More crossovers at County interlocking?

WHile to a non expert MPF's should be better on the rails and wheels
and give smoother rides,
it looks like for every switch you now have 3 actuators to move rails
instead of one (more things to break or maintain, and you will have to put heaters on them and worry
about snow and ice freezing them up, ... Do MPF's mean more problems in bad weather??
JS

Awesome photos there Mike! Thanks for sharing.

There is a process to throw a MPF switch - for example, if a dispatcher lost control of the interlocking for whatever reason, and the train crew had to throw the switches, they would have to be taken off remote control and put on local, then there are three levers needed to be thrown - the one at the points (like any normal switch) the one in the middle of the moveable point rail on the frog, and the one at the beginning of the frog - I don't remember exact process but a few of them have to be thrown halfway, then thrown all the way

MPF switches don't seem to have too many more problems than other regular switches in the cold - probably because the heaters are upgraded to electric wire instead of hte old kerosene flame heaters, with the exception of Swift interlocking, which it looks like they put a new contraption there again this year to see if they can keep that one working all through the winter.

Elmora is in desperate need of help, those switches from A to 1 and 4 to B are ROUGH, and the track on A isn't very good either, but B is back up to speed, with no restrictions, but there is a NASTY 1 -2 kick around North Rahway that is enough to send ya flying - trust me, i know!

t looks like for every switch you now have 3 actuators to move rails

You don't need to have 2 switch machines on the blades. MNRR even uses a single machine on their 80mph turnouts where Amtrak uses three, but the extra machines for the blades, MPF or not, improve the throw time. Many of the air plants have 2 A-5's on the high # turnouts.

<i>There is a process to throw a MPF switch </i>

Not on the NEC there isn't. All the machines are M-3's which aren't dual control. You need to get MoW people out ther with special cranks. The real annoyance are the 80mph HST's with two machines on the MPF and 3 on the blade. Its sort of like getting the lid off a stuck cookie tin.


<i>probably because the heaters are upgraded to electric wire instead of hte old kerosene flame heaters</i>

The heaters aren't kerosene, they are gas, and they work a lot better than the electric resistance heaters. The ones installed at SWIFT are the forced air variety popular out west. Effective, yet pricy to maintain and operate.

There is a process to throw Moveable point frog turnouts on the M and E at Kearny Jct - thats what I was thinking of -

Im sure everyone has their opinions on the gas - how bout flame heaters, on the NEC, compared to electric heaters - Ive heard both sides, and It just seems to me that NJT doesn't "straight rail" itself during snowstorms, where Amtrak does and they use the gas heaters - coincidence? Maybe The heaters might work, but the switches still dont

In regard to the heaters at Swift, it seems that every year they try something different and still the Midtown Direct trains are diverted to Hoboken almost at the second snowflake. I don't see this year being any different, fortunately or unfortunately, however you wanna look at it (fortunately if you are an NEC or NJCL passenger, unfortunately if you are a Midtown passenger!!!)

There is a process to throw Moveable point frog turnouts on the M and E at Kearny Jct - thats what I was thinking of -

They use dual-control GRS Model 5A machines.

Flame heaters on Amtrak are the same ones that Conrail prefers and have worked very well all over their system in both PA and upstate NY. However, many Amtrak interlockings have been equipped with electric resistance heaters instead of flame. DOCK, MIDWAY, FAIR and I think ELMORA are flame, the rest are electric. The LIRR also uses flame at JAY and HALL.

Jersey_Mike wrote:On the old COUNTY interlocking diagram [the x-over betw 2 and 3] appears to be labeled as a #10 frog, which is 15mph, but its blurry and it could be a #20.

The diagram is semi-illegible, but the crossovers between 2 and 3 are definitely not #20s. FWIW, notice on the diagram they don't have the 45-ft switchpoints like the other x-overs.

No more guesses on why they call them switch frogs???

Here's a hint.

^A horse! Of course!

Jersey Mike wrote:Hey, are all the COUNTY turnouts 45mph, that 32 looks a little sharp to me. On the old COUNTY interlocking diagram it appears to be labeled as a #10 frog, which is 15mph, but its blurry and it could be a #20. The signal back this up as the #3 eastbound signal is unable to give a limited speed indication and #2 westbound can only give a slow speed diverging indication. In fact, I would guess that the lower | on 3 eastbound is to display APPROACH MEDIUM for an APPROACH on the 318 signal which is only 5500 feet away and that a move from 3 to 2 is 15mph.

Oh, RE the next interlockings to be upgraded. I think that ELMORA is high on the list. Those turnouts have just had it and there are many diverging mocements through there. MIDWAY is pretty smooth and its mostly straight rail.

All of the switches at County will be number 20's except for the 45 and 54 switches which will remain as they are. When County is finally cut over new, the home signals will all be high LED's with no triangles. The next interlockings planned to recieve new concrete switches on the NYD are Union in 06, 07 and 08, and Hunter in 07. Of course, everything is subject to change by the minute.

That switch between 2 and 3 is clearly sharper than the others and the signals indicate that it is only good for SLOW speed movements.

Sure-- he said they will be #20s. They're not now-- not the old ones betw 2 and 3, that is.

Oh oh oh oh. Yeah, Ididn't think that needed to be said.

Ok, here's the answer.

A switch frog is named after a part of a horse's hoof. There is a little v-shaped ridge that starts from the indentation in the rear and points toward the fromt. a switch frog looks exactly like it. Just another example of equine terminology migrating to railroads.

So then why aren't they called "hooves" then????? hahaha

In "choochoo U" we were told that it was because they looked like squished frogs after a rain with their arms and legs stretched out - aka Frogger after a run in with a generic computer design semi!!!!!