Why do lightly used lines have block signals

Why do some lightly used lines (such as the Lehigh Line north of Allentown Yard) still have block signals that the rr continue to maintain? If a line only has, say 5 trains a day, why not just space the trains out so the line is never occupied by more then 1 train at a time, which is usually the case.

carajul wrote:Why do some lightly used lines (such as the Lehigh Line north of Allentown Yard) still have block signals that the rr continue to maintain? If a line only has, say 5 trains a day, why not just space the trains out so the line is never occupied by more then 1 train at a time, which is usually the case.

Your guess is as good as mine! Maybe because it would be cheaper to maintain the line if they keep the current infastructure and signal system the same... I'm sure it would cost more to upgrade the signals... Going to dark territory(Form D) would probably be tough with 5 trains a day. You never know they may add some in the future if traffic warrants it....

Speaking of which, what are the current trains that run up the old Lehigh Valley north out of Allentown?

I can think of the following
1) NS 30T
2) NS 31T
3) CP 38T
4) CP 39T
5) R&N Turn

Did I miss a few? What route does the 12T/13T take??

Don't forget locals running up to Hazelton as well. Certainly more than five trains per day. Also the R&N is separate from NS now so I don't think we can count them.

From Coalport (just north of Jim THorpe), where the
R&N crosses from the west side to the east side of the
Lehigh river to run north, R&N and NS have separate tracks going north
to Penn Haven Junction (I think thats what it is called, about 5-10 miles
north of Coalport). Actually, just north of Coalport both tracks switch
back to the west side. I forget if the tracks are exCNJ or ex LV at this point

At Penn Haven, the NS track veers west to go to Hazelton.
NS traffic destined for points north (Scranton area), going
up the Lehigh River gorge, then switches to the RN track which
keeps following the river.

I read somewhere that NS has a daily round trip from Hazelton
down to Lehighton and back. I don't think the job goes all the
way to Allentown, but memory could be wrong. So there probably
is an Allentown-Lehighton daily local roundtrip on NS.

From Coalport down to Lehighton, I think R&N has rights to use
the NS down to Lehighton on the east side of the river. I'm guessing it is single track. (R&N
may have their own track on the west side too). But I don't know
how often RN goes to Lehighton, and on whose track.

Maybe this should be moved to Pennsylvania Railfan forum?

JS

Another point to consider is the push to protect switches in "dark", or unsignalled territory. FRA may not be so inclined to allow signals to be removed nowadays. In addition, it's a long and costly regulatory process to remove pre-existing signal systems.

Probably related to the same reason that signals are still in place on abandoned lines.

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