No Approach! The Duality of Uncommon Signals

We all learn about traffic lights in elementary school.  Red means stop, green means go and yellow means slow or caution. These are the basics of automatic block signaling that also tend to get taught in entry level railroading books. Now its pretty logical that a signal might lack the ability to display a clear indication. A permanent stop condition or the end of automatic block territory are both situations where a Clear signal would not ever apply. However there are a few situations where signals in North America can display Stop or Clear, but not Approach on the full speed head. 

The first is at interlockings outside of automatic block territory like a diamond crossing or drawbridge. The signal provides movement authority through the interlocking and without track circuits outside of the interlocking limits there is no "prepare to stop" points an Approach type signal would apply to. Trains will have their own movement authority like a track warrant so a clear signal is basically the interlocking telling the train "you do you". One might expect signals in this case to display a Restricting indication, instead of a clear, and sometimes they do, but that is going to come with a 20mph speed restriction, or less, which can be a time hit on unsignaled lines with higher track speeds. 

The next situation, Manual Block territory, would be very familiar to those in other parts of the world. Although almost extinct in the US, there remains a bit of manual block still in service on the LIRR and the way to identify a manual block signal is the lack of an approach indication. (This also applies in general to historic PRR signaling charts.) Signals will display Stop or Clear Block with any Approach functionality handled by a separate distant signal towards the end of the manual block. The PRR even went one further sometimes substituting the \ "Caution" indication in place of / Approach. 

Sometimes its really not good to have locomotives stopped and waiting at a specific signal,  Maybe there's an issue with a grade crossing, or noise, or diesel exhaust. In this case it would not be desirable for trains to approach that signal prepared to stop, so a preceding signal will either hold trains short or allow them to approach a signal with some sort of proceed indication. The most notable of these is at the entrance to Washington Union Stations 1st St tunnel that the currently diesel hauled northbound trains cannot enter without having a signal displayed further on that allows them to leave said tunnel. Another nearby signal location at CSX's LENFANT interlocking might lack southbound approach signals for a similar reason due to an overbuild.

One somewhat PRR-specific situation is where interlockings are provided with exit signals and because of the short distance between the interlocking's entrance signal and exit signal, Slow Approach is used instead of Approach. This creates an upper head that can only display --- Stop or | Clear. The C&O also made frequent use of exit signals, but seemed to keep their upper head Approach indication, although Medium Clear to exit Approach allowed the C&O to minimize the use of R/Y/Y/ Medium Clear.

A fairly new situation where Approach has been "omitted" involves high speed turnouts. At certain points on the NEC, Amtrak has decided to combine a flashing green "Cab Speed" signal indication with R/*Y* Medium Approach. At the end of a main track that converges into another via a high speed turnout, the result will be an upper head with green and red lamps/positions and no yellow lamp/position.
 

New Signals Up At THORN

 Although not much has changed regarding the ultimate fate of THORN tower, recent photos do show what the new signaling situation is going to look like. In the eastbound direction the triple signal bridge covering tracks 1, 2 and 5 Running, have gotten the Safetrain upgrade with Rule 562 'C' boards turned. Although not yet in photos, it is expected that track 4 will also be getting a PL mast signal to replace the existing reverse direction dwarf. SEPTA is tentatively resuming service to Coatesville upon the completion of new station facilities in 2025 which includes a semi-restoration of #2 track to a point just past the new station for the daily NS regional freight. 

In the westbound direction new PL masts are up on tracks 1 and 2 to replace the reverse direction dwarfs and its assumed that a new gantry mounted signal will be in store for #4 track.  The real surprise is what looked to be a new westbound full PL mast signal on what used to be the Low Grade Freight Line track. The old THORN had maintained a vestigial signal in that same location, but despite the rationalization of the former 6-track full crossover, it seems the low grade stub track has not only been retained, but is being prepared for use. What that use might be remains to be seen, but a mast capable of displaying Medium and Limited speed signals could imply SEPTA trains making some sort of switchback maneuver after discharging on Thorndale's track #4 platform or coming out of some yet to be built storage tracks on the footprint of the old PRR Thorndale facility. 

The THORN interlocking cutover is still planned for later in June with DOWNS to lose its switches before complete removal. GLEN and FRAZER will be turned over to the dispatcher by the end of 2025 closing THORN as an active interlocking station.

