Western Railroad Discussion > .

.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/21 21:12 by F40PHR231.

This thought came to my mind. God knows HOW LONG the DRGW searchlights in CO on the Joint Line and Moffat Line will last!

What a great series of photos! Thanks for putting these up.

Wow, thanks for the great photo narrative on the cantilevers and searchlights of Tehachapi. One may wonder how many trains passed under/between them from their first day to final day of service? Thanks again for sharing.

Kent in CArmel Valley

Chris, how did you get those? Riding in the power? Pretty fascinating, all of those signals.

Hey Chris, neat pics from one of the Coast Starlight detours. Are you sure it wasn't 2007? I think it was November of that year when I gave you a ride to Burbank Airport the following day to fly home to PDX.

Rich

Gotcha Chris. I was confusing the years and I think I rode a northbound Starlight detour over Tehachapi in June of 2008 also.

Rich

F40PHR231 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not November 11, 2007, that was another Starlight
> trip on the normal route. The Tehachapi detour I
> was on happened June 22, 2008.

A very sad day today. Nice group of search light photos, Chris. Thanks for sharing.

George Cataulin
San Diego, CA
Left Coast Rail Videos

It's neat to see these and think, thanks to P Ramer, I've seen part of these in person. To expand upon that I'm thinking that many of the people here on TO from all over have seen at least part of these in person. These are some signals that everyone can look at and recall their trip(s) to Tehachapi.

Nice work of getting all of these on here.

Jim

#3 is a great shot Chris

Posted from iPhone

Great series, thanks for the memories.

~Ryan

If I remember, the first photo is Sandcut, the 2nd is Bena.
Nice series of photos.


V

SLOCONDR

Very nice series, thanks for posting. Some of the masts have only one head where there is a facing switch. Why not two heads as seen in other locations?

Tom

Great tour of the old signals however Id really like to see an updated one showing all the new signals and equipment houses for comparison

Yeah, I wasn't paying attention.

UP3806 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Very nice series, thanks for posting. Some of the
> masts have only one head where there is a facing
> switch. Why not two heads as seen in other
> locations?

It's all about the type of signal system, type of main track authority, and the track set up at the location.

In photo 1 at Sandcut, while the control point itself is CTC (Centralized Traffic Control, controlled by the dispatcher), north of there the track is DT-ABS (double track-automatic block system) with a current of traffic on each track. Track 2 to the right in the photo is signaled only in the northward direction going away from the photographer, while track 1 to the left is signaled only in the southward direction coming towards the photographer. Any movements against this current of traffic would require additioinal steps. First the dispatcher would have to block the track on either end of the limits (Sandcut and North Bakersfield). Next they would have to issue a track permit to the affected train between the same points. Finally the dispatcher would either have to flag the train past the control point with verbal authority or request a restricting signal if the signal system allows it (some places do, others don't).

In photo 16 at Cable, there is only a single crossover at the control point. It allows for northbound movements on #1 track to cross over and become northbound on #2 track or for southbound movements on #2 track to cross over and become southbound movements on #1 track. Other moves not falling into that would only be able to go "straight rail" there and would only need a single signal.

In photo 17 at Tehachapi, you have the same situation as at Sandcut. North of Tehachapi is 2MT-CTC, while south of it is DT-ABS. Note that this section of track is since been changed to 2MT-CTC all the way to Mojave and the scenario pictured is no longer in effect.

Interesting stuff....!!! Thanks for sharing.

These are wonderful photos of an important (and rapidly passing) aspect of railroading over Tehachapi that so many of us have known and will miss. While some railroaders will not miss the often-balky and aging searchlight signals, they were still one of the classic and seemingly never-changing parts of railroading over this historic mountain pass. Indeed, they were a final link to the days of the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe. While it is great to see the railroads modernizing, the passing of the icons of our youth is always something worthy of reflection for each of us. These signals, and the masts, cantilevers, and bridges that supported them, will always be remembered and missed by those who experienced them and who equate them with happy memories... Thanks again for the photo tour of Tehachapi!

ShastaDaylight

Thanks for these, really great!

Davus