Tag Archives: #railroad signal

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Grade Signal at Farley

Kris and I arrived at the famous East Deerfield Yard just as Norfolk Southern/Pan Am Southern’s Chicago-Ayer, Mass., intermodal train was rolling though.

We drove east to Farley, location of some Boston & Maine era General Railway Signal searchlight style signals. Once common on many railroads , the searchlight has been out of favor for more than 30 years and today relatively few remain. These are note worthy because they feature ‘G’ plates (for grade), which changes how the most restictive aspect should be interpreted.

When we arrived, the roar of the eastward train filled the valley.

I quickly set up my 3Pod tripod with Nikon Z7-II and made a series of time exposures as the train passed the signals and road crossing.

Soon the NS intermodal train will be routed over CSX’s former Boston & Albany line via Palmer and Worcester. I wonder how much longer the old signals will last?

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Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

SD40-2s and a Hall Disc Signal

We called into Port Clinton on a Sunday afternoon where we found a pair of Reading & Northern SD40-2s switching out a freight. Near the west end of the yard the railroad has erected a replica of a Hall Disc signal.

Born in the Victorian-era, the Hall Disc signal was one of the earliest varieties of electrically actuated ‘automatic’ signals. This simple signal displayed just two aspects, and was assigned to variety of applications on many different railroads. Boston & Albany was among one of the first to use Hall Discs in automatic block service.

Among the many railroads that employed Halls were: New Haven; Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; Lehigh Valley; and Chicago & North Western.

The Reading was among the last railroads to install Hall Discs, and was famous for its late use of this unusual type of hardware, which continued in the 1950s. Several of Reading’s Hall discs have been preserved, including one that is prominently displayed at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

Exposed with a Nikon Z7-II at Port Clinton, Pa.

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