25-06-20 PHOTOS: DL&W Pocono Towers

 Closed railroad interlocking towers have a lot in common with the Three Little Pigs nursery rhyme. If the ones made of wood aren't burned down by vagrants, it doesn't take much for the railroads to huff and puff and knock them down. The ones made of brick fare a bit better, but unless asbestos gets in the way, a couple of swipes with a back hoe is enough to turn them into rubble. However a tower made of reinforced concrete borderline indestructible and nobody liked reinforced concrete more than the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western. In June 2025 I set out for the Poconos to check out a string of surviving DL&W interlocking towers between the Delaware Water Gap and Scranton. Because that on its own isn't super exciting I also mixed in some photos from the Washington, DC area, so enjoy.

First up is the tower at Slateford Jct. Built around 1910 as part of the famed Lackawanna Cutoff project, it governed the western junction between the new cutoff and the old main line the cutoff was cutting off. The like most other cutoff structures the tower was poured from the then new wonder material of reinforced concrete. As processes around reinforced concrete had not been fully optimized for cost and the project was located near Pennsylvania's "Cement Belt" and the DL&W was flush with cash from the anthracite coal trade, the concrete used in this and nearby towers has proven exceptionally durable. 

SLATEFORD JCT itself was closed in the 1950's in favor of CTC. Now increasingly hidden by trees and underbrush the tower is used as a hangout by local kids with both the relay room and operator's floor accessible for inspection. Note the steel supports for the mechanical lever frame.

The next tower is the exception that proves the rule. EAST STROUDSBURG is perhaps the only surviving wooden DL&W tower and is located in East Stroudsburg, PA. It was obtained by a local preservation group after Conrail retreated from the region in the early 1980's and retains a fully functional lever type interlocking machine and model board. 

EAST STROUDSBURG sits adjacent to the old DL&W station site that, sometime between now and 2002, has been subjected to substantial alteration. 

Just a few miles up the road is another DL&W standard concrete tower, GRAVEL PLACE. Once the location of a yard and NYS&W interchange point, GRAVEL PLACE declined in importance until the interlocking was re-signaled and placed under remote control by the operator at EAST STROUDSBURG in the 1950's. Similar to SLATEFORD, GRAVEL PLACE is hidden amongst the trees. 

25-06-14 PHOTOS: Norwalk Nights

In 2025 a friend in southern New Hampshire I had stayed with during the HART tower trip back in October 2024 informed me that they would be soon be moving back to Ohio. Although I had largely completed by Connecticut Valley signal documentation project there were still a few odds and ends I wanted to check on so I found a free weekend with cheap Acela runs. Unfortunately, my friend was presented with a surprise gift of tickets to see Ringo Star's All Star Band at Carnegie Hall on the night where I would arrive via Amtrak's Valley Flyer to Greenfield, MA. Well, no problem, instead of transferring to the Flyer, I could just backtrack from New Haven to where my friend would be parked at Stamford, killing the remaining time at a brewery in South Norwalk. Here is a set of photos from what turned out to be a surprisingly successful Plan B.

Somehow I managed to get a reasonably priced seat on the 330pm Acela out of BWI which arrived with a classic set and power cars #2027 and #2033.

Using an upgrade to first class I was able to two meals on my trip to New Haven, crab meat enchiladas and a cheese plate.

I managed to make a very short connection to the next westbound Metro-North local with M8 MU #9729 leading. The previous eastbound MNRR NHL train was on the adjacent track with M8 #9365 on the rear. 

I arrived at South Norwalk well after dark. I had been to the station a couple times before to visit the nearby preserved SS44 interlocking tower, but never inside the actual station building.

25-05-31 PHOTOS: RUTHBY

In 1997 SEPTA worked with DART First State to extend R2 Regional Rail service from Wilmington to Newark, DE. The project had an additional infrastructure component that constructed a new infill station at Churchman's Crossing and extended the stub end "A" track 2 miles northward from DAVIS interlocking in Newark to the new RUTHBY interlocking near milepost 36.4. Although reasonably accessible, the location is obscure enough to discourage most casual railfans. As a result I undertook a mission to see what RUTHBY was about. 

The size and location of RUTHBY interlocking was dictated by the bridge over Old Ogletown Road being only three tracks wide and the existing Milepost 36.2 automatic signal location being just close enough for reuse with the new configuration. The northbound signal structure is modern style tubular aluminum cantilever governing tracks 1 and A. Here we see a southbound Regional train with ACS-86 #654 passing by the RUTHBY location on track #3.

RUTHBY's party piece is an 80mph high speed turnout that was intended to allow SEPTA trains to diverge out of the way of potential Amtrak traffic at near their top service speed. Compared to a more typical 45mph Amtrak turnout this has 3 M3 point machines instead of 2 and an additional 2 M3 machines driving the movable point diamond. Total length of the turnout is 600 feet.

Although the northbound signal is likely the first tubular aluminum signal structure employed by Amtrak on the NY to Washington NEC, it is also one of the last uses of US&S PL-3 position lights before the product was removed from the catalogue in the early 2000's. The 9N signal governing Track A supports the flashing Green | position for the "Cab Speed" cab signal, which in this case would be an 80mph code. The 9N lower head is a single / position for Medium Approach and the lunar white Stop and Proceed marker, which is also seen on the 1N signa. 

This photo overlook is located behind a sod and gravel supply outfit. In addition to the Regional I was able to catch both Amtrak Crescents due to the northbound Train 20 running late. Train 19 was behind ACS-86 #658 and Train 2 was behind #605.

