N&W Automatic Block Signals, 1912 and 1915

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Attached are two small PDF files containing abstracts of pages from the Railway Signal Association Journals for 1912 and 1915. 

The abstract from the 1912 Journal contains an article on the installation of an automatic block signal system between Columbus and Chillicothe, and the abstract from the 1915 Journal contains an article concerning the installation of automatic block signaling between Dwight and Poe, and between Bluefield and West Vivian. 

These articles give details of the N&W's construction of its own power generating houses, the construction of 4400v AC transmission lines, and the operation of the new AC semaphore signal systems. 

On reading the articles, my first question was, Did these AC signal systems replace a previous automatic block signal system? A check of C.D. Potts' article, "When Signals Were New," published in N&W Magazine, vol. 10, issue #2, seems to indicate that there were no previous automatic block signal systems in place. 

My second question is, How long did the power houses, the 4400 volt transmission line and the AC track circuits remain in place? Does anyone have the answer to these questions? 

My final question is, When (and where) where the last AC track circuits retired on the N&W? 

Oh, that I had asked these questions in the 1960s, when there were still people around who remembered such things! But back then, I didn't even know what questions to ask... 

-- abram burnett 

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