That's All She Wrote for Pittsburgh Area PLs

Previously I reported that the NS Pittsburgh Line resignaling project had been completed.  Well I can now confirm that NS has also removed the signaling on the Fort Wayne Line between CP-PENN and EAST CONWAY in addition to re-locating the interlocking at CP-WOOD at Homewood Jct, PA.  Chief amoung the casualties was the famed CP-LEETS with its pair of 3 and 4 track PRR PL gantries and pneumatic point machines :-(

If that wasn't enough the pedestals at CP-ISLE were removed and, like I said, CP-WOOD was relocated about a mile to the west and rebuilt as a simple crossover without any secondary track connection.

Anyway, if you are looking for PRR position lights in Pennsylvania, you pretty much need to look elsewhere, like Ohio or Long Island.

NS PRR Main Line Re-Signaling Reaches Completion

I have the sad duty to announce that the long running PRR Main Line re-signaling project has reached Milepost 353 in Pittsburgh.  Interestingly enough the cut-over part of the project managed to wrap up in under a year despite the portion between Harrisburg and Altoona taking 8 months. Not only that, but the Fort Wane Line re-signaling is now also under way moving from EAST CONWAY to CP-PENN.

Conrail Pittsburgh Line Signaling

Rule 261/CSS

Mileposts 107-353 

1979-2019

I will be presenting a summary of my decade long year effort to document these signals at my NRHS meeting in November.  Check out my Youtube for some practice streams around November 11th.

Your Source for LIRR "Cab" Videos

With the LIRR Budd M3's on the way out and all sorts of signaling changes under way, the Long Island Rail Road should probably be one of my top priorities for photos and video.  Unfortunately with only 174 M3's on the active roster (vs ~800 M7s) not only is scoring one incredibly difficult, the crews are notorious surly and not only hostile towards videography, but will also tend keep the front car closed or run with the half cab door open to physically block the forward view.  Getting LIRR video requires someone local who can ride day in and day out in order to be there when the stars align.  Fortunately for everyone, MrMaster767 is on the job and has assembled a comprehensive library of LIRR "Cab" videos, many in 60Hz 4k.



While many of the LIRR routes have been rendered blah due to a general lack of interlockings and wayside signals, some of his grabs are quite a bit more interesting such as the Atlantic Ave Branch showing off the current disposition of position light signals and pneumatic point machines.  For example DUNTON interlocking still has a smattering of pneumatics and some new-installed position lights, while down by BROOK and VAN a number of the PL dwarfs have been replaced by color lights and some electric point machines have appeared as well.





He also has a rear facing video showing off the new Ronkonkoma Branch second track and the reduced aspect signaling that went with it :-(



As much as I might try, I can't do it all.  It's nice to see that others are able to pick up the slack and cover other portions of the North American rail scene. 

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.

Vanishing NEC Pneumatics (and other News)

The NEC continues to see a wide scale reduction in the number of pneumatic point machines. Within the last year BIDDLE and OAK interlockings on the southern end have been replaced by electric, BAY interlocking has been half replaced, LANDOVER interlocking is en-route to be decommissioned entirely and just recently FAIR interlocking in Trenton has started seen selective replacement of its still impressive pneumatic plant.

BIDDLE interlocking with new M3 point machines.

The HAROLD re-signaling project in support of East Side Access is not largely complete, however some track and switch work is ongoing for the physical connections to the new lines.

On the Shore Line a new interlocking, LIBERTY, has been commissioned west of the Kingston, RI station to support the new third track and island platform.

Around Boston, the ACSES PTC system is being installed on North Side MBTA lines, although it is not clear if this is in conjunction with cab signals or not. Normally ACSES is designed to work in conjunction with cab signals and ATC, but modifications to allow operation without cab signals is within the real of possibility.  Also notable is thatACSES transponders have not appeared in the Guilford Rail System territory, which is generally exempt from the PTC requirement and has demonstrated hostility towards installing it for the Amtrak service if not required to.

For some updates regarding recently reported stories, the Rule 562 'C' boards are up in both directions at OAK interlocking, although not in service and all of the PRR pedestal signals on the SEPTA trunk line between Suburban Station and 30th St station have been replaced by the new ersatz variety.

UK Lickey Incline Classic Signaling

I found an interesting video on the manual block setup on Lickey Incline, the steepest Main Line gradient on the UK.  This 2.65% grade stretched over two miles on the line to Birmingham and due to the under powered nature of UK locomotives, most trains, passenger included, would need help getting up.  Although the line was fitted with track circuits, manual block was still employed.  To ease operations, an intermediate manual block signal was provided so that two trains could climb the grade at the same time.  This video details how the blocks were worked and how the helpers were dealt with.



Compare with operations on the steepest main line grade in North America, Saluda.

Website: Hidden Trackside Treasures Of Southwestern PA

I wanted to take a moment to plug another blog I just found that takes an in depth historical look at the PRR Main Line between Altoona and Pittsburgh.  Given the title, I am sure that it will eventually cover other topic, but at this point the articles have focused on the PRR Main Line, specially the transition from the Classic PRR configuration of the 1950's and 1960's. to the modern Conrail configuration of the 1980's. 

 The articles are well researched with much scanned and displayed primary source material. One series covers the lost interlockings and interlocking towers of the Western PRR Main Line, like Latrobe's KR tower, seen above. 

The future CP-WING, with and without CTC applied as the Penn Central envisioned it.

Another series covers the Penn Central's plan to convert the PRR Main Line to CTC operation a decade or two before Conrail was able to complete the task with its influx of Federal funding.  It's just say things would have been a lot more interesting if the line was rebuilt with the PC's understanding of how railroading would work.

My only criticism is that over the past 3 years there have only been a handful of posts, so let's show the creator some appreciation with the hope that he'll increase his output ;-)