MOW Finishing Connection at Nasby

Saw the NS MOW putting the finishing touches on the new connection at Nasby today after the diamonds were removed. Wonder how long it'll take them to remove the old NYC signal bridge now? Get your pics of that thing before it's gone.

Is it NS's own crews doing the work or a contractor?

The crew that was there when I drove by was indeed the NS crew. They weren't doing the actual installation of the rails (I'm not sure who did that part), but this crew was doing the ballast work, with the MOW equipment.

I'll have to swing down there Monday morning before class and check it out. Thanks!

Yeah...stopped by this morning on my way to work (sort of). The large signal bridge is now dark (the electricity has been cut off).
Get your pics soon.

I think that might have been from the fact that there were no trains in the block of that signal. I've noticed that the signals on the Chicago Line cut out to dark after a train has passed on to the next signal block. I'll be headed down there tomorrow morning to get pics either way though.

It's called "approach-lit." Conrail, and many other railroads, used it to lengthen the practical life of their signal bulbs. On most railroads it was only used on intermediate (i.e. non-absolute) signals but Conrail used it almost system-wide, IIRC.

~Brian

Brian-

Just to clarify these were not approach lit signals. I have seen it many times when I crossed over the tracks on Westwood and there were no trains in sight and the signals were all red.

Signals were lit as of tonight. All reds except for a clear signal on track 2.

I haven't been by Nasby in a while. So the diamond is gone? I am assuming that a connecting track has been constructed in one quadrant or the other? Was this part of a project I read about quite a while ago whereby the remainder of the Old Road beyond Vulcan into the UT campus was also to eventually be abandoned, with a connector also installed at Vulcan? Finally, is Nasby tower still there, or is it gone, too?

Thanks.

The tower still stands. From what I've heard, it's going to be saved, but I'm not 100% on that.

The diamonds are gone, the connector was built on the north side of the ex-NYC there to connect to the TT. I have also heard the talk of getting rid of the TT trackage beyond Vulcan as well and this could very well be the beginnings of that happening. I haven't been over to Vulcan in awhile now, so I don't remember exactly how much room is over there for a connection.

Thanks for the info. The current Mayor of Toledo, who served two terms previously before being term-limited, had proposed during his first tenure that Nasby tower be preserved. His vision was that it serve as a museum at the terminus of the rail trail that will eventually replace the TT track between Jackman Road and Vulcan. How this trail would cross the NS mainline at Nasby was not explained. I've not heard any updates about this project recently, though. I can see the TT trail happening via Toledo Metroparks, but I'm not sure about the tower project.

Regarding Vulcan, if you look at the curvature of a fence there it looks as if it follows an angle that indicates that there might have been a connecting track at one time.

jimnorthwood wrote:
Regarding Vulcan, if you look at the curvature of a fence there it looks as if it follows an angle that indicates that there might have been a connecting track at one time.

There was indeed another track there at one time. The Toledo, Angola & Western, which is now the University-Parks Trail connected there before it was abandoned and pulled up. I have seen from photos online that there were still pieces of rolling stock (a boxcar and caboose I believe) rusting on that track up until just before it was pulled.

The westbound signals at CP292 are indeed, Approach Lit. I walk my dog here every day at the park. I think the dispatcher can control them if he/she wishes but for the most part, they stay off as long as a train is not between 290 and 292. They were off 20 minutes ago for our walk today, unfortunately. The TT tracks are now gone all the way from Nasby to South Ave.

are the tracks gone to south? I crossed there the other day and it was probably 100ft(guestimate) off the south ave crossing. They had ties set up across the track as they would a little used siding to designate the end of track.

BTW I heard the other day from a friend that Toledo was the only city in the US to have a terminal track (TT) completely circling the city. Toledo should really make some good use of this track to form some sort of a trolley operation on the whole TT and combine it with Tarta. Mock Detroits People Mover maybe extend a track to Downtown like it was so many years ago. I would gladly ride daily to work and back, as it would save alot in gas since its going back up this summer. But im merely a pea(on) in the bowl.