From Boston to Washington, DC, particularly in 1945, where there any grade crossings on the Northeast Corridor (NYNH&H between Boston and Penn Station, NYC; PRR between Penn Station, NYC, and Union Station, DC)?
On the PRR and again in 1945, in the final 30 miles leading to Union Station, DC, did the railroad use colored signal lights (red, yellow and green)? Where semaphore signals still used on this stretch? (Beginning in the 1920's, PRR and its subsidiaries N&W and LIRR, began a conversion program gradually replacing semaphores with yellow position lights.)
RJ Emery near Santa Fe, NM
If my memory is correct, all grade crossings except perhaps one in Delaware, had already been eliminated between Washington and New Haven as part of the electrification programs. However, there were several grade crossings in Conncecticut and Rhode Island, all northeast of New Haven. I think the first one was in Branford, and it may still be there, unless eliminated with the electrification extension to Boston.
Odd fact: For a brief while after extension of electrification from Willmington to Washington DC Union Station, there was a grade crossing between the 1200V DC Catenary of the Washington, Baltimore, and Annapolis interurban and the 11000V AC PRR main line! Both systems had short neutral wires.
Amber position light signals were used on the PRR main south to Ivy City, but after the junction with the B&O line from Point of Rocks (the main line) the B&O standard color-position lights were used south and through Union Station. Plus lots of color dwarf signals.
At one time there were several grade crossings on the corridor between NYC and WAS. The last wasn't closed until the early 1970s. All of the grade crossings were subject to an 80 MPH speed limit (for trains...) The final grade crossing closures were paid for as part of the Metroliner program. There are still a numberof grade crossing east of New Haven, some of which have special barrier systems, like one in Mystic CT.
The PRR/WB&A crossing had a swing segment for the WB&A's overhead so that the wires did not actually cross. The WB&A's 1200v overhead was about 3 feet lower than PRR's 11000 V catenary. The tower operator's controls de-energized a segment of PRRs wire, swung the "Trolley bridge" across, and cleared the signals for the WB&A when it was latched. This part of the WB&A was mainly used for freight access to Fort Meade and the B&O interchange at Annapolis Jct. The Trolley Bridge was in service for less than 18 months.
There were some grade crossings of Reading's electrified lines with Philadelphia trolley routes. Those did require coasting by both trains and trolleys.
"Grade crossing"? I presume this refers to public crossings; when I began studying Southern ETT's, I saw that a "grade crossing" was a crossing with another railroad, and a "public crossing" was a crossing with a public street, road, or highway. I really do not recall reference to public crossings in other ETT's, perhaps because the usage in the Southern ETT's really struck me.
Johnny
Deggesty "Grade crossing"? I presume this refers to public crossings; when I began studying Southern ETT's, I saw that a "grade crossing" was a crossing with another railroad, and a "public crossing" was a crossing with a public street, road, or highway. I really do not recall reference to public crossings in other ETT's, perhaps because the usage in the Southern ETT's really struck me.
Many other railroads use or used the term "highway crossing at grade". Old B&M ETTs don't distinguish between public and private crossings. B&M used "railroad crossings at grade" to cover the places where tracks crossed. Except for the long-gone WB&A "railroad crossing at grade" there were (and are) no railroad intersections with the NE Corridor.
Suspect the last grade crossings betw Wilmington and Washington were closed after 1980-- part of NECIP. Offhand guess: Metroliners weren't limited to 80 mph across them circa 1970.
Aren't there still several grade xings between New Haven and Providence?
None of us knows when the last semaphores disappeared betw NY and Washington, but probably none of them remained after catenary went up?
No color-light signals betw NY and Washington (unless you count Washington Terminal) until... the 1990s?
Deggesty...you are underscoring my rants about rules and precise words and descriptions of equipment, locations, actions, events, etc. A grade crossing is with another railroad, two trains operating in opposite directions have meets, a distance between mile post is a mile unless otherwise described in a timetable or book of rules....and so on.
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henry6 ... A grade crossing is with another railroad ...
... A grade crossing is with another railroad ...
Not so. A grade crossing is "an intersection of railroad tracks, roads, walkways, or a combination of these at the same level." I've never heard the term used strictly for an intersection with another track or tracks. The latter is generally referred to as "crossing the diamonds."
Railroad 'jargon' is unique to specific railroads and specific areas. The same 'thing' or 'action' may be called a multitude of names when viewed from the entirety of the railroad geographical and cultural spectrum.
My experience has highways crossing railroads being referred to as 'grade crossings'; where two railroads cross at grade is referred to as a 'railroad crossing at grade'. Your mileage may vary!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Amtrak's ETT from 1999 lists Public Crossings at Grade (12 NH-BOS, 37 NH-SPG, 3 PHL-HAR). System instruction 138-S1 refers to "Highway Crossings at Grade", and NORAC rule 138 simply refers to "Highway Crossings".
A 1964 B&M ETT lists road crossings as either Crossings or Public Crossings at Grade, with railroad grade crossings as either Crossings With Other Railroads or, more commonly, Diamond Crossings.
