BH Tower, Walton: Thoughts on Mr. Gordon's Photo of thee CTC Machine

[NW Mailing List]

I continue to greatly enjoy the excellent photos of Bill Gordon.

Questions:  The caption of the  picture of the Huckleberry taken in Christiansburg states that the Huckleberry ran from Radford to Christiansburg to Blacksburg, then back to Christiansburg, then to Elliston, then back through Christiansburg to Radford.  This is the first mention I have ever seen of the Huckleberry going to Elliston.  Does anyone know if Elliston was indeed a part of this route and, if so, why?

Also, only the Christiansburg to Blacksburg and return portion of the Huckleberry’s route was shown on the timetables.  Why was not the Radford origin and destination shown?  While few would have ridden from Radford to Christiansburg or Blacksburg, this was a daily part of the route yet never shown.

Thanks,

    Ray Smoot

From: NW-Mailing-List [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2017 7:04 PM
To: N&W Mailing List
Subject: BH Tower, Walton: Thoughts on Mr. Gordon's Photo of thee CTC Machine


Some thoughts on Mr. Bill Gordon's absolutely wonderful photograph taken inside BH Tower at Walton in 1958, and posted on Flickr at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/130647200@N05/18788238516/

1.)  Easy machine to work, nicely laid out.  I think I could sit with that operator for one hour, then work the machine.

2.)  Two loudspeakers: one for Main Line DS, one for Bristol Line DS.

3.)  Where are the ringer boxes with the bells, for the phone lines?  Probably somewhere up on the wall above the windows, and probably behind the operator.

4.)  Pipe-arm extension telephone by Chicago Telephone Company.  Ubiquitous on the N&W.  Press-to-talk button is right on the main housing under the transmitter piece.   Note the switchhook appears to have been removed (the hook for hanging up the earpiece.)  Or is the cord to the earpiece wrapped around the pipe, with the earpiece itself dangling on the back side of the pipe?  If so, then this operator probably enjoyed the luxury of hearing everything over a speaker, and not having to wear a headset all day.

5.)  Notice that the Operator has no means of selecting between which line to cut in on other than with his 6-hole jack box, under the desk.  I bet the tips on those brass plugs only lasted a year or two!  There is a loose plug laying on the desk... perhaps it is a new one.

6.)  The designation strip on the jack box appears to have nomenclatures under all six jacks.  My guess as to the lines:  Main Line DS; Bristol Line DS;  side wire (wayside phones) to the east; side wire to the west; one block line circuit to next tower east, Elliston; one block line circuit for next tower to the west, Lurich.

7.)  Just to the right of the jack box is a small oak box for a push-to-talk button (and the button faces downward.)  What was this used for?

8.)  I pity the poor signal maintainer who had to make wiring changes in that under-the-desk jack box !  It is mounted upside down, the lid drops downward when opened, and he would have to lay on his back to make any wiring changes !!!   Add to that a flashlight and bifocals, and the maintainer had his hands full, upside-down !

9.)  What is the caged electrical device atop the machine, just to the right of the left-most speaker?  Looks like a power supply for something.

10.)  What is the purpose of the three double-pole/single throw porcelain knife switches under the desk top?  Obviously for telephone ckts, but why the switches, unless for disconnecting the lines from the tower?

11.)  Note oak telephone selective ringing box at extreme top of photo, and its associated steel case for three No. 6 battery cells.

12.)  Magneto box, with hand crank, visible under desk and in front of chair, is obviously for ringing-by-hand on one of the magneto lines.  Wonder if any lists survive of the long ring/short ring combinations used by the towers survive?  (A few lists are given in old T.T.s and Official Lists of Stations, but only for branches constructed after the advent of the telephone, where stations never had Telegraph calls, e.g. the Abingdon Branch and the Potts Valley Branch.)

