Eastern Railroad Discussion > New style of NS intermediate signals GF&S south of Macon, GA

New singnals were installed of GF&S south of Macon with isntallation of PTC.  Internmediate signal pictured is at MP 50.4G south of Pinehurst, GA, near intersection of US 41 and Libery Church Rd.  There are similsr signals north of Warner Robins.  Any reason for mounting on signal bungalow other than cost savings?

John

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Same set-up for the signals south of Valdosta as well.  I would imagine it is much cheaper to put them on the bungalow so there is no requirement for separate cement pads to mount the signal.

So why didn't they always do it that way?

Didn't some of the old GRS & US&S signals have the relay boxes under the pole and mounted to the ground?

Same on the "NKP" for years

Mounting on the doghouse is for flood mitigation. It makes the whole schmeer weigh more so it doesn't float away...on my flood prone territory almost ALL the signals are elevated. 

I don't think it is for floods, the expensive electronics stuff inside would be trashed and I've seen these box mounted signals on hills where if the water ever got that deep you need to call Noah and gather animals. Probably mostly cost, gets rid of a lot of underground wiring between separate cabins and signals. But CSX has bungalows on stilts for flood mitigation around Brunswick and Point of Rocks along the Potomac River.
Gonut



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/19 07:02 by Gonut1.

Seen the same in NC.

For one thing, you don't have to do periodic testing of the underground cable between the house and signal, it all is internal wiring to the house. Getting time from the dispatcher to do testing is nuts on some railroads with the amount of traffic, especially in single track territory. 

NJ Transit has signal cases at Bay Head yard set up on 6 foot high concrete slabs.  The area was under several feet of salt water during superstorm Sandy.

This kind of a setup has been used at a number of locations on ex-N&W nee-Wabash trackage in mid-Missouri near Moberly for several years now. I've seen them elsewhere here and there on NS, too. None of those locations were flood- prone. I think it's probably just a matter of efficiency that they're used. I call such installations "signal-in-a-box".

MC
Muskegon, Michigan