BALTCD has got it right. Different railroads often have different terminology and names for different items, locomotive, equipment, event, etc. Even one railroad either heritage of the line segment or the locale or whatever can find the same thing with a different reference or name. On the DL&W for instance a local train ouf of Port Morris yard in North Jersey was called a drill but the same local type train out of Scranton was a Merry Go Round or a Roustabout. The only way to know is to have the book of rules and or employee timetable of railroads of yesterday....the Empolyee Time Table and Rule Book is the bible of today. And remember, it can be different from railroad to railroad.
Early in my career I worked on three different Divisions of the same carrier. From the terminology and procedures that happened under a common Rule Book - I felt like I was working for three different railroads - each was that different from the others.
timz Suspect the last grade crossings betw Wilmington and Washington were closed after 1980-- part of NECIP. . . . [snipped - PDN]
- Paul North.
Reportedly NECIP eliminated eight grade crossings between Wilmington and Baltimore and six between Baltimore and Capital Beltway.
timzOffhand guess: Metroliners weren't limited to 80 mph across them circa 1970.
Correct. Full speed ahead between Wlimington and Baltimore - where all the crossings were. Have some 8mm film around here somewhere shot at one of the crossings.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
rjemery henry6 ... A grade crossing is with another railroad ... Not so. A grade crossing is "an intersection of railroad tracks, roads, walkways, or a combination of these at the same level." I've never heard the term used strictly for an intersection with another track or tracks. The latter is generally referred to as "crossing the diamonds."
Agree. It's been that way since I started in 1978, at least.
oltmannd rjemery henry6 ... A grade crossing is with another railroad ... Not so. A grade crossing is "an intersection of railroad tracks, roads, walkways, or a combination of these at the same level." I've never heard the term used strictly for an intersection with another track or tracks. The latter is generally referred to as "crossing the diamonds." Agree. It's been that way since I started in 1978, at least.
OLTMANND. I think it has been determined that the term, like so many other terms and definitions, differ from one railroad to another and even differ on different locations on a railroad both in books of rules and in the vernacular of the division or other locations which may or may not have been a different railroad merged into the existing one.
There are many grade crossings between New Haven and Providence.
I would have to do some research to find exact closure dates, but a couple very late grade crossings (or whatever we're calling a road crossing of the track) on the lower NE Corridor:Chapel Road, Newark, Delaware: This crossed the PRR/PC/Amtrak at Davis Interlocking, the junction with the freight line south to the Delmarva Peninsula and a branch north into Newark. Amazingly, at one time this was an outright grade crossing between rail lines! I don't know when the crossing was closed, but the nearby Rt. 2/72 overpass was constructed in 1979 and another to the east of that one, Marrows Road, in 1976.
Somebody has mentioned two grade crossings in the Aberdeen, Md. area. I'll let someone else comment on those. One was, I believe, between Aberdeen and Havre de Grace and one just outside Aberdeen proper.Knecht Avenue: This is possibly the last grade crossing that was closed south of Philadelphia. It was along Southwestern Boulevard (US 1) north of the Halethorpe, Md. station and I-696 (Baltimore Beltway) southwest of Baltimore proper. It was a popular railfan hangout in the 1950s through 1970s. I've seen photos of Amtrak GG1s roaring past the closed gates, which would show that the gates were operating into the mid-to-late 1970s.Another late-to-close crossing was Stony Run Road, just south of the present-day BWI Airport Amtrak/MARC Station between Baltioimore and Odenton. A modern-day overpass and realigned toad serves a new rental-car facility for the airport, but keen eyes can discern the location of the old crossing between the station and overpass.I believe the crossing at Odenton Road right at the Odenton, Md. station was also a fairly late closure, as were crossings at Glenn Dale and Seabrook.
There were five grade crossings in the Washington, DC area on the Northeast Corridor that I remember. They were at Lanham Road just north of what is now the New Carrollon Station, Seabrook Road, Glendale Road, Hillmeade Road at Bowie, MD, and what is now the Bowie State University. These highway grade crossings were finally closed by 1980. I remember hearing the frequent soundings of the air horns at these grade crossings when I rode on the front car of the Metroliners until the crossings were finally closed.
Grade crossings are still in place in New London, CT (2), West Mystic, CT, and Mystic, CT. The grade crossig in Mystic, CT is protected by four quadrant crossing gates. Trains do not sound their air horns when they approach the grade crossing in Mystic, CT.
They still have grade crossings in New London CT north of the station by the Cross Island Sound Ferry Terminal. .
Until Summer 1966, there was a grade crossing at Youngs Road (Hamilton NJ - about a mile or so north of today’s Hamilton NJT station). I remember a PRR crossing guard but do not think it was gated.
It was a bonus if we were stopped for a GG1 consist.
When Metroliner testing began that Fall between Trenton and Princeton Jct., a bridge was built just to the south and the crossing was closed.
Dunno how reliable the dates are on the pics at historicaerials.com, but they have an allegedly-1963 pic showing that overpass (40.26753N 74.6872W). That was presumably the last grade xing between NY and Wilmington.
@timz: Thanks for your reply! I had also noted the overpass on the 1963 aerial the other day and was surprised. I would swear that crossing was closed in 1966 because of Metroliner testing. But, it’s been 50+ years so maybe my memory really has gone to mush!
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