Question about N&W Manual Block Practices

[NW Mailing List]

Mr. Burnett,

     At the time you are referring to, trains stopped to receive, read 
and sign for train orders. So, no picking up orders on the fly.

     Also, good dispatching would have the orders issued prior to 
stations  A & C.

     Neither train could enter the block without a permissive signal, so 
in they went with permission.

     At B, #58 holds the main and the Extra takes siding, unless 
otherwise instructed.

     Normal dispatching would have put some time frame on the meet. 
Otherwise, one train could have sat waiting until someone walked up from 
A or C with new orders.

     By rule book, the train taking siding should clear up some defined 
minutes prior to arrival to the superior train. If it could not make the 
meet, it cleared up at another station and the brakeman went forward to 
flag the superior train. The flagman or conductor should carry new 
orders to the superior train, so that plans do not change and a head-on 
chance occurs. (Which did happen on the NKP).

     WJPowers


On 11/27/2018 11:32 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:
>
> I have a question about N&W >>  practice  <<  in Manual Block 
> territory.  It is not a question of rules, as the rule book and Time 
> Table Special Instructions are silent on this matter, and various 
> railroads handled the situation in different ways.
>
>
> The Manual Blocking of trains was first used in this country in late 
> 1864, on the Belvidere-Delaware RR and the Camden & Amboy RR, by 
> Ashbel Welch, who was Superintendent of both roads.   In about a 
> decade it had spread as a method of operation to most Eastern 
> railroads which handled significant volumes of traffic.  It is my 
> theory that the Shenandoah Valley RR men brought it to the N&W.  In 
> the early days, such a system was called "Telegraph Block System" and 
> sometime in the early 1900s came to be called the "Manual Block System."
>
>
> Mr. Mason Cooper's book contains a number of excellent photographs of 
> two-arm semaphores used at Train Order offices on the Shenandoah 
> Valley in the days before Automatic Block signaling.  The top 
> semaphore arm (with a scalloped end on the blade)  is the Train Order 
> signal, and the bottom arm (with a square end) is the Manual Block signal.
>
>
> So, once you have placed yourself mentally in such an environment, 
> think about this question...
>
>
> Two trains are to meet on single track, and Manual Block Rules are in 
> effect.  A and C are open Train Order offices, and the meet is to be 
> made at B, which is a "blind siding" (no Train Order office at all, or 
> no operator on duty.)  The "block" extends from A to C.
>
>
> The Train Dispatcher puts up the order, "Extra 473 South meet No 58 at 
> B."  No 48 gets this order at A, and Extra 473 South gets the order at 
> C.  No problem, so far.
>
>
> My question is:  What do the operators at A and C do with their Manual 
> Block Signals?  Common sense tells you they  cannot CLEAR their 
> signals, as opposing trains are being headed toward one another from 
> opposite ends of the block.  Do they set their block signals at the 
> PERMISSIVE aspect, or do they hold their block signals in STOP position ?
>
>
> Another element of this question is:  At what speed do the two 
> opposing trains run toward their meeting point at B?  If they received 
> a PERMISSIVE on the block signal arm, they would, by logic, be 
> required to run at (what is today called) Restricted Speed to the 
> meeting point at B.  There is no rule or Special Instruction relieving 
> them of that.
>
>
> There was a line on old Clearance Cards which may hint at a clue.  
> That line said, "Signal is displayed for Train ___ and Train ___  to 
> meet or pass at ___ as per Train Order No. ___."
>
>
> So, how did the N&W handle the twin problem of (1) signal aspect on 
> the Manual Block signals and (2) train speed toward the meeting 
> point?  Neither the Rule Book nor the TT Special Instructions give the 
> answers.  So, this was a matter of practice, not written policy.
>
>
> My guesses, based on no evidence whatsoever, are that Permissive Block 
> aspects were displayed for the opposing trains at A and C, and that 
> both trains just high-balled along at normal speed toward the meeting 
> point.
>
>
> This is not an academic question, but a very practical one.  The 
> situation described probably happened many times a day on the old 
> N&W.  It could have happened  on any single track line, e.g. the North 
> Carolina Branch, the Bristol Line, the Roanoke & Southern, the 
> Shenandoah Valley, the Durham Division, or even on the Main Line when 
> it was single track.
>
>
> As a treat for the man who can give me the answer to these questions 
> (probably Mr. H. Bundy,) I am attaching a digitized copy of the N&W's 
> 1896 "Statement of Block Signals in Use on the Road.  It was given to 
> me decades ago by the venerable Bill Harman, Radford Division 
> telegraph operator and station agent.  At the end of the PDF is a 
> 4-page letter sent to me by Bill in 1988, which mentions some of the 
> Manual Blocking practices on the North Carolina Branch.
>
>
> -- abram burnett
>
>
> ===========================================
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> ===========================================
>
>
>
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