Lighted signal but no track

Hi all...

I searched in my bookmarks and others. But I cant find the link to the pictures of the lonely signal light with red light on. There is no tracks as it was pulled out years ago.

Due to STB (not STB but older name that escape my mind at this moment), that signal must be remain in the spot and shows red. I cant recall why it is remain there nor where it is.

It's somewhere in NYS and I wanted to say it was on LV line but I can be wrong.

I thought it was in Railfan.net but I cant find it.


I think it was called ghost signal or something.

Thanks

The lit signal was indeed on LV, but it was down in PA. It remained lit until a vandal shot out the lens and bulb.

Matt Langworthy wrote:The lit signal was indeed on LV, but it was down in PA. It remained lit until a vandal shot out the lens and bulb.

the thread mentioned that it still have signal men came to this post and maintain the lights (changing out dead blubs and etc)

Do you know the link to that?

Here is that thread.......it was at Lehighton Interlocking in Lehighton, near the old Packerton Yard. The signal had
to be maintained because of the way the wiring was done, and when the signals were upgraded, only then was that
"ghost signal" able to be removed.

Charlie

http://forums.railfan.net/forums.cgi?bo ... 76;start=7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Charlie-

Awesome! thanks for link!

damn... I was hoping to see this one day... Oh well... wow... its more than 10 years ago that I first heard of this. I thought it was like 5 years ago... time flies by too quickly!!!!

sd80mac wrote:Charlie-

Awesome! thanks for link!

damn... I was hoping to see this one day... Oh well... wow... its more than 10 years ago that I first heard of this. I thought it was like 5 years ago... time flies by too quickly!!!!

You are welcome! I took a look through the thread.......it was removed in 2009, but it sure doesn't seem
like it has been that long. Time indeed flies!

Charlie

Years ago I heard some stories that here in NY they pulled track on the LV before the signals were turned off, resulting in the same thing, red signals lit for an empty ROW. Supposedly around Rochester Junction, although I guess that lasted intact through about 1980 for Conrail to run to Lima and back.

You'd think they'd have moved the signal head next to the shelter, or maybe just stuck a bulb inside to mimic the signal, rather than go to the trouble of keeping the standing signal running...

tree68 wrote:You'd think they'd have moved the signal head next to the shelter, or maybe just stuck a bulb inside to mimic the signal, rather than go to the trouble of keeping the standing signal running...

The reason the signal had to remain goes beyond the bulbs. GRS and USS searchlight signals also contain integral relay contacts which provide feedback on the position of the relay ( and corresponding signal aspect ) which were wired into the interlocking. If they displayed any other aspect than stop, other routes through the interlocking could not be cleared.

LV signals in western NY were off long before the track was pulled up. A speeder run was made (summer '76??") from somewhere east of the river, almost to Buffalo with no signals lit. In fact, at one point a small part failed on the speeder, and a replacement was fashioned from material scrounged from a relay bungalow or cabinet.

The WB approach signal to P&L Jct (auto 3881?) stood just south of my inlaw's farm in Caledonia. It remained lit thru mid-summer 1976. I believe it was finally extinguished after taking a direct hit from a rifle shot.

...FB

Per ConRail Northeastern Region Buffalo Division (L-V District) Bulletin Order No. 1050 dated at Buffalo, NY December 31, 1976, third paragraph:

Signal System on that portion of the Main line (L-V District) between MP 329, East of Ordnance and MP 438, Niagara Jct. Interlocking, Depew, NY, discontinued.

Many signals remained illuminated for some time after the discontinuance, however. Recall during the summer of 1977 speaking with a employee of Montel Metals who was with a crew removing the C&S lines and poles near the Old Dutch Road grade crossing east of Mendon. He related when removing certain wires in wayside relay boxes that the sparks would fly as the batteries were still very hot.

Would you um, happen to know how that came about....?

joshuahouse wrote:Would you um, happen to know how that came about....?

The current may have been kept on for a long time after traffic stopped, and/or the batteries were in good condition with little drain and thus still had voltage when removed.

Based on TBD's post, that speeder trip may have been 1977, not 1976.

It was just one of those stories someone was telling, BS'ing, most of what I know now about how that all came up doesn't jibe with it, unless some section of LV had the same problem as at Lehighton and had to retain a working signal, but because most of the rest of what was first kept all came out by 1980 nobody caught on to it.

Seems to me that after a few sparks they'd start disconnecting batteries first -