Nostalgia & History > Tajiguas hot box detector

I was attempting to get some photos of the SP hot box detector at Hope Ranch in Santa Barbara at night with never a good photo being produced. I found the one at MP344.63 at Tajiguas, east of Gaviota, to be a better subject because its design was better for night shots. It had separate bulbs for the number display instead of the flip up panels and even illumination over them like the Hope Ranch scanner. I was out there one evening and set up waiting for a freight and caught a very late Amtrak Coast Starlight #12 with a private car on the end by chance. I think it is an SP business car headed to LA. Hard to tell that night as it went by at about 55 MPH...... C.C.Chas.

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Now THAT is a great shot!

888...highball the scanner!

steamjocky

I have never seen those display stands at detectors.

What are they for and what do they display?

jst3751 Wrote:
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> I have never seen those display stands at
> detectors.
>
> What are they for and what do they display?
They're not in use anymore being replaced by talking detectors.
The way they worked was they would display the axle with the hot box by a number, counting from the first axle on the power. Simply counting from the front until the problem axle's number lit up.

Butch,,,,,,here we go

truxtrax Wrote:
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> jst3751 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I have never seen those display stands at
> > detectors.
> >
> > What are they for and what do they display?
> They're not in use anymore being replaced by
> talking detectors.
> The way they worked was they would display the
> axle with the hot box by a number, counting from
> the first axle on the power. Simply counting from
> the front until the problem axle's number lit up.

Thanks

Also, the 3 lights above the display would indicate left - right, or both sides of the train. When it was activated, you would keep looking at it, and noting the total display. It would change if you had more than 1 defect location. The head-end would look back until it was out of sight, and, of course, the rear-end crew had the last say if it was a "Highball the Scanner!"

That is a great shot. I personally "Highballed" that scanner display a hundred, or so, times ... nice to see a shot of it maintained for history.

Take Care, Stay Safe, Have Fun!

Larry

That's a neat, one-photo story. Thanks for posting. Gerry

To quote one of our "beloved" SP conductors back in the 80's, Joe Zuckerman..."Highball the eyeball!"

It is a business car

spengr80 Wrote:
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> To quote one of our "beloved" SP conductors back
> in the 80's, Joe Zuckerman..."Highball the
> eyeball!"


Also Jumping Joe used to say "Highball the Gizmo !"...