The Pennsylvania Railroad era position light signals in the trench in Pittsburgh’s West Park were removed last weekend.
The signal bridge on the far east end of the Fort Wayne Line have long been a favorite for photographers.
It was located near the intersection of Brighton Road and West North Avenue.
An online report indicated that as part of the work and interlocking has been expanded and new switches installed inside the trench.
The work also included removal of intermediate signals between CP Leets and CP Penn.
Trains using the Fort Wayne Line are now using cab signals with wayside signals located only at interlockings.
Tags: Norfolk Southern, NS Fort Wayne Line, NS in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Railroad, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh West Park, Position light signals, PRR position light signals
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October 5, 2019 at 9:47 am |
The railroad terminology for the signal system would be “Intermediate wayside signals were removed, and only wayside absolute signals at control points (CP) remain”. The definition being that an intermediate signal does not control any switches or other items on the track, and an absolute signal does, and is under the control of a control station (usually the dispatcher). Intermediate signals are identified by a number board (usually showing milepost, and maybe track number in multiple track territory) a “G” or “Grade” marker, or a “P” or “Proceed” marker. The last two boards are a carry-over from rules requiring a “Stop and Proceed” at an intermediate red signal, where usually today the rule is to continue without stopping at Restricted Speed. The “Grade” marker was for areas where the grade was steep enough that making a heavy train stop before proceeding might cause it to stall. In case anyone is wondering, a “D” marker does not affect whether a train can pass a signal or not, it is a reminder to engineers in passenger train territory about “Delay in Block” rules after making a station stop, and were implemented on CSX after the 1996 Silver Spring, Georgetown Jct. crash between a MARC commuter train and Amtrak’s “Capitol Ltd”.