25-05-24 PHOTOS: Holly Hill

One of my perennial signaling missions has been trips to tidewater Virginia to get photos of legacy Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac signals that has so far survived CSX re-signaling efforts. The ones that remain are far off the beaten path, requiring mile plus walk-ins.  For 2025 my target was the "Holly Hill" location which is two miles in the opposite direction from the "Rixley" location I visited in 2024. Both were actually served by the same state game land parking lot. After the signal outing I drove up to Fredericksburg for a retail shopping and brewery tour catching additional Amtrak and CSX trains along the way. You can find the full set of photos here.

First to appear was a southbound CSX manifest freight with ES44AC #743 leading and AC4400 #541 in the trailing DPU position.

Next up was Amtrak Regional Train 194 with P42DC #44 leading, briefly illuminating the Holly Hill signals while still in the block.

25-05-09 PHOTOS: MARTA East-West

It's easy to forget that MARTA is a thing that exists.  The last large heavy rail system to be stood up in North America, MARTA takes after the DC Metro with a bit more transit mojo. For my first ever trip to downtown Atlanta I wasn't about to pass up riding as much of MARTA as I could and I prioritized the east-west Blue/Green line over two mornings with a final trip to the airport on a third day. You can find the full set of photos here.

Starting service in 1979, MARTA currently operates with three batches of railcars. The initial batch of 120 cars from Société Franco-Belge in 1979, a follow-up batch of 120 cars from actual Hitachi in 1982 and a final batch of 100 cars from Breda in 1999. Here Hitachi car #257 arrives at Peachtree Center on the Red/Yellow line. Note the exposed bedrock which makes the area above suitable for building skyscrapers.

The four color services runs on two main trunk lines, Red/Yellow going North-South and Blue/Green going East-West. The two trunks meet at the Five Points station, which I think is a legacy title from referring to an unbuilt 5th MARTA line that would have also served the station.

With new vehicles from Stadler already on order, I was eager to ride the most vulnerable Société Franco-Belge cars. I got my wish with #188 on a Green Line routing. The interior has a style very similar to the contemporary Budd UTV seen in Baltimore and Miami. Most notable is the deep cab area that creates a tunnel effect when halfed mid-train. 

Bankhead is the Green Line's only unique station with a two car platform that make it the limiting factor on Green Line operations. As one might suspect this was the remnant of a northwestern line that was never build with Bankhead itself opening in 1992 to make use of the junction and righto of way that was built in 1979. Today the Green Line provides supplementary service on the Blue Line between MLK and Bankhead. Here Franco-Belge married pair 188-187 is seen at the platform and reversing direction on the tail track.

The Blue Line's western terminus is the Hamilton E. Holmes Station, which is not named directly for the civil rights leader, but an adjacent arterial roadway named in honor of the civil rights leader after his death in 1995. Prior to that the station was named Hightower, I assume after the famed law enforcement officer. Here we see MARTA car, #699, adjacent to fellow Breda car #676 at the Hamilton E. Holmes Station platform in addition to the #699 departing eastbound.

Here is Hitatchi car #279 arriving at  Hamilton E. Holmes. You can still see that hint of 1970's styling that would vanish with the 1999 Breda order.

More MARTA action in the form of  Franco-Belge car #151 at Five Points and Hitachi car #219 at Peachtree.

The Hitachi cars, like #236 seen here, had a shallowed cab-end tunnel and a similar beige interior with explicitly 80's two tone plastic bucket seats.

The Avondale station was the East-West line's original 1979 terminus with the main tracks proceeding directly into the yard. When the line was extended to a park-n-ride on Atlanta's perimeter beltway the tracks has to be built on flyovers over the yard. Here we see the Breda trainset with #676 at the station platform with Franco-Belge car #147 on the yard lead with its ends open. Something may have been the matter with the #676 train as we crossed over the wrong railed to the Indian Creek terminal.

Opened in 1992 and seemingly refreshed somewhat recently, Indian Creek serves a function similar to the DC Metro's Greenbelt, a large Park-N-Ride with direct highway access. Here we see the gorgeous station concourse along with Hitachi car #286.

On my way back from Indian Creek I got this photo of part of the Avondale Yard. Avondale, GA is best known for being home to the first ever Waffle House restaurant.

As you may have noticed the car end views are all pretty reasonable. Here is a through-end photo of Hitachi car #265 near the Georgia State station.

The East-West line was built alongside the CSX Abbeville Sub with views of the now defunct Hulsey Intermodal Terminal. From the train I managed to catch CSX ET44AC #3265 and C40-10W #5435 with a manifest freight in the Hulsey Yard area.

Hitachi car #219 at Five Points and a Franco-Belge car from above at Peachtree.

Heading to the airport here is the cab and interior of  penultimate Breda car #701. If you thought that #699 should have been the ultimate car on a 100-car order, the numbering started at #601 and pair 655/666 was skipped due to the association with Satan. 

Hitachi car #276 arrived at the track opposite just before #701 departed.

Arguably the busiest airport in the world, the MARTA Hartsfield-Jackson Airport station features a staffed 4-bay ticket window to help travelers purchase a Breeze Card. Due to open payment and a general upgrade, the Breeze Card was to be phased out in 2026.

That concludes my first trip to downtown Atlanta. Next week I'll be heading back down to Tidewater Virginia, but I suspect I'll be returning to Atlanta again.