SEPTA Completes ARSENAL Re-Signaling

SEPTA is finally wrapping up its ARSENAL interlocking re-signaling and track reconfiguration project that has been underway since 2019(!).



The primary goal of the project was the allow select trains to turn back at the University City station, instead of 30th St, which required the addition of crossovers and a tail track between the old limits of ARSENAL and WALNUT interlockings. However SEPTA used the funding opportunity to renew the 12kv overhead lines and 1980's vintage ARSENAL interlocking, which unfortunately saw the demise of amber type PRR position lights, some of which were 2000's era LED upgrades.

An extension of ARSENAL southward to include a new trailing point crossover on the West Chester Line resulted in the old northbound signal bridge now serving only the NEC bound tracks. Note that the signal from the NEC can display full indications instead of SEPTA's go-no-go 562 indications.

In the other direction two new automatic exit signals have been furnished as distants to PHIL interlocking. With Approach Medium/Limited being the most favorable indication this could be seen as a downgrade for Airport Line routings that should take place over a Clear signal, however the ACSES speed enforcement doesn't make 45mph possible, let alone the actual line speed, so no big loss..

ARSENAL's southbound limits have been relocated about 900 feet to the south. This will substantially reduce transit time through the interlocking so that an NEC train can follow more closely behind a West Chester Line train .

The big surprise was the complete removal of the WALNUT crossovers in the trench leading up the tunnel approaching 30th St Station. Possibly due to maintenance issues involving water drainage or foul time associated with close clearances, the lack of WALNUT's crossover will risk snarling service if there is ever a need to single track/wrong rail through 30th St Station. Southbound wrong-railing trains at 30th St will have to travel 1.5 miles to ARSENAL whole northbound trains can benefit from the new turnback crossover for a 1.1 mile penalty. I'm not a daily rider, but hopefully I'll have a chance to pick up on how the new configuration help or hurts the user experience (as opposed to the bottom line).

A Second B&O CPL For Baltimore Penn

A year ago I reported on Amtrak replacing the NECIP era cantilever mast covering tracks 7 and 8 at CHARLES interlocking with a pedestal and ground mounted B&O style CPL dwarf. Well at some point over the winter of 2023, CHARLES' ad-hoc cantilever governing track #3 was also replaced by a CPL dwarf. Baltimore Penn Station has always been a land of close clearances, so is this part of a trend that will result in even more new B&O CPL dwarfs? Probably not, but its fun to take a look at the new one on track #3 since there's a bit more history than meets the eye.

Pulling up the 1992 track chart we can see that after the NEC Improvement Project (NECIP) and before the late 1990's expansion of MARC service that restored Track #5 as a stub terminal, tracks 3 and 4 converged past southbound PRR pedestal signals over the 34 switch before passing a second PRR pedestal, 3SA, guarding the convergence with track #1 and ultimate connection into through track #6.

With the MARC expansion, track #4 was extended to its own switch with through track #6 with the 34 switch and 3SA signal being removed.

Photo courtesy B&O Photo Tours

The improvements also left track #3 as the only remaining low level track at Baltimore Penn Station as track #1 was being used as a freight bypass stood off from the platform and protected by a low fence. At this time it was also decided to replace the 3S pedestal with a cantilever mast to raise the pedestal up off the trackbed for some reason. The low level platform would eventually fall into ever more disrepair before being completely taken out of passenger service in the 2010's Track #3 would be used for storage of MARC trains, but the 3S signal was still positioned in relation to the long removed 34 switch resulting in the waste of several carlengths of storage space and extended train movement transit times through the interlocking.

Above we can see the placement of the new temporary(?) 3S CPL dwarf in relation to the 1S pedestal and the insulated joints for the 64 switch. (The 4S pedestal is located under the bridge to the upper left.)

The CPL dwarf has a R-Y-G face and orbitals in the 12 and 6 o'clock position. This is slightly confusing as the 3S lacks any straight routes for Clear or Approach that would utilize the 12 o'clock orbital, but it might be used for a Stop and Proceed marker light in a way that made the wiring easier.

The 3S now joins the 7S as the second B&O CPL in the Baltimore Penn Station terminal area. A fitting turn of events as Baltimore has very few of its namesake CPL signals in service on home rails.

Piercing the Beltway: 50 Years of Change at New Carrollton

The southernmost end of the Pennsylvania's New Yor to Washington Main Lines has seen a number of interesting changes since the funding of the Metroliner Project in the late 1960's. At some point soon the latest and perhaps most significant change will becoming to the NEC where it crosses the DC Beltway and I figured the project might benefit from some photos and diagrams.

