I guess this the best place to post this question, even though it predates LA&L ownership of the B&H by 80-100 years. What kind of signalling did shortlines/branchlines like the B&H use when multiple trains were operating? Keuka Lake Memories mentions that the B&H sometimes ran as many as 8 trains per day during the busy summer excursion season. What system(s) did they use to avoid collisions and keep the trains on schedule? I've walked the entire original mainline and I've never seen any evidence of semaphores or lighted signals...
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B&H multi-train operations
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A very good question! I can also only think of one passing siding on the entire line, and I think that was installed to serve the former Westinghouse plant.
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I don't know if even that siding was there back then or if it was built later. There were passing tracks at Taylor/Great Western but I don't know if they were freight only or if passenger trains used them, too.
The B&H was apparently busy enough to warrant assistance from the nearby K&P's steam engine Hulda (as per Keuka Lake Memories) so I have to presume that more than 1 train must have been running at a time. Remember, the track speed on the B&H was never very high, and there were alot of station stops- Cold Springs, Rheims, etc. The question still stands: how did the B&H handle multiple trains per day?
As far as I've seen, Old Huldy only went to the B&H for repairs (such as after the December 1, 1912 engine house fire), not as power for the B&H. I'm open to correction, but my guess is as Les said - the same equipment made several round trips, as a different train number each time. Matt - can you find any schedule or timetable which shows overlapping times?
According to Keuka Lake Memories, K&P did in fact loan out Hulda to the B&H as needed, especially during the busy excursion season. This was also remembered by an elderly neighbor (r.i.p. Grace French [1892-1982]) in Hammondsport. She even remembered the old "Kick and Push" monicker! I never bothered to ask her about train frequencies, schedules or signals because she died just a few years after I moved there- I was just 13.
I actually have an old B&H passenger ticket somewhere in my archives and I'm trying to find it to see what (if any schedules) are printed on it. Furthermore, I've never seen a single picture of B&H engines tripleheading, so the evidence still leads me to believe that more than 1 train was likely to be running. I'm also open to correction, but I would like some hard evidence. This was the era when the B&H became one of the most profitable branchlines of the Erie RR.
I actually have an old B&H passenger ticket somewhere in my archives and I'm trying to find it to see what (if any schedules) are printed on it. Furthermore, I've never seen a single picture of B&H engines tripleheading, so the evidence still leads me to believe that more than 1 train was likely to be running. I'm also open to correction, but I would like some hard evidence. This was the era when the B&H became one of the most profitable branchlines of the Erie RR.