Does anyone have any info or pics of the switch stands that were used in the 50's and 60's? When did the Frisco start going to motorized switch stand and where did they use them? Thanks.
Check this thread for the power switches: http://www.frisco.org/vb/showthread...-quot-Blockhouses-quot&highlight=ctc+switches Tom
Thanks guys. Great info. Do you know when the hand thrown switch stands vs. motorized switches were used? I was assuming turnouts that were thrown more frequently would be motorized where hand thrown stands would be reserved for less used turnouts. Is this correct?
Motorized switches were part of the CTC system and thrown remotely by the dispatchers. Usually each end of a passing siding. There may have been others?? Like at the large yards: Memphis, Tulsa, Springfield, not completely sure about that. Some of the other guys can probably shed some more light on the subject. Tom
My particular interest is the Highline between Clinton, Mo and Boliver, Mo. I'm wondering how many motorized switches were used here in the late 50's or early 60's if any.
There were short passing sidings in nearly every small town. No passing sidings between towns and no double track. Listing below is for stations between Clinton and Bolivar with milepost and car capacity for 50' cars. Actual length measurement used to determine car capacity was 52.5' plus or minus a few inches. Clinton MP 86.8 yard Deepwater MP 98.7 11 car capacity Lowry City MP 107.2 41 car capacity Osceola MP 115.1 75 car capacity Vista MP 119.8 26 car capacity Weaubleau MP 132.3 26 car capacity Flemington MP 138.6 25 car capacity Cliquot MP 146.8 26 car capacity Bolivar MP 153.6 75 car capacity If you will do a search on this site for each of these town names you will find track layouts provided by Karl that show the locations of depots, industries, line poles, culverts and more. I only recall tall switch stands used at Blairstown and Harrisonville. The only place there is even a remote possibility of power switches on the Highline would have been at the junctions at Dodson (South KC) with Mopac, which is out out of your parameters or North Clinton with MKT. Both had towers and interlockers but I don't know if they were electric, pneumatic or armstrong. Dale Rush Carthage, Mo
Thanks Dale. Great info. I've looked at Karl's maps and they are very helpful. If I understand these are the passing sidings for the respective towns. I should be able to judge the length of these sidings by the car capacity you mention in your post.
The North Clinton Tower was an armstrong variety. I recall seeing the concrete pedestals for the bell cranks and links lying about Doson, so I believe that it, too, was an Armstrong variety. Dale, is correct that high stands were used at most main line locations. The exception to the rule would be at places where clearance problems existed; a short stand would be used. At places where two turnouts were close together, a mid-sized stand might be placed on one turnout, and the normal high stand would be placed on the other in order to avoid confusion. Turnouts that diverged from the mainline had red targets. Turnouts that diverged from the "back tracks" and yard tracks had yellow targets. Dricketts, Be sure to check the employee timetables (ETT's); they have a wealth of info that would be useful to you. There are several Eastern Division ETT's posted on this web site.
Is there any chance that these numbers are not accurate? The reason I ask I'm trying to equate these numbers to this map of Osceola. http://www.frisco.org/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=9076&d=1255105622 Using these numbers the siding would be about 3,900 feet long for Osceola which is much longer than the topo map shows.
Dale didn't say which ETT he used, but the System ETT #1, 10/17/71 lists the capacity of ALL Osceola tracks as 75 cars. Eastern Division ETT #48, 2/2/69 lists the passing track capacity as 17 cars, and "other" as 58...or 75 cars
I used System ETT #1, so the 75 car capacity would be the capacity of all Osceola tracks. I suppose that would be the case with all the car capacity numbers I listed. Dale
I'm a little confused. When you say ALL tracks. Based on Karl's drawings, the data from the ETT, and using Osceola as an example, what would be the length of the tracks in the attachment? Red and green. I'm assuming the green track would be the passing track.
I'm a little confused. So together both tracks would total 75 car capacity? Is there no way to confirm the length of each track individually? Using Karl's drawings, the data from the ETT, and Osceola as an example, what would be the length of the tracks in the attachment? Red and green.
Here's a little different approach. You will note that in my dad's drawings the buildings and track structures are referenced to the mileage from KC. Even though they are not drawn to scale, we can obtain some relatively accurate distances. For example, the point of switch on the north end of the house track is located at milepost 115 + 2 poles, and the the point of switch on the south end is located at mile post 115 + 8-1/2 poles. The spacing of the telegraph poles is not equal, however the railroad did produce tables for each subdivision which listed the number of poles per mile. The attached tables indicate that between MP 115 and MP 116 there are 31 poles which means on average they are spaced 170 feet apart. Since the distance between the two points of switch is 6-1/2 poles, we can calculate the gross length of the house track to be about 1105 feet, 6.5 * 170 = 1105.
Very nice. There's a lot more information in your Dad's drawings than meets the eye at first glance. I will do some additional calculations for the other towns along the highline. I wonder how the results will compare to Dale's car capacity method. FYI- Did i miss something or was this a typo? "switch on the south end is located at mile post 115 + 2-1/2 poles" Should that have than been an 8? What do you think the sp is at the far south? I'm not sure if that's a +13 or +17.
