I’m currently looking at modeling the early 2000s, and I’m wondering what Defect Detectors looked like in the Northeast in that time, as well as sounds.
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The dragging equipment detector was still about the same as it’s been for ages a row of cones across the width between the rails. Hotbox detectors looked like either sort of metal security camera on each side of the rails or like little metal boxes attached to the rails. They used an infra red beam to get the temperature of the axles and bearings as the train passed between them. Hot box detectors are often paired with the dragging equipment detectors. And usually there would be a big metal signal cabinet or bungalow nearby housing the complex computers and stuff like that. An electronic voice would come over the radio telling the crew in the locomotives the results saying something like such and such railroad defect detector. and give the milepost number it’s located at. It would announce any defects that were found and which number axles they were found at. It would also give the total number of axles in the train and total train length then say “end of transmission at the end of the message.”
On the ex-PRR main between New Brunswick and Morrisville, the dragging-equipment was a looped sheet of heavy black rubberized fabric, clamped to a transverse pivot below rail level. The flap would be deflected in the direction dragging equipment was moving.
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Some detectors gave the train speed and the ambient temperature in their radio report. If there is more than one track the track number would be mentioned. Where there were multiple tracks the reports were timed so that they would not talk over each other.
Mark Vinski
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