Signal Problems 01/08

My ride home last night from WTC to Newark took one hour. First the conductor played with the doors for five minutes or so before we left. Once underway we were fine until we were held at Journal for about five minutes. Station announcements said there were equipment problems that were causing ten-minute delays. We sat there for five minutes and then departed. We were held just before the bridge over the Passaic River for about fifteen minutes due to signal problems. (We were told the signal department was working on the signals, when they finally got around to telling us what was going on.) We then crept over the bridge and stopped on the other side for 5-8 minutes. We then continued at track speed to Newark.

Had they gotten the doors closed the first time and there not been any signal problems, I had a shot of making the 10:05 PM out of Newark. Instead, I ended up on the 11:00 PM.

My question (and I know I'm not a good railfan for not knowing this already) could the dispatcher given the train a Form D to advance past the problem signals or is there an FRA regulation preventing PATH from doing that?

If there is no regulation preventing it is there a policy at PATH not to do Form Ds? Or is the dispatcher lazy or poorly trained or out to make everyone miserable?

With ten-minute headways, I would think they could still run safely with the railroad dark. Am I missing something?

I asked the Conductor and he replied that the signals over the Hack drawbridge were down (at stop).

Per regulation a "Form D" or their version of permission past a signal at stop cannot be issued until Signal Division employees physically walk the length of the bridge to confirm the rail is properly seated.

So the time to get employees to the location and then troubleshoot the problem and then walk the bridge(both directions) and finally getting permission and securing Interlocking stops can take a long time.

Hope this helps

Thanks, the explanation was very helpful.

The conductor on the train said that the Signal Dept was out there fixing the problem but I didn't realize they would need to walk the entire bridge both ways before allowing a train to cross it without the appropriate signal.

...Also note that the signal circuits associated with any moveable bridge extend way beyond just block occupancy and rails aligned detection... Signal system circuit controllers also check whether the bridge span latches are properly seated and bridge span wedges are properly driven; each of which is a vital check to verify that the "moveable" bridge is mechanically latched and secure in a fixed, closed position. The signal system is also interlocked with the bridge control system such that the bridge controls cannot even have power applied to the control circuits until the signal system interlocking permits it; conversely, the signal system will not permit signals to be cleared until the bridge is verified "locked"; bridge span control power, wedge and latch position and rail alignment are all part of the signal system "checks". So in addition to walking the span checking the rails, the bridge span itself also has to be physically checked to verify all the mechanical locks are in place as well.