It's the 80's! (Do a lot of coke and design a bad signal.)

By the time the 1980's rolled around the dominant signaling providers in North America, US&S and GRS, were facing unanticipated competition from a variety of upstarts like SafeTran, Harris and others, that were making the incumbents 1920's vintage cast iron product line look a little long in the tooth.  The result were a pair of odd designs that entered the stage and then quickly exited with nobody really talking about them ever again.  The interesting thing is that both major manufacturers seemed to take the opposite lesson and in the end they both learned different things.

First up we have General Railway Signal's three lamp traffic light style signal.  Previously GRS has been the leader in modular signal design with their Type D signal having one lamp and the ability to be stacked as high as needed.  Seeing US&S with its successful 'N' series of linear multi-lamp signals, GRS added this rather low cost clone to its lineup.  Can you can see from the photos it was very low frills except for a snazzy block style GRS logo on the back.  The only nod to progress appears to be rust resistant aluminum construction.

 

 

These signals are quite rare with the only notable installation being the LA Union Passenger Terminal and this attests to their general success in the market.  It seems that GRS was stung by this turn of events as they basically exited the market for signal hardware aside from long running line of rapid transit signals that continue to be sold under the Alstom brand. 

As I said before, US&S took the opposite lesson and decided to add a modular signal to its lineup to supplement the N series that was forced to use a round marker lamp for single light situations. What they came up with is best described as...bizarre.

Yes they thought the best solution for a stackable modular signal lamp was a round housing. Stacking support was provided by an external frame that came in 1, 2, 3 and 4 lamp configurations.  Still, you have to give US&S a point for versatility since these units could also be arranged on a circular target signal in a 3 lamp configurations.  Again note the Plain Jane construction which was common in the high labor cost/pre-CNC period.

Needless to say these were also a flop with the largest concentrations appearing on the Pittsburgh Light Rail network and on the METRA Electric Division.   However, unlike GRS, US&S chose to keep fighting the low cost upstarts and re-designed their modular signal to be the squarest square you have ever seen.

Overcompensation much?

Anyway, if anyone knows the actual model designations of these signals please let me know and I'll update the posts. Also, I assume that the design and market life of these signals probably went beyond the 80's on one side or the other, but that would make less of a compelling title.

CSX Philly Sub Re-Signaling Reaches Its End

Since 2012, CSX has been slowly re-re-signaling the Philly Sub because it was...different?  You see much of the line between Baltimore and Philadelphia had already been re-signaled around 2000, replacing the pole line and the logic at more than a few of the interlockings.  Starting at the west end, by 2014 the project had reached Wilmington and in 2015 it ploughed through the Darby siding and all the way to the 58TH ST crossover.  Well in 2016 it looks like they are tackling the final obstacle, RG tower and the Philadelphia terminal area from the movable bridge through VINE and LOCUST interlockings opposite 30th St Station.

Now I guess we should be thankful for the time we got because back around 2010 I got a bit of a scare as new signal mast footings appeared around both VINE and LOCUST, but fortunately they were for a crossing quiet zone project in conjunction with a river-walk bike path project.

Fortunately in 2010 this turned out to be a mast for grade crossing indicators.

Because of the scare I actually did a survey run of VINE and LOCUST back in 2010 and later wrote it up for this blog.  However that was before I got my super-zoom camera so I might give it another go later on in the year to capture some of the fine detail I might have missed. 

I know one thing for sure.  That bracket mast at VINE caught my attention driving across the nearby expressway bridge before I even knew what a B&O CPL was.  Without a reference to the orbital system, I had no idea what those wacky lights above the signal were for! 

Reading and Northern News

Wow, I sure don't get to pose a positive news piece very often.  For some time now I have noticed that the Reading and Northern seemed to have been rather wildly bucking the Darth Vader trend and instead opted to purchase vintage signals on the used market.  The first of these were searchlights that appeared at a restored Mahanoy Jct interlocking.  Next I noticed that they had restored an old LVRR (or CNJ) cantilever at the new CP-COAL interlocking north of Mach Chunk. This was clearly part of a pattern and I just had my suspicions confirmed by one of my followers who spotted some additional R&N vintage signal work on an RDC head end video shot in spring 2016.


North of Tamaqua, Pa.  New Westbound Searchlight ABS located adjacent to the Tuscarora Park Road (Route 1015) Grade Crossing.  This approach lit signal governs westbound movements thru Tamaqua Tunnel about a mile in rear .  Note the 2 opposite side brackets for future signal heads.   I assume this will grow to include a 2 headed distant for eastbound movements thru to a new Tamaqua controlled siding that is in the works.  Sort of odd having ABS territory just sort of start like this, but hey, I'm not complaining.

