Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site lsuc.UUCP
Path: utzoo!lsuc!msb
From: msb@lsuc.UUCP (Mark Brader)
Newsgroups: net.railroad
Subject: Re: More Signalling: NYC time conventions.
Message-ID: <1087@lsuc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 30-Jan-86 04:21:52 EST
Article-I.D.: lsuc.1087
Posted: Thu Jan 30 04:21:52 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 30-Jan-86 06:56:51 EST
References: <1343@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Reply-To: msb@lsuc.UUCP (Mark Brader)
Organization: Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto
Lines: 70
Summary: 

Well, I did enjoy Bernard S. Greenberg's second NYC signalling
article, and I want to comment on a few points, making more remarks
about Toronto.

> [Someone please forward to MSB!!]

If it gets to the ARPA railroad list, it gets to net.railroad on Usenet,
and I see it.

> In the new scheme, there is (or was at the time I studied) one home signal
> on the outbound (J1) track at East New York Station (Jamaica BMT) with
> a -blue- light for the third diverging route!

In Toronto, a blue light marks an emergency power shutoff switch.
There's one at each end of each station and one every 500 ft or so
between stations -- usually one on each side of the tracks, in fact.

> Do you in fact know it to be that there is no difference in indication
> between [Toronto] R and R/R?

Only by observed behavior of the trains.  Certainly both are equipped
with trippers.

(In fact, I forgot to mention before that at one time some of the
terminal stations were equipped with extra trippers along the
platform, to make sure trains didn't speed up on entering the
station.  There were no signals at these trippers because the trains
were going slowly enough that the drivers could see them easily anyway.
The lines have now been extended beyond the stations that had these.)

> Let us call this state of a signal, in which the signal
> would be clear but for the timer not having timed out, the "GT State"
> (invented adhoc terminology).

I wish I'd thought of inventing terminology; it'd've made my description
of the Toronto system more comprehensible.

> Stop (tripper) management is not
> affected by GT or ST; it is at a lower level of modularity.

In other words, if you see a stop signal, there's a tripper, even
if it's really a timing signal?  Same here.

> GT is the standard speed control mechanism.  An orange, non-electrical sign
> of either of the forms
>    T
>   35
> or
>   GT
>   40
> indicates the entry to the first timing block of a series of GT's, and the
> speed required in MPH.

The same sign is used here, except it's white on black, and may be
electrical if the restriction is for a junction.  There are also fixed
signs "O", "S", and "P", for power off, slow (or series), and power on
(or parallel), which the drivers take as hints.  About half a dozen steep
downgrades also have instructions to apply certain amounts of braking
at certain points, written in full, e.g. "All trains 1/3 brake", then
"All trains brakes off".

As for the ST timing, I don't believe we have any such thing here.

> Have I bored everybody yet, or do you want to hear about approach
> signals, interlockings, and relays?

I for one would love to.  Don't expect any more from me, though!

Mark Brader, Toronto... ihnp4!utzoo!lsuc!msb
			From ARPA, append @seismo.ARPA (I think)