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(erielack) Running time on signals



Rich Pennisi is correct on what he has written below. Many times I was at 
Dover Tower with him as he worked second trick. 

Today with no towers and CTC, if the dispatcher needs to take a signal away 
from an engineer he first has to get a hold of the train to make sure the train 
can be stopped safely before passing said signal. We are not talking about 
automatic block signals here, but positive stop signals controlled by the 
Dispatcher. 

After the train has safely stopped, the dispatcher can then "pull" the light 
and the signal will then show a stop indication. After "running time" on the 
signal, or in EL days "grinding", the DS can then line the train for a 
different route. This is the same today as back then, a safety measure to prevent the 
DS from "dropping" a signal in the engineer's face. This is why there are 
timing controls at Control Points, or interlockings.

It is not a good plan to "drop" a signal in an engineer's face. The rules 
provide that the train must be stopped as soon as possible. Absolute good 
judgment must be made by the engineer in seconds. He must consider train consist, 
weight, terrain, location, whether you are in power or dynamic braking, and if a 
collision is imminent. With an emergency brake application initiated by the 
engineer from the head end on a long train, the usual result will be several 
knuckle failures, a drawbar out, and the most severe, a derailment. 

When a signal goes red it means STOP! 

JJBoehner  







 I know on the EL the clock release was not known as a Slow Release.  The 
time to GRIND off the release of the signal was to prevent immediate movement of 
any switches involved in a lined movement.  Depending on where the signal was 
physically located in the field and what it actually controlled determined the 
GRIND off time.  Some clocks were as short as 30 seconds.  Most were 2 to 4 
1/2 minutes depending on the track speed approaching the interlocking route you 
were trying to change.  And believe me that was the longest 2 to 4 minutes 
you ever sweated out.  You just knew there was going to be a delay to some 
train.
   
  Once the timer ran down, a buzzer sounded to let the operator know he could 
set the signal back to the stop position.  The minute the operator or 
towerman dropped a signal (to show red in the field) the lever would not go back to 
it's original position until the clock timer mechanism ran out.  The only other 
way you could restore a signal to STOP or red was to have a train pass the 
signal after it was set for movement or drop the signal to stop before a train 
actually was on an approach circuit.  
   
  Dover for example when signal 38 was set for an Eastbound move on track 2 
(this would be the Eastbound signal at Orchard Street) you could clear the 
signal to green from red any time you wanted until a train hit the approach 
circuit which was around the water works west of Dover.  Once that happened, if you 
tried to get the signal back to STOP to re-line for a different movement, you 
would need to Grind off the signal.  But, and here is the big BUT, by rule you 
could not take a signal away from a train that was on an approach unless you 
had some kind of communication with the crew, either by radio or wayside 
telephone.  Without communication you couldn't be sure the engineer could stop the 
train before passing the STOP signal.  
   
  Rich Pennisi  




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