Before Metroliner and multiple NEC Improvement Programes, the PRR's Philadelphia to Washington Main Line ran into Union Station without much of a break in its usual 10 mile spacing between interlocking and block stations. From north to south, the 2 to 4 track main line (depending on the year) had a full crossover and Pope's Creek Secondary junction at BOWIE interlocking (MP 120.6), followed by another crossover and junction with DC's freight bypass lines at LANDOVER interlocking (MP 128.8) before finally hitting the Union Terminal division post at mile 134.6. It is LANDOVER interlocking where the latest changes have been taking place.



As the original Baltimore and Potomac line continued through southern DC to the Long Bridge and the RF&P connection, the 1908 line to Union Station was known as the Magruder Branch and split off at LANDOVER interlocking. LANDOVER was a pretty basic three track crossover with an extra switch added for parallel movements on and off the freight bypass. To the south were two, two-track lines and to the north, a single three track line.



The first significant change to the area came in 1970 with the Metroliner project's Capital Beltway Station at milepost 126.5. Constructed to serve suburban business travelers using the Metroliner, the station had high level platforms serving two of the three tracks. Due to the clearance needs of main line freight that still made heavy use of the NEC, the length of the two station platforms were fitted with interlocked gauntlet tracks controlled from LANDOVER tower.



The NEC Improvement Project (NECIP) of the early 1980's would bring a more significant set of changes to the area. In 1978 the DC Metro had opened on an NEC adjacent right of way to a terminal at New Carrollton and the plan was to not only close Capitol Beltway and move its functions to a new NEC platform at New Carrollton, but also shift the local commuter service there as well, allowing for the closure of the local Landover and Lanham stops. Since neither Capital Beltway nor the planned New Carrollton station would have a platform on the easternmost main track #1, a new facing point crossover between tracks 2 and 1 would need to be installed between the New Carrollton and Bapitol Beltway platforms as part of a new interlocking called CARROLL.

Limited speed #21 switch at CARROLL facing south with the New Carrollton station just out of sight.

One knock-on effect of the new CARROLL interlocking was the removal of the #21 (nee-#7) switch at LANDOVER interlocking. Located on a curve, the maintenance intensive crossover was arguably redundant as most trains out of DC would need to make the New Carrollton stop anyway and therefore would have no reason to cross over to the platformless track #1.

LANDOVER tower and interlocking northward past the #23 and removed #21 switches

Moreover, Conrail had ended electrified operations and changes in overall freight patterns in the northeast allowed for the removal of the parallel routing over the former LANDOVER #15 switch. Although trains to/from the renamed Conrail Landover Line could access all three NEC main tracks to/from the north, no NEC train from the south could access main track #1 until past New Carrollton. Further emphasizing the decline in NEC freight, a gauntlet track would only be installed on track #2 at the New Carrollton station.

LANDOVER #91 and #32 switches with former Conrail Landover Line to the left.

The NEC CTC project of the 1980's would ultimately close LANDOVER as a manned interlocking station and the Chase, MD wreck would banish most through freight, but the next significant change would not emerge until the rollout of the Metroliner replacement Acela service around the year 2000. Changes in business travel eliminated New Carrollton as a stop for Amtrak's premium high speed service while increases in MARC Train commuter service began to cause conflicts. This resulted in a new 80mph high speed turnout being constructed at CARROLL for southbound trains on the center track #2 to cross over track #3 through the New Carrollton station instead of having to effectively wrong rail all the way to the crossover at LANDOVER on a 45mph Approach Medium signal. 

 

New 80mph high speed turnout at CARROLL

Although this solved the problem for fast southbound trains on the center express track, New Carrollton emerged as a major bottleneck for northbound trains out of DC. Although the track #2 gauntlet (ultimately removed ~2003) was protected by its own signal south of the station platform, that signal was still only 3000 feet from the 45mph #21 turnout at CARROLL, requiring an Approach Limited at LANDOVER and the associated 45mph speeds. This brings us to today with Amtrak's long running LANDOVER replacement project.

Northbound HANSON signals in relation to southbound LANDOVER signals and tower.

Designated HANSON interlocking for the adjacent John Hanson Parkway (US 50), it is located directly north of LANDOVER's southbound signal bridge and will consist of a complete 3-track crossover, restoring access to the previously cut off #1 track for Amtrak use, with 2 of the 4 crossovers of the 80mph high speed variety.

This will allow northbound trains not stopping at New Carrollton, like MARC expresses, to take the 80mph diverging route to directly bypass the station and subsequent 45mph turnout. Other non-stop northbound trains like Acelas can use the other high speed turnout and use track #3 jump around locals making the New Carrollton stop on track #2. Said northbound would return to track #2 via the 80mph HST at CARROLL interlocking.

Signal Replacements at DOSWELL and DOGWOOD

The famous DOSWELL bracket mast is probably on the top-10 list of vintage signal survivors and 20 years after the re-signaling project that probably should have doomed it, it appears that time has run out. Located at the RF&P's HN interlocking in Doswell, VA, the Doswell bracket governed southbound movements on main track #3 and the adjacent controlled siding across the former C&O diamond crossing and associated crossovers. Forcibly merged into CSX in 1991, the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was one of CSX's odd ducks with cab signals and more northeastern oriented aspects. In the early 2000's, CSX embarked on a realignment campaign to eliminate the non-seaboard signal aspects and replace signal logic where necessary.

