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Now that’s a classic!! Thanks for posting.
The NYC style signals on CN track is rather interesting. The Buffalo and Goderich would have been the first railway there hence CN (Grand Trunk) and CASO would have been junior at the crossing therefore responsible for own signals and maintenance of the diamond.
I don’t imagine the CN or CASO had any interlocking shared so why would there be NYC signals on CN?
I would expect CN style signals honestly unless that’s a NYC branchline they’re crossing and they were junior?
I believe that is the CN Dunnville Sub. that is being crossed. Part of my former work territory as a CN section man based out of Jarvis, ON in 1971.
Yes, this Cayuga Sub train is crossing the CNR Dunnville Sub which line started out as the Buffalo & Lake Huron Railway, this part of it being the first part of the B&LH to be opened in 1856, from Fort Erie to Brantford/Paris Jct (the Great Western by passed Brantford going directly from Lynden Jct to Paris Jct). The construction of the Canada Air Line started in Nov 1870 and line opened in Dec 1873 (CNR Cayuga Sub was used by Wabash freight trains Windsor-St Thomas-Fort Erie), so it was the junior railway at Canfield Jct as was the Canada Southern incorporated in the same year as the CAL and built about the same time as the CAL. Prior to installation of automatic rail crossing interlocking protection with search like signals, one or both of the CAL (CNR) and CASO (NYC) would have maintained a manual interlocking plant with tower, and wondering if CN & NYC joined forces to use one tower/interlocking plant instead of two.
Stephen raises an interesting question, why the signals on CNR Cayuga Sub are NYC style and not CNR style. The Cayuga Sub Welland Canal swing bridge/ NS&T crossing signals were semaphore type, and not sure what type automatic interlocking signals were installed at the TH&B Smithville-Piort Maitland branch crossing. My guess is that the Wabash may have installed these electrical signals using a type similar to NYC’s. Now have to check various pictures to see what style of electric signal was used on the Dunnville Sub at this location, John
Paging @mercer
Wabash was merely a tenant, they would have no input as to signals or practically any other piece of infrastructure.
All the signals, on all three Subdivisions, appear to be of the same ‘design’, but I would leave it to the likes of experts Messr’s Terry and Paul O’Shell to provide the absolute solution.
It’s known that NYC at one time prior to full automation of these interlockings, controlled the entire plant from (a) first their tower; and (b) after the tower was knocked over by a massive derailment, from a 10-x12 building where the tower once stood. I have an ancient b&w photo of NYC Operator/Leverman WA Webster inside said building, with an ‘NX’ board nearby showing all 3 subdivisions on the panel diagram and with accompanying signal and switch control buttons.
It would have made sense to have the entire grid with similar, if not exactly identical appurtenances, for the sake of uniformity. But that doesn’t make it the only interlocking between 2 or more railroads having all those appurtenances the same.
I’d more interested in the head-end shot of this train !
It was common practice that the junior railway was responsible for the installation of the interlocking, they would design, install and maintain their signals on all quadrants of the railway crossing and the approach signals, hence the NYC style signal backgrounds on the searchlight signals on the Cayuga Sub. and Dunnville Sub. signals. The Cayuga Sub. would have been included within the same interlocking as the CASO Sub. and Dunnville, Sub. due its close proximity to the CASO Sub., it would have been impractical to have two separate interlockings. There may have been a cost sharing agreement between the two railways for the Cayuga Sub. signals? The Hagersville Sub. crossing with the CASO Sub. had the same NYC style home signals with fixed yellow approach signals. The CN/CP railway crossing at grade on the CP Windsor Sub. at Komoka (before CTC) and Ringold are a couple of other examples where CP was responsible for the interlocking including the home and approach signals on CN.
Thank you Bruce and Terry for your very interesting information and explanation. Often wondered what interlocking arrangement existed before automation. Will check my slide mores to see if there is a picture of the head end.
The merger transition period from October1964 onward was just a little ahead of my teenaged railfan years. But knowing what I’ve learned since then, it would seem rather unusual to find these former Wabash cabooses relettered to N&W, but not renumbered. As with all other equipment on Wabash and NKP, N&W simply placed 1 or 2 digits in front of the old number, ie, these cabooses were prefixed with ’56′.
Which brings me to my ultimate point – this image isn’t a one-time occurrence. John already has posted another photo, on the Cayuga trestle, of this caboose tagging along with a CN caboose on this same assignment. But more to the point, both photos show us the train is handling CPR box cars which is extremely intriguing. I think this is some variation of the former Mixed train, extended to either Niagara Falls or Fort Erie with N&W (recall, Wabash had overhead rights on CN to both towns).
Plus an ironic sidebar to the above photo – the 3 hoppers ahead of the van are from the NYC family, and I do believe the ribbed ones are in fact Canada Southern’s.
Finishing my thoughts….maybe the whole scenario involves CN providing an engine in lieu of N&W, for one reason or another, and this is in fact an N&W train. Remember, Wabash bought the 22 F7′s plus a single GP7 (453), which in my experiences, handled the Cayuga Sub and east assignments.
The CPR boxes are the clean, high class merchandise types, ie, non perishable items such as canned goods, or even cereal from Nabisco, Niagara Falls.