18-08-25 PHOTOS: OAK

Amtrak OAK Interlocking is located behind a mobile home park directly off US 40 between Aberdeen and Havre de Grace, MD. Due to an earlier re-signaling effort that took place between Amtrak GRACE and BACON interlockings north of OAK, I thought it might be a good idea to document things a bit so I wouldn't be forced to later. In addition to the Amtrak action I caught at OAK, I have also included a bunch of Baltimore area transit that I used commuting to a conference downtown. You can view the photo gallery here or on Google photos.

OAK is located at Milepost 63 on the Philadelphia to Washington line. It is directly south of GRACE interlocking and works in conjunction with PERRY interlocking. For this the layout consists of a single trailing point crossover from track 3 to track 4. There is also a connection off track 2 for the Havre de Grace industrial track. OAK used to mark the southern end of a 4-track segment between there and GRACE where freights and whatnot could wait to cross the 2-track Susquehanna River bridge and, more often than not. proceed up the Port Road to Enola yard. Today the NEC is three tracks through OAK, but the presence of a labeled 1S signal, a dead 2S signal on the southbound gantry and 19 switch hint at the former layout.

The single #43 turnout remains operated by US&S A-5 pneumatic point machines. The 19 switch to the industrial track was converted to electric in the early 2000's. Here we see the southward air compressor plant and a pneumatic valve for the 43A points.

Here we see northbound Acela Express power car #2024 passing by the old OAK relay house. OAK was originally controlled from a CTC style machine in PERRY tower along with other area interlockings like GRACE, PRINCE and a number on the Port Road. The Penn Central vintage interlocking sign is one of just a handful left in service.

Passing the northbound Acela (just visible in the background) was a southbound Regional led by ACS-86 #606. Sometimes southbound Regionals are pulled into the center track #3 between GRACE and OAK to allow Acela Express trains to overtake them on track #4. 

This strange building turned out to be an MoW tool house. Upon closer inspection, Penn Central paint could still be identified. 

18-08-11 PHOTOS: PHOENIX

My emergency trips to document classic signaling wasn't restricted to the former Pennsylvania Railroad territory. The former Reading Railroad main line, already re-signaled by Conrail in the 1980's, was facing another round of replacement that would eliminate the Rule 251 ABS operation along with the remaining small target searchlight signals. The route between Philadelphia and Reading actually doesn't have many interlockings as traditional Rule 251 lines tend to prefer non-interlocked hand throw crossovers as a way to reduce costs back when digital logic not cheap. Last August I made time to visit CP-PHOENIX across the river from Norristown, PA. Also included are some MFL and Route 100 photos, which can all be found here or on Google.

CP-PHOENIX, as configured by the Reading and later Conrail, stretched the length of the Black Rock Tunnel that cuts off a long bend in the Schuylkill River. Originally a two-track tunnel, Black Rock was single tracked by the Reading with a turnout at both ends to allow higher cars. A similar process was carried out at the Flat Rock tunnel closer towards Philadelphia. The west side had its signals replaced around 2005, but the east side still featured Conrail vintage signals up through it's replacement in 2018. Behind the westbound signals one can see the old PRR Schuylkill Branch bridge, now used as a rail trail.

To the east of the French Creek bridge is the old Phoenixville Station. Back in the Reading heyday the Main Line here was actually 4 tracks, shrinking down to two for the tunnel. Out of sight behind the trees is the new CP-PHOENIX that will replace the existing long double Y interlocking with a pair of shorter interlockings bracketing a 2 mile long section of single track. 

The new interlocking on the west side of the tunnel will be CP-CROMBY, seen here with the new masts in place. The old Track #2, that used to run all the way to the mouth of the tunnel, will be converted into a storage siding with a hand operated switch at the east end. I suspect that part of the reason for the change is the general inaccessibility of the old CP-PHOENIX's west end by MoW vehicles as the switch was situated in the middle of a bridge over the Schuylkill River.

CP-CROMBY is named for the old PECO Cromby Generating station, a coal fired power plant that closed in 2011 and saw deliveries accomplished via a hand operated switch off track #2 and a hand throw crossover.

The Reading is described as a Coal Age Empire, having a dominant position in the market for Anthracite Coal , which was widely used for home heating both in the United States and Europe. This allowed the Reading to construct an impressive physical plant for a railroad with an end-to-end length of only 200 miles and that only served one major market. Much of the route between Philadelphia and Reading consisted of 4 or more main line tracks, and even the parts that were still two track, like this bridge over Mingo Creek, had room for expansion to four.



The 301W automatic signal protecting the hand throw crossover would be another casualty of the re-signaling project.

Cutting to CP-NORRIS I caught NS SD70ACU #7262 leading a merchandise freight into Abrahms Yard where local traffic would be set out or picked up. 

In a major stroke of luck, the second unit was former Conrail SD80MAC #7202. With only about 30 units producted, these 5000hp monsters actually proved more successful than their planned 6000hp replacements due to the failure of EMD's new "1010H" engine. #7202 was actually built as an SD90MAC, but given a 4300hp 710G engine, upgradable to the 1010H once the kinks were worked out. (Psst, they never were.)