Signals: What I don't know . . .

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        Going south in the sidings at Elkton and Stuart's Draft, there was a switch to take you straight into storage or spur tracks. The signals at the south end of these sidings would indicate Stop. The switches had electric locks on them and you had to talk to the dispatcher to get him to unlock the switch. When the switch was lined for the spur, the signal would turn to Restricting and you could pass the signal. Stuart's Draft is still like that today. Sampson & Lynnwood now have power switches and of course Elkton has been taken up.

Jimmy:
There was a somewhat similar arrangement at the east end of the Belspring
passing siding.   Trains leaving the siding entered single track just west of
Cowan Tunnel.  But there was a lead into the Radford Army Ammunition Depot
and the track was left lined into the plant -- a fail-safe practice just in case an
eastbound passed the stop signal it would head into RAAD and avoid a head-on
collision.  

In 1969 (+ or - )  there was an eastbound merchandise train that passed the stop
signal, went into the ammunition plant and derailed.  Properly spaced, one of the
cars involved was ammunition en route to Wilmington, NC for shipment to Viet
Nam.                                               Harry Bundy

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