@Robert King Hey cool to see you here

There's 6...

@@SW99836 That just makes it 20% more confusing. LOL

Both battery drain was minimized, and lamp life greatly extended. Burned-out bulbs were a great hazard back then.

Here in Michigan, around the Metro Detroit area, we still have a lot of old searchlights still in use. There's two in South Lyon and quite a few in Wixom.

+FishplateFilms WOW! Many thanks, Gregg. You're the first to explain the reason behind Approach Lit signals. That's really interesting about the LEDs, too. I have noticed that on the new lights with LED's, there are no fresnel lenses. So I guess no focusing is needed.

Approach lit signals were originally devised in the early days of railroading when many remote locations had no electricity and were instead powered by long-capacity deep cycle batteries to reduce the frequency with which crews had to replace said batteries. (Also before the days of solar charging). Because it was easier just to put electricity to the cabinets without making changes to the system the approach lit system with searchlights continued on. As railroads (CSX and NS in my area) are replacing the systems end-to-end with Vaders (aka Tombstones, or officially Safetran ColorLights) they are eliminating the approach lit system due to lower power consumption and longer life of the newer LEDs. The track circuit testing mentioned above only partially applies as even with non-approach-lit signals they remain at red when the block approaching them is unoccupied, so if the track circuit fails to detect the train they will remain at red, not "fail" to a green and cause havoc.

You're welcome mate! Keep em coming! Cheers Gregg.

Thanks for the info! I don't think we used batteries down here much and approach lit is a newer thing on newer interlockings. Any signal not lit is taken as red and no signal should "fail to green" , thats a "wrong side failure" down here and is big trouble! Signals in remote areas are often solar powered with batteries and are approach lit . Very interesting to see how things are done elsewhere. Cheers Gregg.

I didn't mean to imply that a signal should fail to green at any point, but that relying on an Approach Lit system to indicate whether a track circuit is operational or not isn't necessarily the case, as you'll notice it on a constant-burn ABS signal as well because it would never change from red whether a train is on the circuit or not, if there was a failure. Interlockings in the US were rarely, if ever, approach lit due to the importance of being seen at any time, plus being near power anyway due to the control towers nearby (whether or not the tower was powered by electricity or batteries, there was enough power to burn the absolute signals 24/7). Batteries aren't used nearly as much anymore since the cost to get power to even the more remote signals is much lower. But in the early 1900s when semaphores were being fitted with lights to improve nighttime visibility, many signals couldn't be reached by electric lines without breaking the bank, so it was cheaper to put long-life batteries at each remote location instead. Approach-lighting them meant that the batteries had to be changed less. As I said, even when electricity was later run to these locations it was easier just to leave the existing relay circuitry as it was, so approach lighting remained. With the mandate to have Positive Train Control on all Class I lines many railroads have found it makes more sense to replace the entire signalling system with new systems end-to-end to be able to implement it properly, and in many cases approach lighting is not being seen as necessary in these systems as there is no need to conserve battery power, or save filaments from burning out. On the LED note, a caveat is that railroads can no longer monitor the lights to ensure they are working. With incandescent lamps a small voltage could be constantly put through the lamps to monitor filament status, allowing faster indication when a lamp burnt out, but this is not possible with LEDs so they have to rely on reports from engineers and track inspections for the rare occasions an LED does fail.

oh and i also love the sound of the horn once he passes you it just sounds nice

He is Distant Signal, after all.

+theubaum Many thanks. I'm glad you've enjoyed it.

My brother-in-law is a maintainer for CN. He told me essentially what you said plus dark signals are less likely to attract pellet guns.

I'm a signal maintainer for KCS and you are correct. If no train is in the area then there is no need for the signal to be lit so it goes dark. For the most part when I signal is lit and no trains are around that means you have a problem that we call a "track light" which means you get to go to work at 2am and find the problem lol.

We have that up here on the CP. The signal goes dark right after the train passes it. I’m surprised that the train doesn’t wait till the next signal before it goes dark again!

Someone played around and found out.

That sounds sketchy. What happens if the batteries go dead?

I am fairly sure if the batteries are about to run out, the dispatcher will alert nearby trains and the signal will turn all red.

What, if anything, is the benefit of using batteries vs. wiring them to power? Or maybe setting up a solar panel, especially in Florida? I could understand the power savings of shutting them down between trains but you wouldn't want them to go stone dead as a train approaches.

