Northfork Branch signals

[NW Mailing List]

There were junction signals prior to the mid-50's in the form of a stand
signal on the branch and a control signal on the main.  The North Fork
Branch main track swung west thru downtown parallel to the WB main and into
Byrd Yard allowing use as a yard lead and for branch movements without
interfering with the main.  Alex Schust's "Billion Dollar Coalfield"
(highly recommended) has a terrific photo of the tracks thru town.  Instead
of venturing onto the main to access the station, even the North Fork
passenger run stayed on the branch track to board passengers in front of
North Fork Drug.  Note the baggage cart.

When a branch job was ready to come out on the main, the brakeman would
call Eckman or the dispatcher(?) for permission and he would respond with a
signal.  The stand signal was near a double crossover that connected the
parallel branch and WB main.  It stood about 3-4 feet high with two red and
a lunar lamp on top.  Normally red, the signal went to lunar, the brakeman
threw the appropriate switches which then knocked the signal back down to
red, and they proceeded onto the main.

The stand signal was interlocked with the control signal (#106L) located
east of the junction on the WB main near the road crossing, allowing WB
movements to stop short of the crossing.  The EB counterpart #106R, also
east of the junction, was apparently used only as the approach signal to
the west end of Powhatan.  The short middle track (called North Fork
Middle) between these two signals was not directly related in that it was
dark and the turnouts, one off each main like a long crossover, were
hand-thrown with electric locks.  In fact, all of the turnouts on both
mains thru North Fork were hand-thrown including crossovers just west of
the station and on the west end of Byrd Yard at the pullout.  The middle
track was used to get electric helpers in the clear while waiting on #4 and
#16.  Usually at night, 2nd 84 would set off refrigerator cars of meat here
for the night job to switch the packing houses nearby.

Grant Carpenter


> Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2013

>

> According to my notes, in the mid-1950's the switch to Northfork Branch

was 

> of the electric-lock, hand-throw type.  There were no signals to govern 

> train movements off or on the branch.  With permission from the

dispatcher, 

> the switch could be thrown by hand if there were no conflicting movements

on 

> the main line.

>

> Louis Newton

>

> > Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2013

> >

> > The Northfork branch was dark (with a register to sign for access if I

> > remember reading correctly).  Does anyone know the signal configuration

on

> > the main relating to the branch?  Was there a signal controlling

movements

> > coming off the branch onto the main?

> > Jim Cochran

> >