Mystery Object in Photo

what are the black squares in the tracks at the bottom of this picture?

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=73892

Notice that they are past the last car on the tracks also

Don't take my word for it but,

see how there are the signals above the track? Well, I think when the train runs over them, this automatically switches a green or yellow light to red. I forgot what they are called.

I could be wrong though.

Those are dragging-equipment detectors. If a train car has something loose and hanging below it, it could hit a switch and cause the train to derail or worse. I think those black squares are hinged at the bottom and have some sensor connected to them, though I haven't actually looked at them close up.

There was an accident in a subway in Philadelphia about a decade ago caused by dragging equipment hitting a switch.

F40, Lucius is correct. That is either a DED (Dragging Equipment Detector) or a HBD/DED (Hot Box Detector / Dragging Equipment Detector).

Since it looks like that photo was on Amtrak's NEC, I would assume that it is a HBD/DED.

The closest detector to your location is a HBD @ MP 208.7 on the NEC, just a bit less than a mile & ahalf west of Sharon Station. If you are ever near a scanner when a train goes pass this location, you will hear it annunce the results of the inspection over the radio and this detector's name is "Hawk".

Also, just most equipment defect detectors announce the results over the radio, however some send a print-out to the dispatcher's desk.

The black flappy thinggies in question are NOT in fact the flaps of a Dragging Equipment Detector. The dragger is in fact located between the near black flappy thinggies and the black flappy thinggies way in the distance past the signal. You can sort of see it in line with the white relay shed. While in my 2002 ETT it is listed as Hotbox only, it does appear to have DED capability. The fixed flaps you noticed first are there to probably attempt to knock dragging equipment loose before it triggers an alarm. All NEC defect detectors between WAS and NYP report to dispatching offices.

They are called "ice breakers". Their purpose is to break off any ice that might be hanging under the moving train and would cause a false dragging equipment alarm.

It's most likely a hotbox detector, but some can measure other things like dragging equipment and speed of the train. On the shoreline in Connecticut they are located in East Haven, Old Lyme (Soundview), and Groton (Midway). When a train runs over it a message is given. "Amtrak East Haven Tk. 2 tempature 70 degrees no defects." After this the Engineer will call to the dispatcher and tell them no defects.

yeah, rather than saying:

"Amtrak East Haven, track one, temperature six-three degress, no defects, total axle count two-eight, train speed six-nine"

I wonder why those don't announce the total axles plus the train's speed, these are very critical, unlike the CP CSXT B & A main line, in which most of those HBD/DED's announce the axle count plus train speed.

Robert Paniagua wrote:yeah, rather than saying:

"Amtrak East Haven, track one, temperature six-three degress, no defects, total axle count two-eight, train speed six-nine"

I wonder why those don't announce the total axles plus the train's speed, these are very critical, unlike the CP CSXT B & A main line, in which most of those HBD/DED's announce the axle count plus train speed.

Since there's not as much freight on the NEC, axle counts might be left ot because if there was a defect it wouldn't be as difficult to find it on a 10 car train as opposed to on CSXT's main where your train could be 100cars or more long.

Swedish Meatball wrote:It's most likely a hotbox detector, but some can measure other things like dragging equipment and speed of the train. On the shoreline in Connecticut they are located in East Haven, Old Lyme (Soundview), and Groton (Midway). When a train runs over it a message is given. "Amtrak East Haven Tk. 2 tempature 70 degrees no defects." After this the Engineer will call to the dispatcher and tell them no defects.

The engineer does not call the dispatcher to tell the result of the inspection. The engineer simply replies to the detector as an acknowledgement of the detector's results.

I didn´t know that there are freight trains on the NEC, is this regular now?

There have always been freight operations on the Corridor, be it owned by PRR, Penn Central, for one nanosecond after C-Day (4-1-76) Conrail, and Amtrak thereafter.

Amtrak effectively "bought' the Corridor from Conrail by allowing its freights to use it. While I should properly defer to others on this point, i believe the "accounts were settled" prior to the 1999 CSX and/or NS acquisition of Conrail.

As far as freights on the NEC (local freights only) between Boston and New Haven, CT.:

New Haven to Mill River: CSXT & Providence/Worcester

Mill River to Pawtucket RI: Providence & Worcester

East Junction (Attleboro, Ma.) to Transfer Interlocking, just east of RTe128 Station: CSXT

No freights between east of Transfer Interlocking and west of Cove Interlocking.

Yes, and also the section just south of the RTE 128 passenger station along the University Avenue Industrial Park, for the little Branch that serves that park, plus the distribution centre in Norwood, so that's another place for NEC Freight trains.

Also, I think they should modify the HBDs to include axle count and speed for even passenger only trains for safety purposes.

theres a hot box detector in Sharon at MP 208.7