be more of a cost cutting move as coded track circuit cab signals can compliment ETMS PTC as demonstrated by Norfolk Southern.  However Union Pacific's cab signal implementation had some shortcomings that would have likely required additional modifications to make a joint ACS/ETMS system work well. Anyway, the real loser are the Employee Timetables which are set to lose a substantial amount of their color palette.

It was mentioned that Union Pacific will still require ACS equipped lead locomotives in some areas, which I am assuming is the Hiawatha Sub as that served as Union Pacific's "Rule 562" experiment and lacks wayside signals. The Hiawatha has Aspect Change Points every 1.5 miles, in line with the PRR/Conrail/Norfolk Southern practice. It is also important to remember that in most cases the ACS codes will remain in the rails as they are used to transmit block state.  Engines will either just run over the territory with their ACS fully inoperative or simply not present. Anyway, if you want a copy of the current UP Rulebook with the ACS and ATC sections intact, download it from the official site now. If you're reading this in the future, I saved a copy of the final revision with the ACS/ATC material.

The Trials and Tribulations of Los Angeles' Closed Towers

This post fits neatly into the "old news" category as the events I am noting took place something like 4+ years ago, but it will provide some closure for anyone else who has not been paying attention. The West in general is known for its general lack of towers compared to the East and Midwest.  Certain area of California had more towers than most of the west, but the number was still rather low and from that level there was been a high level of attrition as those, largely wooden, towers were closed and demolished. Most of So Cal's surviving towers were in the general vicinity of Union Station with TERMINAL TOWER and MISSION Tower being the most well known. 

However a bit to the south were two attitudinal towers on the former ATSF Chief route, HOBART and REDONDO.  Each governed a single track diamond crossing of the busy AFST main line.

Built in 1906, REDONDO was located at the ATSF crossing of the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, that became Union Pacific's primary route into the Port of Los Angeles. The redwood frame tower was ultimately equipped with a GRS Model 2 pistol grip interlocking machine and the junction controlled the southern end of the LA passenger rain engine and car facilities. The tower was closed in 2001 when a passenger flyover was built over what would become the Alameda Rail Corridor route to the port of Long Beach that converted the sleepy UP main into a 3-track intermodal superway.

Located in a fairly isolated area the tower was generally left along for the next 15 years until some time after December 2016 the tower either caught fire or was tagged for demolition. By June 2017 the tower was a husk and by Octover 2017 it was gone. In 2001 the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority was nice enough to commission an historical pamphlet with a selection of interior photos.

HOBART interlocking is located about a mile east of REDONDO at the west end of Hobart Yard where the UP San Pedro Branch crossed the former ATSF main line. Also equipped with a GRS Model 2 pistol grip power frame, the tower was a bit more modern than REDONDO being made of concrete. Closed in 2002, its location at a major yard and non-flammable construction gave HOBART a fighting chance of survival.

 

Unfortunately between May and December 2017, a fire started by homeless persons gutted the tower.  Although the concrete structure was still generally sound, the tower was now on the glidepath to demolition, a fate that was ultimately carried out in May of 2019.

Of course the fates can occasionally smile on old interlocking tower.  DAYTON AVE tower, located at the southern end of the Southern Pacific Taylor Yards north of Union Station, was saved by relocation not once, but TWICE.  

When Metrolink was building a new maintenance facility in the 1990's, DAYTON AVE tower was relocated from its initial site on the LA River to a site adjacent to the Metrolink Facility entrance on San Fernando Rd.

Later in ~2013 when this site was tagged for a new development, DAYTON AVE tower was moved again to a new location 3 blocks to the southwest on part of Metrolink's rail storage lot.

At the start of this article I mentioned TERMINAL TOWER and MISSION tower.  TERMINAL TOWER is currently used as some sort of MoW or signaling support base part of the greater LAUPT complex.  The long closed MISSION tower is less critical to operations, but is likely owned by a government entity and has been generally protected by local preservation groups and general governmental paralysis.  I recently found a 1980 vintage film on Youtube documenting ATSF operations at MISSION tower with its GRS Model 2 pistol grip type interlocking machine.

