Trainline/Telegraph on the Reading

Opposite Southampton Station

So I went into the box today to see what was there, and it was a cable termination. There wasn't much labeled in there, but from the type of cable, and its location (directly across the tracks from the old signal mast) I'm fairly certain that there might have been relay(s) and transformer(s) here to drive a southbound DS signal mounted onto the mast at the station. There would have been another cable to go up the pole to tap the wires of the NWP circuit from below County Line, but the corresponding pole is long gone. I've heard accounts that there had been such a signal here. I previously doubted this, because the signal wouldn't have been able to protect the north end of the passing track, but I believe the north switch had been straight-railed towards the end of service for whatever reason, since only one train operated on the branch at a time. From old track charts, I know that the southbound DS had previously been located somewhere north of Street Rd, possibly even in Churchville. Still not sure of its exact location. If anyone can confirm or refute any of what I've posted, I would welcome it.

Lime, thanks for checking it out. Are you saying that old mast was used for a illuminated signal at one point? You are aware there is another mast a few feet from the Street Road overpass (behind the weeds). I never saw any evidence of signals being on those masts (as a stupid kid, I climbed to the top of both of them years ago). I always thought those masts were used as semaphores only.

From what I remember, the north switch is still intact, although maybe its just the rails that are left with the switch mechanism gone (as is the case for one of the freight sidings on Jaymore Road). Last time I saw the siding used was for storage of disabled RDC's back in '83.

I have a track chart from '79 only shows the County Line signal and a signal at Southampton (of course the chart mentions that train movement is governed by timetable and train orders only).
http://s85.photobucket.com/albums/k58/j ... kChart.gif

jfrey40535 wrote:there is another mast a few feet from the Street Road overpass (behind the weeds). I never saw any evidence of signals being on those masts

That could have been for the "tell-tail", as used with the Lionel Operating Brakeman Car, so the guy riding the roof boards knows when to duck for the bridge. Reading Company may have used a 2nd pole on the other side of the tracks so they could use spanwire across the track instead of the brackets that Lionel had to use with only one pole.

jfrey40535 wrote:Lime, thanks for checking it out. Are you saying that old mast was used for a illuminated signal at one point? You are aware there is another mast a few feet from the Street Road overpass (behind the weeds). I never saw any evidence of signals being on those masts (as a stupid kid, I climbed to the top of both of them years ago). I always thought those masts were used as semaphores only.

I went back there yesterday to find the mast you speak of near Street Road. All I could find was the double-mast at the north end of the siding. Being on the engineer's side, it would have governed northbound moves. Just north of Street Road, however, I did not find any signal masts, but there was another splice box on the east side which evidently tied aerial line circuits to an underground cable. It was a 12 conductor, but only 9 were terminated. 9 conductor is a standard for signal lighting, so I imagine there was a southbound signal on the east side here? There's not even a foundation or anything. I expect to find it fully operational in some local railfan's back yard.

jfrey40535 wrote:From what I remember, the north switch is still intact, although maybe its just the rails that are left with the switch mechanism gone (as is the case for one of the freight sidings on Jaymore Road). Last time I saw the siding used was for storage of disabled RDC's back in '83.

Well the mechanism is still there, and the point detector/circuit controller is obliterated. The points are disassembled and moved, and I think it unlikely that some vandal kids are going to move a switch point around with common household tools for no apparent reason, and this doesn't appear to have anything to do with the fiber optic project, as with the severed track down by the station.

In other news, The 1963 Philadelphia Div. TT and the 1967 Special Instructions would seem to prove me wrong about there not being ABS north of Bryn Athyn. They also show the Stony Creek branch as ABS territory. So I guess the company did a proper job of scrapping/recycling the system north of Bryn Athyn, because there's practically noting left of it. I guess that shows the thriftiness of the company compared to the apparently wasteful Conrail/SEPTA MO of shutting it off and leaving it there to rot. I would really love to find any information about the system if it exists.

