A long time ago…probably 30 or more years ago…the Southern Railway used to advertise in Trains. They were quite serious about it too. As I recall they sometimes had the back cover or a prominant spread in the middle of the magazine.
Anyway…one ad that has stuck in my mind is the one where they advertise that their locomotives were equipped with in cab signals (I guess as an alternative to the conventional lineside signals). Whatever happened to that idea…is it still used? That seemed like a great idea as lineside signals can be missed or vandalized while an in cab signal is right there in front of the engineer.
The Southern was a class act…indeed a green light to innovation…too bad they are gone.
The southern had a line side signal system transmitter and receiver system very similar to Santa FE’s system of today but they gradually removed the system from their main lines in the 50s and maybe 60s. Also I know L&N had it on the Mobile - New Orleans seqment because of the many occurrences of fog.
Cab signals are still used I believe. I know Conrail used them and had some lines that an off-line unit couldn’t lead on if it weren’t equipped. I actually thought they were going to become more commonplace. You can never have too much advance warning, as we tragically found out this past week.
I remember those ads too. I went looking and found one. The back cover of the March 1975 Trains has that ad.
It doesn’t appear to be a type of cab signal. They called it a train handling indicator device. From the ad, it gives a five mile preview of what is ahead of the train. The ad says there were three visual representations, one for hills and valleys, one for the curves and straightaways, and another for the signals and crossings. I get the impression that it was the location of wayside signals as opposed to an in-cab signal.
It seems in a recent issue of Trains, Norfolk Southern is testing a similiar updated device to improve train handling. The new box IIRC, has a readout that gives tips on train handling. Maybe one of our NS friends knows more about it and could enlighten us.
My circa 1943 Southern Rule Book (I do not recall where I have put it) has the rules concerning the aspects of cab signals. I never did learn where they were in use.
The UP uses cab signals on the Overland route. They were also used much in the Northeast, on the Pennsy and the Central.