Cleveland Line Autos Now on the Way Out

 In another example of either speaking too soon or rolling under the lowering door like Geordi, it has been reported that NS is planning on removing the remaining Cleveland Line ABS Position Lights I recently reported on. 

Scuttlebutt is that NS actually needs the parts to maintain the PL's on the western Fort Wayne Line, however I suspect that after the East Palestine explosion closed the Fort Wayne Line, the lack of PTC on the lower Cleveland may have become an issue. No word on the timeline, but I'll try to track the progress and if the project is a 1 for 1 signal replacement or something that will convert the line from ABS to CTC.

Hidden Gems - Cleveland Line PRR ABS Signals

The whirlwind of PTC motivated re-signaling has wiped out vintage ABS and CTC systems all across the country including most of the main line PRR position lights. However in one tiny corner of Pennsylvania not only exists a remnant population of PRR position lights, but position lights in a single direction ABS configuration. The Cleveland Line between CP-ROCHESTER (Conway Yard) and Alliance, Ohio serves as a backup route for the far more popular Fort Wayne Line. Due to the low traffic volumes is it PTC exempt, which explains how the PRR era signals have hung on. All together there are 6 PL signal locations on the dual track ABS segment between Rochester, PA and Yellow Creek, OH and today I will cover them all in an eastbound direction using photos that were taken over three trips in 2021, 2022 and 2023. 

The first location is at milepost 22 at the east end of Wellsville, OH. It consists of one eastbound PL mast and a new westbound Darth Vader mast that was installed in the late 2010s when CP-YELLOW CREEK was re-signaled. It is located just outside the flood wall and is lit full time with PL signal 221 displaying clear by default and signal 222 Approach.

The next location is at milepost 19 right behind the football stadium of Westgate Middle School in the town of East Liverpool, OH. It consists of two single head PL masts, both continuously lit with a Clear signal indication.

The location is also notable for the presence of 1940's vintage Carnegie steel rail and a somewhat ad hoc run of signal wire between the cabinet and rails.

In the East End section of East Liverpool at the site of the closed Virginia Ave railroad crossing we find the milepost 16 location with another pair of PL masts. This time signal 164 displays Approach by default due to a pair of interlockings, VEZ and MIDLAND, at either end of a single track section a few miles to the east to the east. Because the track #1 does not encounter a diverging route at VEZ interlocking the corresponding PL mast needed no modification and was therefore not replaced. The short single track section seems to have been installed due to the risk of RoW erosion by the Ohio River, but also acts as a "Conrail Crossover". The eastbound 164 signal is also significantly taller than the opposite 165 mast.

The relay cabinets associated with the signals display both US&S and Wabco logos.

Seeing as VEZ and MIDLAND took out the following two ABS locations, the next automatic signal location is across the PA border, just east of te town of Midland and directly adjacent to state route 68 at milepost 8.6. It consists of an eastbound position light and westbound Darth Vader which are lit full time with Clear the default indication eastbound and Approach the default westbound. They are co-located with the Midland hotbox, dragging equipment and high car detector.

Amtrak FAIR Interlocking Loses Its Quirks

 A little while back I discussed the evolution of NORTH PHILADELPHIA interlocking from its construction in 1914 to its disestablishment in 2005. Early urban interlockings such as NORTH PHILADELPHIA were colorful characters with all sorts of extra infrastructure to handle not only the main line traffic, but also stuff like industrial switching, yard and light engine moves. FAIR tower in Trenton, NJ is not only NORTH PHILADELPHIA's sibling in appearance, but also in its arc through history. While I don't want to get too deep into the history and evolution of FAIR, I will say that it was drastically expanded in the 1930's, then entered a series of successive diets in the late PRR, Penn Central and Amtrak eras before the tower was closed around 1994.

In its second to last iteration that lasted from around 1990 to about 2020, FAIR had lost all of the double slips and freight support it had maintains up through the end of mineral traffic on the Belvidere and Delaware line. It's primary function was that of a passenger terminal for the Philly and New York area commuter services that terminated there. The two remaining quirky features were two additional tracks at the far northern and northerner limits of the right of way. Track 7 was used to store SEPTA equipment, while "North Low Track" served as an extra place to stash New York bound peak period trains overnight. Below you can see how the plant changes from its late PRR configuration to post CTEC configuration.