Lime, you're forgetting about the signal just south of County Line Rd, which is still intact, although engulfed in weeds. If you go to check it out (bring some shears), you can easily access it through the industrial park west of the crossing. Since recent events seem to indicate that the line won't be coming back, its hard to tell how long the artifacts will remain. I'm wondering if the NB signal in Lorimar park will remain though once the trail goes in. There's also one standing south of Bethayers.

jfrey40535 wrote:Lime, you're forgetting about the signal just south of County Line Rd, which is still intact, although engulfed in weeds. If you go to check it out (bring some shears), you can easily access it through the industrial park west of the crossing. Since recent events seem to indicate that the line won't be coming back, its hard to tell how long the artifacts will remain. I'm wondering if the NB signal in Lorimar park will remain though once the trail goes in. There's also one standing south of Bethayers.

Yeah, but the signal at County Line wasn't a block signal by definition, because it did not convey information about track occupancy. It just conveyed the position of switches/derails ahead. Green meant everything was lined normal, yellow meant something was open. Perhaps it was an automatic block signal before. I'm familiar with the four remaining automatics between Fox Chase and Ayres. The Ayres home signals are still there too. The northbound is mostly intact, while the southbound was evidently used for a target.

There are a few other remnants of the trainline and signal system north of Southampton. Just below Churchville station, a southbound dual signal mast still stands. The battery box and pole for this signal are / were also still in place. At the north end of the reservoir viaduct, there is another splice box which can be easily seen from Elm Avenue. Between that point and Holland Road, there are a pair of signal masts and a couple relay cases, the latter of which supported the Holland Road grade crossing. I remember the southbound signal mast having a searchlight signal mounted and active as late as 1978, although my recollection is that it only showed an approach aspect. Further out toward Newtown, there were phone boxes at Holland station and at the Buck Road overpass, pretty sure the station box is intact, not sure about the one at the bridge.

Hello,

There was telegraph use on the RDG. Shawmont Station still has their telegraph, which dates to 1870. John

Might this be a old phone box? This is at CP Bridge on the Elm St portion of SEPTA's Noristown line. These boxes are all over the line between here and East Falls.

That's a newer phone box.

How new? Still from the Reading era I assume? I wonder if they still work, or just haven't been removed yet (although there's no need for them now). Were'nt the old ones made of wood? I think there may be a wood one in Warminster, will check next time I'm up that way.

Yes, and even newer ones, still pre-Conrail, were fiberglass.

JimBoylan wrote:

jfrey40535 wrote:there is another mast a few feet from the Street Road overpass (behind the weeds). I never saw any evidence of signals being on those masts

That could have been for the "tell-tail", as used with the Lionel Operating Brakeman Car, so the guy riding the roof boards knows when to duck for the bridge. Reading Company may have used a 2nd pole on the other side of the tracks so they could use spanwire across the track instead of the brackets that Lionel had to use with only one pole.

I doubt that there was ever a tell-tale at Southampton since the Street Road overpass is a relatively new bridge which was built in the late 60's / early 70's when Street Road was widened to four lanes. Street Road crossed the line at grade prior to that.

limejuice wrote:From old track charts, I know that the southbound DS had previously been located somewhere north of Street Rd, possibly even in Churchville. Still not sure of its exact location. If anyone can confirm or refute any of what I've posted, I would welcome it.

There was definitely a SB signal at Churchville, the mast is still standing just south of the station and the battery box was still there, at least up to a year or so ago.

The track is coming out soon according to a report,it is going "rails to trails". just what we need............

RDGTRANSMUSEUM wrote:The track is coming out soon according to a report,it is going "rails to trails". just what we need............

Are you referring to the Newtown line? We are already painfully aware of the demise of the Bethlehem branch between Coopersburg and Hellertown. Although there's been rumors for years, lifting the rail on the Newtown line would be new news, especially since the line has never been officially abandoned. Anyone seen a STB filing?