What changed when and why

[NW Mailing List]

Jim,

Yes, the first shot is of an eastbound at the North Fork Hollow road 
crossing, now Cherokee Road, but the second shot is of a westbound at 
Burke road crossing (Miller St) in Keystone.

In the first shot, the signal behind the 2177 is controlled signal #106L 
used as a hold-out to protect the cluster of the junction, Byrd Yard and 
station. The yard had the North Fork Branch main track as a lead, but 
the pullout was on the west end of Byrd, there was a double crossover to 
the WB main on the east end at the junction with the North Fork Branch, 
a facing crossover WB main to EB main, and the North Fork Middle Track. 
All had hand-throws and the Middle Track was dark.

Yes, River crews picking up WB loads from the head end at North Fork and 
Elk Ridge Storage or Elkhorn crews picking up EB loads could block the 
crossing while coupling up, but they were supposed to cut off so as not 
to block it and the brakeman would cut through the neighborhood to 
eventually meet the head end crew at the storage tracks next to the 
branch line. Byrd Yard was used a lot for empties going to Keystone.

Signal changes were the eventual removal of #3855B (and #3862), #106L 
(and #106R) and installation of eastward automatics on each main as 
distant signals to Kyle. I believe all (?) turnouts are gone in North 
Fork. #94L is the controlled signal in the Burke photo and it could 
display restricting when lined for Eckman Yard. It has been moved around 
the curve to the Keystone crossover.

Some of this was covered in a thread a while back and I believe you 
asked about Eckman operations. I have continued to slowly collect info 
since and I'll try to pull something together.

Grant Carpenter

On 7/13/2016 6:06 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> Attached are two photos that I believe were made in roughly the same 
> place (the grade crossing at the East end of Northfork) about 10 years 
> apart.  The first is dated January 1959 and clearly shows intermediate 
> PL signal 3855B (and I assume 3855A behind the 2177). The second from 
> 1971 shows a control point signal for EB traffic in the extreme left 
> of the frame that appears to be able to display the restricting aspect 
> among others.  My question is:  What happened in the intervening 
> decade to cause the N&W to re-signal this location as a control 
> point.  Did they install a new turnnout(s) East of this location?  My 
> paternal grandparents lived in Crumpler, and I remember waiting at 
> this crossing for long periods for coal drags stopped across it in the 
> 1960s.  Since coal was still being actively mined "up the holler" at 
> this time, I assume Byrd yard was still operating and that the trains 
> were perhaps being held out of the yard while some switching moves 
> were taking place.
> Thanks,
> Jim Cochran
>
> Moderator:
>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/130647200@N05/16460774964
>
> http://railpictures.net/photo/412424/
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist6.pair.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20160714/de1196ad/attachment-0001.html>