Railroaders' Nostalgia > Operating question

I was looking at am map of Frankfort, IN today on the USGS website. The Monon, PRR and NKP had three diamonds in close proximity, and several wyes, plus the roundhouse and yards of the NKP which used Frankfort as a division point. I know there was at least one small tower, but how did the three RR's coordinate things, especially in the days of heavy passenger traffic. I assume the operators and station agents talked to each other by telephone and knew each other's schedules. I am thinking there were other arrangements as well, such as flagmen, switch tenders, targets and gates to keep everything moving safely and not at a total standstill.

Obviously, there were many such places in every state in the union, where at least three roads crossed in the same vicinity without the benefit of one big interlocking to control it all, and every type of train had to do some type of work throughout the day.

I would like to hear about Frankfort in particular, but other such places in general, from those in the know. There had to have been a lot of give and take between each road.

Wasn't Fostoria like three roads crossing?
PRR,C&O,B&O?


Uncle Joe,Seffner,fl.

retcsxcfm Wrote:
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> Wasn't Fostoria like three roads crossing?
> PRR,C&O,B&O?
>
>
> Uncle Joe,Seffner,fl.

Long ago Fostoria had 5 mainlines:
Lake Erie and Western
Nickel Plate
Hocking Valley
Toledo and Ohio Central
Baltimore & Ohio

The T&OC crossed the B&O and HV(C&O) at F tower so that was a three railroad crossing. NKP is the current NS and LEW is gone in town but crossed B&O about 1/4 to 1/2 mile west and about same distance to the north of F tower.
Also throw in two interurban railroads for fun.

Hard to imagine all that going through town.

Posted from iPhone

Yes, and NYC at the time made four, but Frankfort was a bit more off the beaten path, with not quite the heavy mainline density, and did not seem to have big towers like Fostoria.

Doesn't Frankfort have that signal called the Christmas Tree? Seem to recall a picture with a NKP style signals with 6 heads facing different directions.

Posted from iPhone

Nickel Plate engine 720 is crossing the Pennsy’s Indianapolis to Logansport line at Frankfort, Indiana on August 11, 1954. In a few hours the train will be pulling into Lima, Ohio. Photo courtesy of the Nickel Plate Road Historical & Technical Society, after a short Googling. This came off of the Hoosier Valley RR Museum website.

Doesn't look like much, but based on that, I'm guessing that at least our 'Christmas tree' signal was manned with a simple machine...I have no idea about how the Monon tied into all this mess-based on where that photo was taken, It seems to me the photographer is standing on the Monon, and it appears to be unguarded?!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/14 17:07 by DrLoco.

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Where this photo was taken was yard limits, so they weren't running trains through town at 50 MPH. The PRR diamond had a smashboard across it in later years (...picture in PRR rail facilities book.

The signals seen on the elevated shanty are train order signals, and I think the other crossings were protected by STOP signs, and governed in respective rulebooks with instructions for 'non-interlocked railroad crossings at grade'.