(erielack) Erie Signals

[Wdburt1_@_aol.com]

Pat Moore wrote:
 
> Hmmm...I thought that the Erie semaphores on "the swale" were  
approach-lit.

> I distinctly remember sitting by the window of my  grandmother's house in 
Addison 
> at night and seeing the westbound semaphore come to life with a  green 
light.  If we > were waiting for a train, this was usually the  first 
indication that a westbound was 
> imminent as the sound of the westbound freights didn't echo as  well.  

> Anyway, after the power passed the signal, it would  drop and remain lit 
red for 
> awhile.  Once the train was out of the block to the rear of the  signal 
(I presume), the > arm would lift to 45 degrees and the lamp would  stay lit 
for one or two seconds and > then would go dark.  That is,  unless another 
westbound was on its heels.  On 
> occasion when an eastbound would run on the wrong main, the WB  semaphore 
arm > would drop and the lamp would turn on before the train  arrived.
 
Pat is correct.  Now that the memory cells have been jogged a bit, I  
recall observing approach-lit operation of semaphores in the Cameron area  in the 
early 1980s, before the single tracking project.  I believe the  semaphores 
that lined the Buffalo Division between Hornell and River Junction  
functioned the same way.
 
I also recalled a Trains Magazine article about Santa Fe  signaling.  It is 
"Santa Fe Sentinels," by B.C. Hellman, in the January  2003 issue.  This 
article is a useful one for students of Erie signaling,  inasmuch as the ATSF 
was another Union Switch & Signal operation and  its 1920s-1930s signal 
installations were contemporaneous with the Erie's.   They involved what appear 
to be identical equipment, Style L  vertically-arranged color light heads 
and H-2 searchlights.   Like Erie, ATSF previously installed US&S semaphores 
before it  converted to color light and searchlight signals.  As the  article 
explains, ATSF continued installing the semaphore signal longer,  for 
reasons having to do with lack of electric power in its territory.
 
Why would Erie semaphores have been approach lit (seemingly the  more 
modern approach) while the color light and searchlight signals, which  came 
later, were constantly lit?  Hellman suggests an answer.  The  Santa Fe insisted 
that all signals continuously display an indication.   While he does not 
suggest reasons why, it avoided uncertainty about whether  a dark signal was 
burned out (usually requiring a stop), and it undoubtedly was  a great help to 
track and signal forces, who relied on lineups in those  days.  A semaphore 
provided a constant indication that could be  observed in daytime and at 
night when illuminated by the headlight of an  approaching locomotive.  Its 
approach-lit lamp was merely  supplemental, and the rules permitted proceeding 
on the indication given by the  blade even where the light was burned out.  
A color-light signal, on  the other hand, had to be lit constantly to 
display a constant  indication.
 
 
The ATSF article does not show any of US&S's triangular-pattern color  
light heads, which were also widely used by Erie.  Based on very limited  
evidence--the fact that they were installed between CB Junction and Salamanca in  
1926 while Style L color light signals were used between CBJ and Hornell in 
1930  and in many other later Erie signal projects--I suspect that the  
triangular-pattern color light heads fell out of favor for new purchases on the  
Erie after the Style L became available, or perhaps were discontinued by  
US&S.  The two types use the same lenses and innards, so the  differences 
were superficial in any case.  (The 1920s US&S  triangular-pattern color light 
signal head should not be confused  with General Railway Signal equipment 
salvaged from former NYC lines  or new Safetran equipment, both of which were 
installed on ex-EL lines by  Conrail.  Similar US&S equipment is being 
installed by NS  today.  CP-ATTICA is an example.)
 
This as good a place as any to note that interlocking signals at three  
sidings connected with the 1980s single tracking between Portage and Gang  
Mills--Swains, Hornell, and Cameron--were set up as approach-lit.

 
 


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