In the ~2003 program of signal alignment DOSWELL (HN) also got a full signal logic replacement. However because of the southbound bracket mast's location in the middle of the Buckingham Branch's yard and transloading facility, CSX was content to swap out the bottom yellow Restricting lamp with lunar white and call things a day. In 2012 CSX implemented a second round of re-signaling to eliminate the remaining RF&P era relay interlocking logic, however since DOSWELL had been re-signaled in 2003, no changes were necessary and the bracket stood. 

DOSWELL bracket in 2012

The DOSWELL bracket consists of a Y type mast with two US&S N-type signals with elephant ear targets. There may have been some paint applied back in the 2000's.

Meanwhile, down on the NS Altavista District, new color light signals have been dropped at DOGWOOD interlocking, continuing with gradual re-signaling efforts on the old Virginian main line, similar to those on the Hagerstown District.

Since both of these projects will likely involve only signals and not the interlocking logic, they are likely to move faster than one might expect. If you are within driving distance of either, consider scheduling a summer road trip. 

Farewell to a Fellow Fanatic

A little while ago I learned that Robert L. Atkison, a Pittsburgh area native that I had run into a couple of times at a friend's BBQ event had passed away at the age of 61. I had known that he was interested in some rail topics, but was actually surprised to learn from his obituary that he was a "rail fanatic". The reason he is getting a shout out here on my signaling blog is because he always went by Brady, not Robert. This didn't click until I saw a shared photo of his work van.

If you see on the door he has a PRR style station sign for BRADY tower, located on the Allegheny River near East Brady, PA.

BRADY tower has actually come up in a previous article on US&S CTC using coded track circuits and I had visited the site (now a rail trail) back in 2021. Anyway, this just goes to show how people can have hidden depths that might actually be staring you in the face. I'm sorry I never got to talk towers with Robert/Brady, however we did have a bunch of conversations on other fun topics. I'll make a point to get back to the BRADY tower location and put down something in his memory.

Caught on Camera: Mendon, MO Level Crossing

 One side effect of taking photos from the back of long distance Amtrak trains is that from time to time you get a good shot of what might end up in a national news story. When the Mendon, Missouri grade crossing accident and derailment first took place in the summer of 2022 my impression was that it was located at a random farm crossing in the middle of nowhere. Since the former ATSF main line lost its searchlight signals over a decade ago there was no real need to check on the status of a notable signal such as this Conrail era signal that almost got wiped out in an Columbus, OH area derailment.  

Anyway, while watching the above Plainly Difficult production on the incident, I spotted what appeared to be a signal location adjacent to the collision site on County Road 113. Checking the archives I discovered a clear photo of the accident site along with the Milepost 363 intermediate signals taken from the rear of the Southwest Chief in 2013.

In addition to the signals and the unprotected grade crossing we can also see the ATS inductors that allowed for 90mph speeds across the state of Missouri. These had been recently removed by the time of the accident due to PTC making the legacy system unnecessary.  Anyway the moral of the story is to take photos of everything because you'll never know what might be historically significant.

THORN Goes on a Diet and Other Pneumatic News

Since I last visited THRON interlocking on Amtrak's Harrisburg Line, more progress has been made towards rationalizing the interlocking and closing the tower. Similar to what has taken place at PAOLI, redundant crossovers and stub tracks have been removed, although it is still not clear what the final outcome will be as SEPTA service looks to expand back to Coatsville and Parkesburg. 

As recently as 2019 THORN was still in an approximation of its 1970's configuration with a 6-track full crossover and stub tracks for the old Trenton Cuttoff, removed track #3 in both directions and the #6 yard track. You can see my video post on an operator setting up a typical SEPTA R5 local movement across the entire plant.

However since then Amtrak has removed the worst of the redundancies with the 53 turnout and 55 crossover being completely removed, the 49, 51, 57 and 61 crossovers being reduced to turnouts, track #3 being removed in its entirely along with most of track #6 and the through section of track #5. Perhaps most significantly the interlocking has been completely converted to electric point machines, despite new A-5 point machines being installed on the #41 and #43 crossovers in 2019. You can browse the current state of the interlocking here. 

Elsewhere on the pneumatic front, OVERBROOK interlocking has seen continued attrition of its A-5 point machines with as few as 3, the #11, #15 and #19, remaining in service. The casualty list includes the 019 switch in the former Woodbine section of the plant.

After PAOLI's conversion a few years ago, this leaves ZOO interlocking as the only intact pneumatic interlocking plant on the Harrisburg Line.