Near the Orchard Road Grade Crossing in Barnesville, PA we see a pair of split ABS searchlight masts standing between the Tamaqua Tunnel and Mahanoy Jct.  This shows the extent of the current Mahanoy Jct signaling island. 

Further up the line the old Catawissa branch, the R&N is restoring HAUCKS interlocking.  Signals will be of the GRS G-head tri-light variety.

Here you can see the new eastbound distant signal going in  near Greenwood Lake along former CNJ trackage close to Lake Drive Underpass.

Finally on the former Reading Main Line south of Port Clinton, PA grant money is paying for a new controlled siding between Mohrsville and Dauberville.  The ends are non-interlocked now, but vintage signals may appear in the near future :-)

Well that's the news from Reading Country.  Thanks to Bill Tarantino for the update!

The Trackside Photographer

Just wanted to plug a new website/blog that's posting weekly railroad photo essays on the stuff that one typically finds on and around the tracks.  This includes stuff like stations, signs, tunnels, towers and signals.  I was invited to contribute and my first essay, "The Ghosts of Winslow Junction" will be appearing in a few days.  The content is shorter form than what I typically post here so look for me to circle back at some point to give the Winslow Jct essay the full Position Light treatment.  There was a lot of neat stuff abandoned in place when the State closed down the old P-RSL passenger trains to the shore.   Anyway check out The Trackside Photographer and stick it in your feeds or favorites.  It looks to be a real treat.

Sunset Limited Trip Report - Take II

Sorry for th repetition, but as I explained in my 2015 Amtrak Cross-Country trip report, Dan Akroyd's private car was attached to the back of Amtrak's Sunset Limited ruining my efforts at surveying the route.  This year I found significantly better luck and was even treated to a rare mileage detour outside of Houston.  Also included in this report are various things I found in San Diego and the Pacific Surfliner route. 

So I covered the San Diego Trolley's Green and Orange lines and to my delight I confirmed that the original Orange Line trunk was populated by US&S N3 Elephant Ear ABS signals

On the Surfliner route the ATS is still in service, but more and more of the target signals are being replaced with traffic lights as improvements are made to the line (new sidings, crossovers, etc).

At LAUPT, the Safetrain UniLens signals have been phased out.  The two-head variety have been replaced with LED searchlights of the type seen at Chicago and Albany and most single head ones being retrofitted with a single red LED light that can display Stop and *R* Restricting.

On the Sunset route SP target color lights are still in place on areas that have not been upgraded, so that means the new double track main line in New Mexico is largely devoid of them.  Also, there is a surviving SP cantilever mast with modern signals located just east of Tuscon.

I was looking forward to taking some better photos of TOWER 169 in El Paso, but to my dismay I discovered that it had been demolished :-( 

The detour involved traveling down the BNSF Galveston Sub to Alvin and unfortunately the 80's vintage searchlights were undergoing replacement.  Heading back into Houston on the Houston West Belt Sub there were a number of NYC style G-heads north of the yard complexes.

The searchlights and oddball signals were still in service in the Beaumont area.

And the searchlights were still in place at the Drawbridge and diamond in Lake St. Charles.

Finally East and West Bridge Jct towers are still hard at work talking trains over the Huey C. Long Bridge,

Waste, Waste, Waste

Quick news segment here today.  As always most of it is bad.  First up is the fate of the former ATSF HARBOR interlocking on the outskirts of Chicago.  Similar to the San Bernardino Sub, this interlocking was re-signaled in the late 1980's or early 90's with modern style cantilevers combined with searchlight signals.  Unfortunately BNSF is on a tear and the one interlocking I figured would survive into the future has replacement signals in place.

If anything highlights the prevailing throwaway culture it is this pic on the CSX Lineville Sub where a new casr-in-base Darth Vader is being replaced by a pure mast Darth Vader.  While I consider that a step up just more evidence that someone is forgetting the old Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

NS is getting in on the party be replacing some 90's vintage Conrail signals on the Chicago near Bryan, OH.

And these modern style ex-Southern signals in NC.  They aren't even re-using the as-new aluminum gantry.

Modern Conrail signals are also biting the dust on the CSX Indy Line in Marion, OH.

Not to worry...there are still a few classic items that can still be replaced like the old NYC searchlights at CP-429 in Depew, NY.

Going on a cross country Amtrak this week.  Worried about PV blocking the rear window, but even if there is I won't miss much as nearly the entire sunset route has been scrubbed clean.

