Thanks Ed!
Barry
bsteel4065Looks like PRR cabinets were PRR maroon.
Hi, Barry
Here's a site that can answer just about any inquiry you might have for PRR signal structures:
http://prr.railfan.net/signalstandards/standards.cgi?plan=S-530-H&frame=YES&sortdir=up&sortby=1&rr=all
There are painting instructions on page two of these drawings. It would seem that aluminum paint was specified for PRR "Instrument Cases"
Browse the other drawings for a fascinating look at equipment of "The Standard Railroad Of The World"!
http://prr.railfan.net/signalstandards/standards.cgi?sortby=1&sortdir=up&rr=all&frame=YES
Some of the more modern cases were made of Cor-Ten® steel and were left unpainted.
Here's a look at some of the instrument cases I have used on my layout:
http://www.hobbylinc.com/details-west-model-trains
The New York Central, in some areas, favored cast concrete signal boxes and telephone sheds.
Tomar, Selly and Alexander, JL Innovative Showcase Miniatures, BLMA and Details-West, among others make them in HO
Here's an example of some very nicely detailed cabinets:
https://www.showcaseminiatures.net/ho_scale/ho_scale_signals_wigwags_trackside_details/
Regards, Ed
Love the broom and the shovel Batman!
Thanks
Great photo dehusman! Looks like PRR cabinets were PRR maroon.
If you Google "railway supply companies" you will get a list of companies that supply all these things that railways need. You can browse through the catalogs. For this reason I wouldn't be concerned about getting an exact match of anything, as all railway companies seem to order from the same suppliers.
This box is on the CP mainline in the Rockies. A box doing the same job ten kilometres down the track may have been not only a different model, it may have been made by a different company. I visited a company that made wheelsets once and they were tagged and being shipped all over the world.
Don't forget the brooms and shovels. A clean workplace is a safe workplace. Plus it snows a lot in the Rockies.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Here is the inside of an abandoned signal cabinet at the former crossing of the PRR and RDG at Chadds Ford, PA. Not much left but the racks for hanging the relays and the terminal strips for connecting the wires. Note it is made of steel (rusty) and is a tall cabinet rather than a "bungalow".
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Thanks Mike.
The cabinets most often seen, because of their location, were the ones containing the equipment controlling crossing signals and gates. Some of these had a switch on the side of the box that could be used to de-activate the signals when desired. This switch was operated by a switch key carried by all train crewmen. That way they could raise the gates and allow street traffic to pass even though the train was fouling the circuit and then restore normal operation when they were ready to cross the road. On the Big Four, we had to do that a lot of times in Granite City Illinois because the TRRA would hold us out of Madison so they could make room to receive our train.
Charlie
Along with what Mike said, some also cotained communications, and old technology telemetry equipment. Those old, long time out of service wires and poles you see line side now, were important back in the time period you are modeling.
In your time period, those cabinets would have been made of steel, so they had to be painted, to help with rust problems, not saying that they always were.
Battery boxes supplied power to the signals in case of a power outage.
More modern cabinets are aluminum.
Not that I'm any kind of an expert, just from what I've read and remember seeing, as todays modern technology replaced the older versions.
I've been able to sneak a few peaks at equipment along the CN in SE. WI., when a maintainer was there with the doors open, but have never asked any of them if I could take a picture, but I've always wanted to !
Mike.
My You Tube
Relays, mostly.
Which at least makes the label correct. They're used for signal circuits, which had logic made in the old fashioned electro-mechnical way that is now done all on a small chip. This would also include occupancy indication for each section of track, according to the needs of the signal system.
Relays come in various sizes, but virtually all are many sizes larger than a integrated circuit that could now replace an entire old school relay box. They need protection from the elements, as well as a place to which they can be mounted and the required wiring installed. Thus the box.
Something likely unseen but usually associated with them are battery boxes, often a concrete or metal vault buried except for the cover, near the relay box.
Generally, they are located near signals that display the indications they keep track of. In many cases, a relay box actually forms the base of the signal mast, but is often a separate item. Not sure about PRR practice, etc, but worth checking on to get the right look. You'll also see them at junctions. Sometimes they are solitary, but I think almost always along the pole line that often parallels the RR or whatever is used to carry the signal indications, locally to signals, etc, and long distance to the dispatcher or CTC operators board.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Hi
I am detailing my layout (HO NYC + PRR - 1953) and would like to know more about relay cabinets that were in place trackside at this time. Can anyone tell me what cabinets contained, what was their function, where were they sited and what sizes were they?
Thanks in advance