@@davidschick6951 i have no idea. i wrote this comment when my life was better, but they certainly had batteries. the signals that replace the old US&Ses at my spot are always on now.

A lot of ABS signals that are wired to power still turn off at times because when they changed them from battery power to wired power they didn’t change the turn off circuit because it doesn’t hurt operation necessarily.

Chris Carpenter luckily I have 7 of them in my town.

Glad you enjoyed!

Distant Signal you welcome! I love trains!

looks like it finishes lowering around 3:35

I'm sure the signal maintainer heard about that and was possibly looking for a new job.

The gate got stuck in the cantilever.

US and Canada railroads like CN, CSX, NS, UP, CP and BNSF have a zero tolerance rule for running a red absolute signal

@@viktorgaragedoors331 I can understand why those railways, wherever located in the world, that do have zero-tolerance rules for SPADs have such rules in place.

Thanks very much. Yes, I'm glad I shot the signals I got over the past ten years. Soon they'll all be the same on every railroad.

pluey200 lol

+Todd Ledford I don't quite understand your question, Todd.

B&O CPL signals cannot display the Seaboard "Advance Approach", and Seaboard signals can't display the B&O "Slow-Approach-Slow" (only shows green lights in the main signal face, with no pilot light). Typically, in former B&O and even RF&P territory, CSX uses either "Approach Medium" or "Approach Limited" in place of Advance Approach, where there is no diverging move possible at the next signal. (I was a Baltimore-based CSX engineer, and a real fan of the old B&O CPLs).

@@paulw.woodring7304 I feel like CPL signals are the best of both worlds. They're modular, which means you can add or remove pairs of lights as you wish, but they're also indicating any given rule in TWO ways so you don't mix anything up if red looks like orange or something like that.

The type you're talking about are the old H2 signals with one 25watt 10volt bulb on a moving magnetic 3colored lens red yellow and green called a roundel . When I worked for southern pacific in the early 1980s, we ripped out the old red line from Los Angeles to almost San Bernardino. A lot of 1940s-50s equipment just sat in our yard for decades in a junk pile. Signals, wig wags, (worth a fucking fortune now) signs, ecm insulators purple clear and amber and aqua blue ones, some super super rare on cross arms etc. I don't know about up near San Jose, but go rummage some old desert branch lines near Mojave and tehachapi and Bakersfield. Look in train yards and scrap piles, that aren't fenced in try not to trespass, most are still unfenced. might find some good shit like date nails on old ties and other goodies. Those signal heads weigh a lot, I mean a lot. Good luck carrying one if you find one.

The exact interpretation of the signals may depend on the year of the photograph. But, the first signal is an _Approach_ signal. The second one is likely called a _Restricting_ signal. Those signals are likely to be Intermediate signals. You can tell they're intermediate signals if 1) they are in Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) territory, and 2) they have number plates (the "572 and 574 numbers" you speak of). Intermediate signals are also permissive. "Permissive" generally means that they *_can be passed_* by a train when all red. (Contrast this with _absolute_ signals which cannot be passed when all red, unless a dispatcher gives very specific 1-time authority to do so.) CSX is a bit screwy when it comes to some terminology. "ABS signals" only exist in Automatic Block Signal territory. You may see this on a timetable referred to as TWC/ABS or DTC/ABS. Track warrants are still required in this operating mode; ABS signals never grant movement authority. The signals are not controlled by the dispatcher, and only exist to space trains out and add a layer of safety. ABS signals can be absolute or permissive, just like signals in CTC (but for different reasons). It's reasonable to guess the photo you speak of shows CTC territory; as I recall, the C&NW was an early adopter of CTC (and ATS) between Chicago and western Iowa. The "P" signs are the C&NW equivalent of a "G" sign that most other railroads have used in the past and now. It means that, when all red, the signal does NOT mean _Stop and Proceed_ but instead means _Restricting_ (or something equivalent). The CSX "P" signs are a peculiar holdover from the eras when CSX still used _Stop and Proceed._ As currently implemented, a "P" sign or a number plate in CSX/former-SCL-territory both indicate a permissive signal indicating _Restricted Proceed_ when all red.

Yeah. I was actually rolling for about 20 minutes to capture that lightning bolt.

It was worth it I think.

Definitely gets the point across!