Better Know a Signaling System: B&O Color Position Lights

Ah, here's the one I know you've been waiting for.  What is arguably the most unique and most advanced signal indication system in the united states and arguably one of the best in the world.  Why is this the case?  First, it was designed from scratch in the 1920's, after the advent of high intensity electric lighting and also after most other railroads had adopted some sort of color light or position light system, allowing the B&O to learn from their example.  Second, it had the strongest theoretical underpinnings of any other signaling system.  Another misconception is that the B&O CPL is in the same family as Amtrak's or N&W's colorized position lights.  In fact the B&O is a class by itself as in those other systems position has a one to one mapping to color while the B&O uses the position of marker lights called "orbitals" to modify the central color-position target.

There are so many neat features about the B&O system that I hardly know where to begin so I might as well just list those that come to mind.

• B&O CPLs use the same signal aspects on dwarf and high signals.
• A B&O CPL will only display the color red when the block ahead is potentially obstructed.
• The B&O CPL system is fail safe in terms of bulb out conditions.
• B&O CPL high signals use larger lamps than other position light systems.

In addition to those "nice to have" features, the B&O CPL system follows an algorithm that is both elegant and simple so this time you won't be seeing me going through all sorts of deviations from the norm and musing on how they happened. 

We start with the central target.  This is divided into 4 possible color-positions, Red ---, Yellow /, Green  | and Lunar \.  If there are two signals to a stop, Green is displayed.  

If there is one signal to a stop, Yellow is displayed 

And if the block ahead is obstructed then Red is displayed. 

Lunar is the same as Red, but is used for yards and non-signaled track.  That's all there is to the central target, no exceptions.

 

Next come the marker lights, also known as orbitals, located around the central target and displaying a plain white or amber color.  The six possible orbitals are referred to in their clockface position, 2 o'clock, 4 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 8 o'clock, 10 o'clock and 12 o'clock.  You can also use 12, 1, 5, 6, 7, and 11.  These modify the central target that provides block information with speed information.  Again, I am going to throw out another list here.

• 12 o'clock - Normal to Normal
• 2 o'clock - Normal to Slow
• 10 o'clock - Normal to Medium
• 4 o'clock - Medium to Slow
• 6 o'clock - Medium to Normal
• 8 o'clock - Medium to Medium
• None - Slow to Slow

Even here there are regular patterns with the upper orbitals indicating Normal speed  at the signal and the lower ones indicating Medium speed.  Slow speed at the signal lacked any lit orbital.

Approach Slow at HB Tower

Medium Approach Slow at BAILEY

Of course nothing starts out perfect and the B&O CPL system did have two minor tweaks.  The first is that the "to slow" 2 and 4 o'clock orbitals were changed from a white lamp to an amber lamp for increased salience as a crew could easily forget which side meant which speed instruction.

Slow Approach Slow actually serving as such at BAILEY

The other rules patch was to cover up perhaps the only flaw that was built into the system.  Initially, Green | without any orbitals indicated Slow Clear, but in the 1960's this was changed to Slow Approach Slow since a bulb out on either the 10 or 2 o'clock could accidentally upgrade an Approach Medium or Approach Slow to Slow Clear.  The role of Slow Clear was then replaced by a flashing Green | with no orbitals lit.

Lit orbital with the direction of traffic

Dark orbital against the flow of traffic

Like the PRR and Amtrak, the B&O had an on again/off again relationship with using marker lights for Stop and Proceed indications.  Most times the 12 o'clock orbital would be lit, but the presence of a number plate made it technically unnecessary.  The one time this distinction had a difference was on CTC territory where signals set against the flow of traffic would not illuminate the orbital, despite the fact a number plate still authorized movement.  This makes me wonder if at some point the orbitals were indeed required to be lit for Stop and Proceed reducing reverse direction automatics to absolute Stop.

Just pretend its flashing

 The final change to the B&O CPL system was the addition of limited speed triangles / flashing 10 and 6 o'clock orbitals for limited speed turnouts in a manner similar to the PRR.

If the ICC had ever mandated railroads adopt a national signaling system I suspect it would have been this one simply because it solves some many of the "problems" pointed out with North American pattern signal rules such as using Red as a placeholder and using different signals on dwarfs and masts.  The B&O CPL was installed new as a matter of policy on CSX up through the early 1990's on former B&O territory, but alas the signal bulb maintainer's union was broken and the dreaded Darth Vaders have been spreading ever since. If you happen to be in a position to catch one of these signals in action make sure you do because they are disappearing quickly.