12-09-22 PHOTOS: Baltimore Area Wrap Up

Over the last year or so CSX has been engaged in some fairly heavy re-signaling efforts in the Washington DC area due to stimulus dollars being needed to be spent somewhere and the state of Maryland eager to buy the for-profit freight railroad a new signaling system since the last one they bought for CSX in the early 1990s was now slightly less than brand new. Anyway, this has kept me busy documenting the classic Baltimore and Ohio railroad color position light signals and generated several sets of photos that almost nobody here would be interested in at all. However, every so often when I am out on my missions an actual train will trundle by and I will of course take a picture of it as well. Multiply this by many missions and now I have enough photos banked up to actually make them into a full set.

No sense beating around the bush so let's begin this week's installment on the Baltimore Belt Line with CSX SD70MAC #4769 passing the eastbound CPL mast signal at CLIFTON PARK interlocking. This and the following couple of photos will be the last new content generated by my old Olympus 510UZ camera and were taken last November.

Behind it was a Helm leasing SD40-2 #7169. The train had been creeping up on a restricting indication, but it had upgraded to Approach just before passing the signal.

CSX #5292 popping out of the Charles St tunnel on the Baltimore Belt Line.

It was followed by SD40-2 #8804 pushing out a lot of smoke.

Chuchubob can have his BNSF units at Pavonia because when was the last time a Flordia East Coast unit showed up in New Hersey? #502 here is a GP38-2.

CSX SD50 #8581 entering the Charles St Tunnel.

CSX SD40-2 #8437 emerging from the same.

How about some video. Here we have a westbound light engine move including one least unit and Union Pacific C40-8 #9033 knocking down the Approach indication on the Huntington Ave interlocking home signal.



Here a a CSX MoW train including GP38-2S #6155 knocks down the Clear indication on the sam B&O CPL westbound at Huntington Ave interlocking.



Here a welded rail train with three units including former GP30 road slug #2285 pulls onto the North Ave siding over a Medium Approach indication.



Here westbound CSX MoW train heads past the westbound dwarf signal at Huntington Ave interlocking with SD40-2 #8848 in the lead while two C&S employees plot the destruction of the interlocking's B&O heritage.



Here CSX GP38-2 #2746 running lite takes the Clear signal at Huntington Ave.



Sounds like somebody has a bad turbo problems as AC4400's #281 and 97 take the Clear signal at Huntington Ave.



The North Ave siding between Huntington Ave and Mt Royal interlockings is a single block long and both entrances were fitted with 4 orbital B&O CPL signals capable of displaying all signal indications necessary for such a track layout. rarest amoung these is the Medium Approach Medium indication where a train will use the siding to hop around something on the main track. Well mere weeks before the CPLs were ripped out I finally saw this indication displayed for the first time and captured it with a cell phone camera as CSX C40-8W #7702 glided by.

Moving on to CARROLL interlocking which since 2007 has been home to the world's only full complete B&O CPL signal that has both a full target with 8 lamps and all 6 orbitals. Installed new in the early 1990's and then rebuilt in 2007, taxpayer money paid for a completely new CARROLL in 2012 destroying a unique signaling artifact in the process. However that didn't stop me from making a field trip there this summer and catching a Medium Clear indication pulled up on the famous signal for CSX SD40-2 #8432 running elephant style with #8610 and a cut of autoracks.

CARROLL interlocking as the last few autoracks make the diverging movement.

Here we see ES44AC #814 sitting on the Capitol Sub main line west of PA TOWER interlocking which provides access to the Jessup auto terminal. This interlocking is being reconfigured as well as rebuilt to eliminate the need for all sorts of yard moves such as this from needing to occupy the main track.

Here #814 along with C40-9W #9018 reverses back into the yard via a restricting indication. The new interlocking will have the yard track extended all the way through it so that yard moves will have a new tail track to reverse on and another industrial track about 1/2 mile to the rear of me can eliminate its hand operated switch onto the main line.



Also hanging out at Ft Meade Junction is a highly rare GE U-Boat, VULX U23B #2779 that works to shift cars for a cement mixing facility.

Moving along to SAVAGE interlocking we find CSX C44-10W #5300 at the head of an intermodal train as is passes the eastbound bracket mast displaying a Clear indication for the opposite track.

That signal turned out to be for SD70MAC #4891 leading a coal train towards the Port of Baltimore.

I then noticed that the track 2 signal had been fleeted behind the coal train and soon upgrade from Stop and Proceed to Approach and eventually to Approach Medium.



This was for GP40-2 #6020, running lite, to head back into the autorack and local freight yard at Jessup.

Video of #6020 as it bumps and grinds through SAVAGE interlocking.



Here is an odd indication caused by some sunlight shining through the new color light signal. The new color lights will have a total of one or two less lamps between them than the older and safer CPLs will will surely save a great deal of money.

About 2 miles to the east another autorack move sits on the main line with CSX C40-8 #7560 in the number 2 position.

And C44-10W #5443 in the lead.

Next we move on to QN Tower in Washington DC where more 1990'ss vintage CPLs are on the chopping block due to a government financed signaling upgrade. Here we see the new and old eastbound mast signals as a pair of WMATA 5000-series cars pass overhead en route to Rhode Island Ave.

 4000 series car #4023 was in the lead on that train.

This was the weekend of the AAPRCO's convention trip to Chattanooga and a number of the private cars could be spotted hanging around the Union Station terminal complex.



I wrap things up today with some photos taken around Baltimore Penn Station on a Saturday. Here HHP-8 #4913 waits on Track #5 for the Monday morning rush hour.

K-Car bi-lever #7851 in the storage track.

MARC MP36PH-3C engines #13 and 18 sitting at the end of stub track #5.

HHP-8 #4910 sitting nose to ass with K-Car bi-lever #7854 on the storage track.

Well that it is for this time around.