+vaughn shafer I noticed that as well, I thought it was just my eyes being weird but someone else saw it too

vaughn shafer I

Yes, I just noticed that too. Had to be just a malfunction which is very rare.

vaughn shafer I replayed it a couple of times wondering if there was even a road there then looked at everyone commenting the same thing. Haha

At least if anyone came in a car, they would probably see the train...

Kevin Pippin I bet it was just a malfunction

I'm not much of an ATCS guy, Matthew. I've seen some that cover parts of the FEC, but I thought the SFRC was all buried fiber code line.

+crapper1 Danny, I noticed this too and then forgot about it. So, what's up with the gates going down at the 3:20 mark?

+Jerry Sinclair I don't know, guys. Just some kind of gate malfunction.

We hade a crossing signal in my town where the motor running the gate seized up and left the gate at about an 15 degrees off parallel from the street. Then it wouldn’t go up or down. They had to come out and replace the whole gate mechanism with a new one. The gate was getting pretty old anyway, it had no reflectivity left in it. So they replaced it as well. The really weird part was that a month later they took the old signals out and built totally new ones with LED lights, Cantilevered over the road, sidewalk gates, the whole nine yards. Even used mechanical bells for a while until one day when those were switched out for electronic bells. The new crossing signals protect 16 tracks. Your basically going through the center of the railroad yard here. Oh, the built an island in the street and put another signal and gate facing the same way but across the street from the cantilevered signal on both sides of the railroad crossing. One more thing. The trains no longer blow their horns. The sign approaching the crossing says, “No Train Horn.” I miss that, not hearing the trains blowing their horns at the railroad crossing.

Gcor? These would be norac signals. Gcor is west coast. You'll fail that test bro, lots of differences

The sign at 3:36: It's a Warning Board. Tells the train crew that two miles ahead is either a speed restriction or beginning of a maintenance work limit. The train will have to slow down or call the foreman to get permission to come through the limits ahead. This is a temporary sign that the road foreman will remove when the track work is done. Sometimes next to this sign, a solid yellow sign is displayed. It tells the crew to reduce speed as ordered in train messages. If it was a solid red, it would be a conditional stop sign. Which means stop here, and don’t go any further until the employee in charge gives you permission to do so. A solid green sign tells the crew that they are leaving the zone and can resume track speed. Basically a C plate is an "INTERLOCKED ABS SIGNAL." It is mainly used near a draw-bridge. The C plate means a "STOP AND CHECK" signal if the light is red. This means that the draw-bridge is open or anything is out of alignment, the train crew can't move until they check the bridge and then contact dispatch. If the light is green, that means the bridge is aligned and locked and the train can proceed at restricted speed.

It's probably _Distant Signal_ (yes, an "APP" signal).

"Approach Lit" means that the signal only turns on when there is a train around to see it. There are different schemes for when a signal turns on, but the most basic is that when a train is detected in a signal block, the signals on each end of that block to exit it turn on.

Good question. Yes, crews are supposed to know each signal on the line they operate. When they see a signal that's missing it's number plate, I would guess that have to treat it as an absolute stop signal, but I don't know.

Both trains would have to hit their respective signals at exactly the same moment, which is highly unlikely if not impossible. First one to hit the block gets the block. the other train would get a stop signal.

Distant Signal would that first train be at track speed? The second train would get stop proceed? Highly unlikely yes. I wonder if there ever have been signal oddities like this?

Not sure what those are.

Yep!

Rail Dawg an approach signal just means the next signal ahead is red. it doesn't guarantee that the train will have to stop, however the engineer still obeys the signal rule for an approach by reducing to medium speed when the engines pass the signal and preparing to stop at the next signal. line of sight could prevent seeing the signal until they are right on top of it so they can't just assume it may have upgraded

The Approach indication can appear in several different situations. One is often when one train is running behind another. The second train gets Approach signals until the train ahead moves out of the block. This is how dispatchers often keep the railroad moving. It's often called "running on Approaches". The second train proceeds, prepared to stop at the next signal, but as the first train moves up, the second train's signals improve.

Distant Signal when you talk about "keeping the railroad moving" CSX hasn't had much luck with that lately. lol.

Distant Signal if I am familiar with the upgrades that have been done in recent years. it used to be when a train occupied a block governed by an absolute signal that another train could not enter until the first train cleared the block and then there would be the approach signal. but now the dispatcher can line a train into absolute blocks on a restricting signal if a train is in that block.