Enjoy.

Union Pacific Automatic Cab Signal Training Videos

 With the fate of UP's Automatic Cab Signal system unclear, I found what appear to be 1980's ACS training videos on Youtube.  The first discusses basic use of the system and the second inadvertent activation in non-cab signal territory. Interesting takeaways is the use of heavy cast iron control and display boxes on board the locomotive as I assume Union Switch and Signal had no capacity to work in plastics or sheet metal 😏

The cab signal "hits" video is interesting as since UP uses a 60hz code carrier, mains current that enters the rails could trigger such an event on any equipped locomotive, anywhere on the system and if the crew isn't on the ball the activation could result in a penalty brake application.

One additional point of note is the similarity of the US&S ACS display with a standard Soviet pattern ALSN cab signal display of the type that appears in this video at about the 14 second mark. about the 14 second mark.

Painted Ladies - North American Signal Paint Schemes

In the age of steel and iron, paint was primarily used to protect the metal from corrosion, however in the world of railway signaling other factors, both aesthetic and practical, played a role. What follows is a brief summary of signal paint schemes over the years.

The simplest is the all black scheme that puts literal emphasis on the signal lamps themselves.  Cheap and available, black paint over the entire signal structure (as opposed to just the signal heads) was popular with northeastern roads like the Pennsylvania and New York Central for use on mast and dwarf signals. Today, all black signal paint schemes are primarily used by PRR-successors Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road.

Although slightly more complex, the silver scheme was just as popular as all black.  Generally seen on mast signals out west and some signal bridges and cantilevers in the east, a silver paint scheme would reflect sunlight and prevent the signal structure from heating up (an issue that is salient out west and on riveted signal structures).  Of course the backing around the signal lamps remained painted black. 

Championed by Conrail and earlier iterations of CSX, the two tone black and silver paint scheme represented the apex of signal paint design. This scheme keeps the all black paint anywhere in the general eye line of the signal heads, but paints the lower part of the mast silver so that it stands out perhaps in case of power failure. This scheme was used on some CSX and NS controlled lines up through the 90's, however Conrail was its biggest proponent.  Conrail not only applied the black backing paint on otherwise unpainted aluminum structures, but maintained the practice under the auspices of Conrail Shared Assets up until the present day.

 I suspect the primary reason this type of paint scheme was abandoned was because the paint tends to flake off aluminum structures after a decade or two.

The switch to corrosion free aluminum signal structures largely eliminated the need for painted signal equipment.  Aluminum signal heads and targets still needed to be colored black for visibility reasons and turned to factory applied anodized coatings.  This new black-on-unpainted scheme has largely become the standard, however BNSF has broke from the back with silver backed signal heads instead of black.  This has seen intermittent use on Union Pacific and some other small railroads. 

 

Finally we have the odd duck of the lot in the form of the Western Pacific railroad that painted its signal structures a pleasing mint green.  At a quick glance the paint may appear silver or gray, closer inspection reveals it to be a very light green.  This unique color scheme faded with the demise of the WP and it is not clear if there are any remaining mint painted WP signals in service.

That's all of the paint schemes I can think up at the moment.  Please let me know if the comments if I missed any.

Nelson Searchlights Doomed by UP Geneva Sub Re-Signaling

 I can confirm that the Union Pacific Geneva Sub (ex-Chicago Northwestern) re-signaling project that I previously reported on is looking ready to doom the the iconic searchlight complex at Nelson, IL.

 Known for its 4-track CNW main line coaling tower and signal bridges, the Nelson searchlight complex had a chance to escape the 2010's signal replacement ax due to late model age (80's/90's) of the CNW signaling.  While some of the signal bridges are vintage, others are tubular aluminum. 

Unfortunately this is well beyond my territory, but hopefully there is someone local able to perform a through documentation including some video of the searchlight wobble. In an additional bummer, Nelson is likely the best example of CNW oval backed US&S searchlights with at least one 4-track signal bridge entirely comprised of 3 headed signals.