13.)  Signal levers are on the top row of the machine, switch levers are on the second row.  (You can tell by the number of indication lamps over the levers:  signal levers have only two lamps; switch levers have three.)  This is a little odd, but Union Switch & Signal would configure the lever positions any way the railroad specified.  What this meant is that the operator would not work in a normal top-to-bottom sequence, but would have to start down, then work up, then work down again.  Probably a little inefficient until you got the hang of it.

14.)  Looking at the positions of the levers:  (1) He is lined up for an eastward move through Low Grade Tunnel (Pepper Tunnel) as far as the east end of Pepper Siding.  (2)  He has a westbound moving on the westbound main line somewhere between Low Grade Tunnel and the west end of Dry Branch.   (3)  He is lined up for a westbound moving on the westbound main track between Christiansburg/Pelton and Vicker.  (4) He is lined up for an eastbound straightaway move at Christiansburg.

15.)  The operator has blocking devices on two switch levers somewhere at Pepper or Bluff (visible just to the right of the telephone transmitter.)  Perhaps this was due to rusty rail on crossovers.

16.)  There are two rows of buttons below the levers.  The bottom row is the code-start buttons.  What are those on the upper row?  Are they for come-along signals, or fleeting?  Impossible to tell without more information, but I can't imagine the N&W spending money for fleeting, as that required some extra relay work.

17.)  Look at the lever designation plates.  The ones on the left panel are the old style designation plates (say pre-1945-ish,) and the designation plates on the middle and right panels are the newer type designation plates.  Might this indicate that the left panel was built earlier and had been used somewhere else, perhaps at Cowan, Belspring or Dry Branch?

18.)  The trailing and facing crossovers between Vicker Siding and the Freight Running Track appear to be hand-operated crossovers.

19.)  The machine is equipped with Low Air Alarms at Dry Branch, Pepper (Bluff,)  both ends of Low Grade Tunnel, and at Walton, Pelton and Christiansburg.

20.)  This machine is not equipped with any milliamp meters on the front plate, to show control code going out and indication code coming back.  This is very odd and the saving of a few dollars for this feature really took away a valuable tool from the operator.

21.)  From the track model, it appears that the main tracks between Elliston and Christiansburg were simply ABS Rule 251 tracks with current of traffic; and the main tracks between the west end of Dry Branch and the next tower to the west (Lurich) were also simply ABS Rule 251 tracks with current of traffic.  Notice that the operator gets two blocks of approach indication for westward trains approaching Christiansburg... quite fitting, given the grade involved and the consequences of stopping a westward train at that point.

22.)  The Walton-Pelton Freight Running Track (the middle track) was, as I understand, always non-signaled.  I believe the T.T. Special Instructions required that only one move at a time was allowed on this track.  That is, no following moves.  The Time Tables of the early 1920s say this track was to be operated under Manual Block Rules, which would have meant it was considered a Main Track and required a Block Signal or Clearance to enter from either end.  My suspicion is that someone along the way thought that was too complicated, did away with the Manual Block Rules, redesignated the track as the Walton-Pelton Running Track, and just let the operator figure out when a preceding eastbound had cleared Pelton so he could let another eastbound follow.  But WHEN was that change made?  Was it made at the time the CTC was installed, or earlier?  The answer will be in the T.T. Special Instructions.

23.)  The operator's Station Record of Train Movements consists of nothing more than a 14 inch piece of paper on a clipboard, and it is kept with pencil !  Good  Heavens, how informal  !

24.)  The operator's desk has no drawer.  Where did he keep his necessary junk...?

25.)  I would love to be able to read that message written on a Telegram blank and spiked on the hook at far left.

26.)  Did you ever see an interlocking machine that did not have at least one newspaper folded up on top of the machine?  HA!
-- abram burnett  ,
       discalced old brakezman
===========================================
                  Sent to You from my Telegraph Key
Successor to the MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH LINE of 1844
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===========================================
                  Sent to You from my Telegraph Key
Successor to the MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH LINE of 1844
===========================================
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