The area of interest is the North Low and Hill Tracks. The Hill Track used to connect with the Bordentown Secondary to Camden which saw limited passenger service like the famed Nelly Bly NYC to Atlantic City express train. In the commuter era that was used as precious storage space, keeping alive the old configuration that used to serve Doodlebugs that would run into Trenton from rural South Jersey.

 

While eastbound movements out of North Low could be made via the "Wall Track" past the tower, this involved a Restricted speed signal. The preferred option was the 86 switch protected by the 6BE and 8BE signals. This was located at the eastern end of the platform with 4 dwarf signals protecting the single low speed switch. One of the dwarfs was mounted on a striped stick for better visibility.

At the west end of the platform was another left-hand turnout, the 86W switch and associated 6BW and 8BW dwarf signals. You are seeing things right in this only allowed for North Low access from the hill track. This became an issue when around 2005 NJT opened up its Morrisville Yard west of Trenton in Pennsylvania, turning all of the terminal traffic that needed to be shuffled about into run-through traffic. Trains arriving from Morrisville could not access the North Low and as you can see from the rust, it became disused. 

Starting in 2019, Amtrak brought the rationalization hammer down on this legacy configuration. The 86W switch was reversed, the Hill Track was removed and the 16 switch from Main Track 1 was fixed up for higher speeds. Now trains from Morrisville can access the North Low, making it potentially useful again. Unfortunately the next step came with the same interlocking refresh that removed all of FAIR's pneumatic point machines. The 86 switch and its associated signals were completely removed.

Trains using North Low will now have to take the slow route past FAIR tower and them on 0 Track to HAM interlocking, but as you can see from the grass, it is unlikely there will be a need for North Low any time soon. While this all makes sense, especially in the age where efficiency is more and more important, the 86 switch and its dwarf signals are still a loss worth noting.

The Last N&W CPL Dwarfs?

It's sometimes easy to forget that the PRR position light dwarf signal was also used by PRR ally Norfolk and Western Railway in addition to the regularly sized position lights. Their PL dwarf was even included in the 1959 N&W program to partly colorize their signals resulting in something that gave off definite UK "ground signal" vibes, albeit with the ability to display green.

Although the old N&W has been ravaged by re-signaling projects over the last decade, there are still a number of well preserved lines deep in the Appalachian coal country and Virginia. However the same cannot be said for the N&W CPL dwarf as the N&W had color light dwarf alternatives in its rulebook as early as 1961. Therefore the N&W had a multi-decade head start on replacing its PL dwarfs at the point where NS started to get involved. As of the time of this post, it has been reported that there are only 4 N&W PL dwarf signals remaining in active service at three locations. The first location is Iaeger, WV, the second Coeburn, VA and the third, with two CPL dwarfs, is Cloverdale, VA.

The Iaeger example is immediately adjacent to state route 80 just east of the Tug Fork bridge at IAEGER interlocking, just past the west end of Auville yard on the Pocahontas Division Dry Fork Branch near the village of Hull where the three track N&W position lit full crossover used to be.

The Cloverdale pair are located at the east end of the Cloverdale Branch on the Roanoke District's CLOVERDALE interlocking about 8 miles north of the Roanoke Terminal in Roanoke, VA. The first governs the end of a long industrial track that serves a concrete plant and the second serves as the exit signal for the Cloverdale siding. 

The final location is actually an automatic distant signal on the otherwise unsignaled Toms Creek Branch for COEBURN interlocking on the Pocahontas Division Clint Valley District. It is located just off Tate Ave, a few blocks from the VA state route 158 and the central business district. All three locations are in the vicinity of recent re-signaling efforts and can be considered highly endangered as a couple of other known examples, including another isolated automatic distant in North Carolina, were recently lost.

Of course rare signal types have always popped up before and I'm just reporting on the results of a forum discussion so if you are aware of an N&W CPL dwarf that has been missed please let me know in the comments! The first draft of this post actually missed the Coeburn dwarf so thank you Oakley for pointing it out.

Steppin' Out - PRR Stepped PL Mountings

 The typical view of Pennsylvania Railroad position light signals mounted on a steel angle iron signal bridge is one where two heads are mounted on a short pole that is in turn attached to the signal bridge structure. 

But what if I were to turn this view...about its vertical axis.

Do you see it yet?  How about now...

