SwingMan wrote: ↑Mon Oct 14, 2019 9:23 am
What was the story (if any) of MS Interlocking from this period of time? Why an interlocking kind of dropped in the middle of S251 territory?
To speed up the meets. It also made things a lot easier on the operator at PD. At the time you had the 10 block limits east of PD, so they looked at where would be a good point to drop in an interlocking. Considering that Speonk was considered the limit of commutation, they looked at doing it between PD and SK. Now with an interlocking, the operator could tuck away the first one there (if it fits) and then give the second one straight rail without having to do paperwork (...so-and-so take siding...). Crew stays onboard without having to bend iron, ready to copy the paperwork. I get one train in, it reports clear and then I can get railroad and paperwork for the other guy to move on past MS. Once that train reports clear, I can line the siding to the main and go in for his paperwork. Simple, easy and fast for all involved. An elegant solution with a minimum of cost. It may have eliminated at operator job at MS also.
