Out this away, CP are named after geographic features…
On the main where CPs are farther apart, the CP is generally named after the town it’s located in. CP King - King of Prussia; CP Norris - Norristown; CP Phoenix - Phoenixville.
Where CPs are closer together, they are named after nearby streets: CP Gray - Grays Ferry Ave; CP Penrose - Penrose Ave. Or nearby landmarks: CP Field - Franklin Field; CP Park - Farmont Park; CP Zoo - the Philadelphia Zoo.
Nick
I have long secretly hoped that UP would name a point on its ex-SP trackage CP Huntington.It would be a perfect fit![C):-)]
I’m new to the forum and the daughter of Dispatcher Robert M Righter for whom the signal mentioned above was named for. My late father, grandfather - Merle - and my unle Walter all worked their whole lives for the Wabash - Norfolk and Western and later Norfolk Southern RailRoads and were huge enthusiastic Railroad historians and collectors of memorabilia. I just recently learned about the Righter Signal and I’d love to obtain a photo of a train passing through that signal to frame for my brother and aunt.
Grandfather literally had a heart attack and died on the tracks with my father working alongside so I cant think of a better signal name! He loved Rairoading as does our entire family as it literally formed a large part of our heritage and a favorite passtime to discuss the old and new trains. Our favorite was the old Bluebird and my favorite was the old style conductors and the fine dining cars - my father collected the Wabash China as well as anything else he could find.
If anyone could provide a photo I’d gladly pay for printing or rights to make a copy And Ill share what photos i have.
Cheers!
Jeanne
Welcome, Jeanne![#welcome] I appreciate the knowledge you have given us concerning men who have worked in this wonderful industry.
There are three places on the Lake Division of NS that are named for T&E personnel, all on the New Castle District. One is Bath, at Muncie, IN, so named because of an engineer that had a lot of trouble at that location. Another is Bailey, near Hagerstown, IN, named for an engineer who passed away at only age 42, about the time the passing track there was completed. The third is Yorkpoint, named for a trainman who lost his life in the line of duty.
Drake is the location on the Union Belt in Fort Wayne that was referred to in a preceding post by rrnut282, he was once Division Engineer of the Lake Division and went on to become head of engineering for the system, IIRC.
Who picks the names: Usually the operating bubbas.
(The same ones that renumber mileposts because the simpletons are lacking in basic math [What happened between Denver and Pueblo]. No concern for the historical or legal consequences, they’ve got their simple little blinders on.)
If you look at a railroad R/W map, you will see plenty of former station and control point names that have disappeared. You will also see where timetable names and geographical names are different, many times with the railroad using the older name. As for family names, mine is just down the road from Lizard Acres, AZ (ATSF), Stone Mtn.GA (SCL) Palestine, TX (MoP) and Soldier Summit, UT (DRGW)…no idea what long lost part of the family they came from. I’m the first and last known railroader in my tribe.
MC, is this why it is only 0.7 miles between MP 393 and MP 395 on the Rio Grande’s original line to Grand Junction? There is an even greater discrepancy on the ACL’s to Tampa: 0.1 mile between MP 768 and MP 771.
As to Stone Mountain, Ga., I always understood that it is named for the large bubble of granite named “Stone Mountain” (the one with the carving of General Lee and his lieutenants on one side). I have climbed to its top.
JD - That’s more like a line change of of the original lines. The re-mileposting South of Grand Junction on the North Fork & Montrose Subs is more to the point. In 1901, D&RG reset their mileposts to correct for errors and line changes, but they kept some uniformity and they had guidelines. After the mergers, the Ops bubbas made a shamble of things south of Grand Junction. There are places on the North Fork lline where the “true” location is subject to a 500 foot +/- judgement call (read W-A-G… Some places got new mileposts on old signposts, some went in by truck odometer and some are anybody’s guess). The Joint Line had some rules, but the imposition of C&S mileposts on the Ex-ATSF line created additional conflicts with the ex-DRGW line sometimes less than 100 feet away.
Thanks, MC. I thought that what it, and the ACL discrepany were–that is quite a relocation in both instances. You had to read the special instructions to catch them.
I liked the way the SP showed the relocation differences–two listings for the mp at stations/CPs. The SFe and BN are more subtle–you have to compare the distances between the points and the mileposts for the points.
By the way, do you get over here? If you do, I would be glad if you could come by.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=378218
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=462414
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=87437
Hmm. I would have guessed some high level ‘desk jockey’ who never talks on the radio. Similar / identical / long names sounds like a recipe for confusion and time consuming readbacks.
A UP example: here in SoCal they have two CPs named ‘North Montclair’, only the designator (AL517/AL519) is different. Also, CP Ontario is close to CP North Ontario but on different subs.
New CPs on BNSF don’t seem to get names, only numbers e.g. CP 704. More readback bait.
I prefer Metrolink’s method to give every CP a unique name, siding CPs included.
I’ve usually found that such names are downright cryptic. One word, and sometimes even that’s truncated. F’rinstance, the block station just north of Holland Patent is simply “PAT.”
CPs on the Chicago Line in NY seem to simply be mileposts.
Always fun to see old threads given a new shot of adrelinline.
The next time I am in Decatur, I might attempt to sneak onto the ROW and snap a photo of my namesake CP, even tho it was a mistake.
There is a signal on the CSX here in NW Indiana. Several years ago there was a nasty 3 train pileup when a train crew ran thru signals and struck a sitting empty ethanol train at 43mph. Along came another train on the adjacent track and there was quite a mess to clean up…fortunately no lives were lost.
Occasionally a CSX crewman will call the signal with the normal sequence and add “at the Green mile”. When one reads the STB report of the accident, it becomes obvious why the nickname “Green mile” has evolved. The engineer’s name of the train which ran the signals is named Green.
Ed
I remember that wreck. Was living in Chicago at the time. That’s a hilarious anecdote attached to a pretty ugly incident. Miraculous that no lives were lost.
On the UP the name doesn’t matter. Only the CP number (CP AL517 or CP AL519 per the examples given) is used in official capacity for main track authorizations (track warrants, track permits, track and time and foul time) or flagging trains past a stop signal. The names are used only in conversation.
Jeff
Which came first the control point name or the town name?