Railfan Technology > Defect Detectors

Good Morning Everyone,

I recently started a new website to help fill the defect detector niche at http://www.defectdetector.net.  It seems many of the websites dedicated to information & audio recordings of these have been lost to time, so I'm trying to correct that.

If you have any clips you'd like to contribute, let me know.  Any information or literature on various models & their usage would also be most helpful.

Thanks,

wnyp636

I've made several contributions to this project. The interactive map will become a valuable resources as more detectors get added to the database. Thanks for putting in the time to make this happen.

Very interesting page! I live in an area where I am too far from mainline railroads to hear any radio transmissions on my handheld scanner. I recall the days when I would monitor the RR frequencies and hear the talking detectors. Listening to the audio files reminds me of days when the scanner crackled with all sorts of transmissions. 

I recall that the SP had visual defect detectors at one time. They would display a pattern of lights to indicate the presence and location of a defect. I wonder if there is any documentation of those. 

 

colehour Wrote:
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> I recall that the SP had visual defect detectors
> at one time. They would display a pattern of
> lights to indicate the presence and location of a
> defect. I wonder if there is any documentation of
> those. 
I recall seeing that information in Employee Timetables (ETT). I did a quick look at wx4.org, but didn't find a recent enough ETT.

Arved Grass
Fleming Island, FL

That was the early hot box / defect detectors at a few locations. They had three lights indicating which  side of the train, basically if a light came on stop and inspect for something. The set up also had a large three digit matrix that displayed an axle count, an early version of a dot matrix display, have to go look up how that was used. They were in the special instructions at some point, mid-60's or late 60's or so.

The SP was also known for the red revolving light dragging detectors, which were replaced by the digitized voice recording to allow elimination of the manned caboose.

colehour Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
...
>
> I recall that the SP had visual defect detectors
> at one time. They would display a pattern of
> lights to indicate the presence and location of a
> defect. I wonder if there is any documentation of
> those. 
>
>  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/21 09:43 by TCnR.

TCnR Wrote:
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> That was the early hot box / defect detectors at a
> few locations. They had three lights indicating
> which  side of the train, basically if a light
> came on stop and inspect for something. The set up
> also had a large three digit matrix that displayed
> an axle count, an early version of a dot matrix
> display, have to go look up how that was used.
> They were in the special instructions at some
> point, mid-60's or late 60's or so.
>
> The SP was also known for the red revolving light
> dragging detectors, which were replaced by the
> digitized voice recording to allow elimination of
> the manned caboose.
>
Thanks for information. I do recall the red revolving light detectors now that you mention them. The three-light and three-digit displays were, I think, meant to be read by the caboose crew. The talking detectors eliminated one more reason to keep the cabooses on the trains. 

The 1983 SP Oregon Division ETT has a simplified depiction and detailed info, they call it a Hot Box detector Type C Numerical Display board with Indicator Lights. There have been photos of them posted on TO but I couldn't find anything obvious with a Google search. I have a few photos buried deep in the Logan boxes.

I did find a few more Digitized Defect detector recordings though.

colehour Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
...
>
> I recall that the SP had visual defect detectors
> at one time. They would display a pattern of
> lights to indicate the presence and location of a
> defect. I wonder if there is any documentation of
> those. 
>
>  

If memory serves correctly, and it may not. the axle count displayed was from the rear of the train. Thus the rear end people had the axle count and where to look, more or less.

Here you go-  the detector at Magra, on Donner.   "000" showing for the train that just rolled by.
SR

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