Elkhart, Ind.

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justalurker66
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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

Unread post by justalurker66 »

I was hoping that knowing that actual trains were passing would help ... most of the afternoon was work crews and testing.

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justalurker66
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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

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FYI: I have set up my MCPs with the switches numbered west to east 1.2.3.4 based on where they join the middle track (Track 2). 1-4 on Track 1 at CP 417, 2-3 on Track 1 at CP 412. I watched for a few hours last night and didn't see anything "illegal" ... and the lineups matched the radio traffic (eastbound crossing from one to three at CP 417 had switches two and four in reverse). The cleared signals also met expectations 1EG, 1WG, 2EG, 2WG etc starting at "21".

The data is spotty enough that I can't follow the occupancies through the interlockings ... but last night a broken rail shunted track 3 so it stayed occupied and was marked "3WX" for a while. Hopefully the Goshen radio will get fixed and we can fill in the gaps.



BTW: An article in the Elkhart Truth over the weekend promised (threatened?) 20 MPH train speeds around the Marion curve starting tomorrow. The warning to Goshen residents is to STOP at railroad crossings and WAIT for trains. Trains will be moving faster than previously experienced.

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justalurker66
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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

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I'd like to thank NS T&S crews and Toledo West ... they are running trains through the crossovers at 417 and 412 to test the system. They ran a Eastbound Marion Branch train from 2-1 at CP 417 then 1-3 at CP 412. Then a westbound 1-2 at CP 412 then 2-1 at CP 417. A third train is being crossed 1-2 at CP 397 to cross 2-1 at CP 412. Just to test things out.

(Switches and signals are as expected in codeline.)

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justalurker66
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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

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More fun ... all freight is being held for a crossing signal test. Amtrak 30 is about to leave Elkhart at track speed testing all crossings from 421 to 410.

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justalurker66
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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

Unread post by justalurker66 »

A defect detector at milepost three point five on the Marion Branch. is this new?

The detector is part of CP 3.

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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

Unread post by Jhall »

Yost detector(CP 3) has been there for years.

Jeff Hall

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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

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Jhall wrote:Yost detector(CP 3) has been there for years.

Jeff Hall
The talking detector used to self-identify on the radio as "Yost, Indiana." The voice recently changed and now it says "Milepost 3.5."

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justalurker66
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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

Unread post by justalurker66 »

I rarely monitor the Marion Branch ... their frequency is also used in Elkhart Yard and has a lot of yard chatter on it (if I were out of range for the yard it might help). I thought I saw the detector when taking pictures of the signal change but I missed it on the track charts.

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justalurker66
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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

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justalurker66 wrote:
justalurker66 wrote:
LakeATCS wrote:ALSO, someone reported the insulated joints at MP 2.5 were removed in the last couple of days. The approach circuit shown by CP 3 now seems to show trains all the way up to CP 412 now
I will have to keep an eye out for that.
The northbound cleared 1NA at 02:30 ... then cleared 1SA at 02:38. 3WA did not clear until 02:49.
It looks like discrete blocks were maintained.
A change with the new CPs going live:
Northbound trains from CP 3 now keep 1SA active until they clear 3WA at CP 412. The physical joints and new signal building remain at MP 2.5 but the logic is now one long block.
justalurker66 wrote:
LakeATCS wrote:As part of the PTC plan, the double length blocks for left handed trains between Air Line and Goshen will be going away as they are incompatible with PTC.
I was surprised to see those blocks. I am more accustomed to bi-directional signals at every location.

Hopefully PTC will provide more accurate ATCS reporting west of Elkhart. Signal blocks matching ATCS blocks (as they do in Elkhart, Goshen and eastward as far as I have checked) is better than the multiple signal per ATCS block and overlapping blocks one finds on the line west of Elkhart. Then again, as long as they keep ATSC OTA and not on fiber or satellite I suppose we should be happy.
A step "backwords" ... the discrete blocks on ATCS have been merged. A train between 405 and 407 now reads the same as a train between 407 and 410.
At least 405 to 410 remained discrete (separate from 410 to 412 on each track).

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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

Unread post by LakeATCS »

Yes NS has been reducing the number of blocks shown in the CTC east of 412.

The NYC went overboard to some degree there. The CTC showed every physical block.
All these are DC track circuits. To be PTC compliant they have to be the new coded blocks. To reduce the costs, a reduction in the blocks shown to the dispatcher was implemented.

When done. There will be at most four blocks shown between the CPs. Less for ones closer in.

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justalurker66
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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

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It looks like the coding for CP 3 is close to what it was before ... the bit assignments have been moved around and NT and ST are new but it appears the logic is the same.

Has NS changed Lake Division coding when upgrading CPs or do they generally keep the PRR based coding? I was hoping CP 3 would get discrete blocks or at least 1NA and ANA for approaching trains instead of ID for passing 6N/6S and 1NA being different depending on train direction.

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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

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Did the name of this board get changed to RairoadNerd.com? :lol:

LakeATCS
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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

Unread post by LakeATCS »

justalurker66 wrote:It looks like the coding for CP 3 is close to what it was before ... the bit assignments have been moved around and NT and ST are new but it appears the logic is the same.

Has NS changed Lake Division coding when upgrading CPs or do they generally keep the PRR based coding? I was hoping CP 3 would get discrete blocks or at least 1NA and ANA for approaching trains instead of ID for passing 6N/6S and 1NA being different depending on train direction.
Logic south of CP3 has not changed. It's the old US&S 502 crap. Plans are underway to change that.

CP3 itself and northward are completely new.

Marion branch is literally 1940s tech.

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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

Unread post by tttodisp »

Does anyone know why CP 417 has disappeared from ATCS? Radio trouble again?

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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

Unread post by LakeATCS »

It's got a little antenna and it's out of range of the NYC museum and Goshen machines.

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justalurker66
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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

Unread post by justalurker66 »

CP 3 managed to get a slightly higher antenna than it had before but all three are on short masts. CP 423 and CP 435 also seem to be too far from a radio (received when propagation changes) and the CPs in LaPorte have been off for a few days. I wish I had access to a high enough site to help.

tttodisp
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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

Unread post by tttodisp »

It was coming in OK for awhile after the cutover and the radio fix, but I huess it is what it is.

thanks.

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justalurker66
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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

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tttodisp wrote:It was coming in OK for awhile after the cutover and the radio fix, but I huess it is what it is.
I wonder if NS dialed down the power once they realized they could hit their receive site with less output.


BTW: Cleanup continues after the signal upgrades. The old signals have been hauled away from most places. There has been some track work on the MOW siding at Ox Bow. Apparently NS doesn't want to use the American Crane any time soon. The rail leading to it has been cut and the siding is now aligned parallel to the main line tracks. The American Crane is stranded.

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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

Unread post by tttodisp »

Now that things are calming down east of Elkhart, are there any signs of work for the additional crossover at CP 423 or for the revised CP 421? Same question for new signals west of town.

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Re: Elkhart, Ind.

Unread post by rob46580 »

The NYC museum server went out with Ron Troyer a few years ago, well, not literally, but because of those changes, now its only Goshen and Osceola servers in area. and Ocseola has better luck catching things to the west, cp 426 is tough a lot of times for it oddly, unknown why.

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