As is now obvious, the original PRR concept for mounting the then new position light signals was to place the lower head on its own little mounting mast, forward of the upper head. In the above example at the late CP-PENN, this provides all around maintainer access to the both signal heads to replace bulbs or clean the lenses, although period signal bridges would have afforded this access only to the upper head. As time went on, the more common single pole mounting became standard. Still, the earlier step-mounted position lights were left in place.

Above we can see the eastbound signals at the late CP-GRAY with an original configuration step mounted PL in the center, a modified step mounted signal with a Safetran lower head on the right and a standard mount PL on the left.This reflects the PRR Main Line 2x2 Rule 251 configuration that was later altered by Conrail to double track Rule 261.

With most of the PRR position lights now removed from Class 1 service, the best place to catch stepped position lights is on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor between Philadelphia and Wilmington. The above example are the northbound signals at HOOK interlocking in Macrus Hook, PA. The stepped signals seen below are the southbound signals at BALDWIN interlocking in Eddystone, PA.

Like the previously discussed compact position light mounting, the stepped mounting is another one of those things you might never have noticed until it was pointed out.

LIRR VALLEY Tower Closes and Other News

I just got an unfortunate report that the famed LIRR VALLEY tower was closed for good after surviving nearly 2 decades after it was re-signaled.

VALLEY Tower has closed—and then there was one... https://t.co/HOlN5oHAvL pic.twitter.com/nDktyBTJhF

— The LIRR Today (@TheLIRRToday) October 8, 2023

Although I did not get confirmation about where the control was passed to, I suspect that it will follow QUEENS, and NASSAU with the territories being remote to the dispatch center at the Jamaica offices. It is unknown if installed panel or VDU interface was removed or if they remain available for emergency restoration.  

In addition to the closure of VALLEY, I was informed that BABYLON and BROOK previously saw their operators relocated to nearby yard offices and DIVIDE was also closed in 2021 in conjunction with the opening of the Main Line Third Track. This means that VALLEY was the last full time, stand alone interlocking tower on the LIRR with LEAD technically being in the bridge cabin format. It seems that the LIRR has just witnesses the same collapse of interlocking stations that SEPTA saw in 2003.

In other news, L&W brand PRR pedestal signals have appeared at ROCKY interlocking on the Babylon Branch,  Rocky is the last remaining position lit crossover on the branch and the LIRR uses pedestals as a precursor to re-signaling events, however the move to reduced aspect signals have made this progression less necessary and the use of new peds could be permanent in order to decommission the aging signal gantries.

I also had the opportunity to visit M CABIN that controlled the Main Line Cutoff drawbridge over the Dutch Kills in Queens. Unfortunately the cabin has been gutted of any interlocking hardware by local scrappers.

The LIRR has a number of zombie towers such as this like BLISS and HAROLD and I'll try to get definitive answers on more of them.

Suck It In! - PRR Compact Position Lights

 When the Pennsylvania Railroad needed a reduced clearance version of their brand new position light signal, they made a position light version of the semaphore dwarf signal. About a decade later when the PRR needed a compact signal that could also display the full range of signal indications they invented the pedestal. 

But what if you are worried that pedestals with their pairs of plain white lamps just weren't visible enough in fog or smoke at main line speeds? Well you might need a compact position light. 

If one looks at the back of a Union Switch and Signal position light setup, one will see the lamp modules are mounted on the ends of metal tubes extending out from a central tub. The backing plate, if present, is then affixed to the ends if the tubes. However you might realize that there is nothing in this setup that physically requires the lamp modules be mounted where they are mounted. They can be placed at any point along the tube. As long as there is a hole for the wire they could even be placed directly against eachother! Which is exactly what the PRR did when it needed a reduced clearance PL format.

Don't let the square targets fool you. These signals on the LIRR Main Line are completely ordinary US&S position lights, just shoved together. The compact format for the Milepost 7.6 automatics was chosen to be visible underneath an overbuild just south of the Kew Gardens station.

You can see the size difference in comparison with the full size signals on the opposite side of the signal gantry.

While these LIRR square backed compact PL's are now likely unique due to the HAROLD interlocking re-signaling project, compact PLs in general still exist in several others locations with the most accessible being DOCK interlocking in Newark, New Jersey, on Amtrak's NEC.

At the east end of the station on tracks 1 and A, the 90LA and 90LB signals were both in compact formats of varying degrees of compactness. The 90LA on track #1 even had different geometries for the upper and lower head given the unique clearance requirements.