Appendix E

CHRONOLOGY OF TRAIN CONTROL DEVELOPMENT

The history of train control technology in rail 1832 The first fixed signal system in America is interwoven with railroad engineer- was installed on the New Castle & ing. Most of the train control techniques applied in Frenchtown RR, The signals were ball- rail rapid transit have their origin in railroading, shaped objects mounted on masts at 3- from which they are either borrowed directly or mile intervals. The signals were raised adapted to the special circumstances of the urban and lowered by a to indicate setting. For this reason, many train control permissible speed—low meaning stop engineers consider ATC in rail rapid transit simply and stay and high meaning proceed at an extension of the field of railroad signaling. full speed, The latter indication gave rise However, there are some distinct differences, both to the expression “highballing.” in the technology and its application. The 1843 The first mechanical was similarities and differences are evident in the installed at Bricklayer’s Arms Junction in chronology of train control development presented England. It was a simple machine oper- here. ated by a signalman who worked the The development of signaling and train control switches with his hands and the signals technology may be separated into two periods, with with his feet. 1920 as the dividing point. Before 1920 the major 1851 Morse code electric telegraph was first areas of technological advance were interlocking used in train operation for sending train control and block signaling (manual and automatic). orders on the New York & Erie RR. After 1920, the demand for moving heavier traffic at higher speeds and with increased safety led to 1853 The Philadelphia & Reading RR installed major developments such as centralized traffic con- signal towers for giving information to trol, continuous cab signaling, coded track circuits, approaching trains on the occupancy of and . Generally, innovative the track in advance. signaling and train control technology for rail rapid 1853 Open-circuit manual block signaling was transit was derived from railroads and lagged first used in England. behind railroad application by about 10 years. There were some notable exceptions; the development of 1860 Gate signals were initiated in America. automatic junction operation and automatic train A stop indication was displayed by plac- dispatching was pioneered in rail rapid transit. Very ing a red banner or disc on top of the gate recently, since roughly 1960, there has been some during the day. A red light was displayed experimentation with techniques and equipment at night. solely for rail rapid transit and small people-mover systems. 1863 Closed-circuit (fail-safe) manual block signaling, using the space interval The major source of this material is American method of operation, was first employed Railway Signaling Principles and Practices, in America on the United Chapter l—History and Development of Railway Canal & RR Co. between Kensington, Pa. Signaling, published by the Association of (Philadelphia), and Trenton, N.J. American Railroads, Signal Section, 1954. Supple- mentary information, particularly on rail rapid tran- 1866 The first automatic electric block system sit technology in recent years, was assembled from was installed on the New Haven System various sources, including manufacturer’s at Meriden, Corm. Hall enclosed disc sig- brochures, local transit agency reports, and techni- nals, open circuit, were operated by track cal journals. instruments.

215 1868 The Pennsylvania RR used a type of trains was in use on the New York, New train order signal which was under the Haven & Hartford RR and the New York control of the train dispatcher who could Central & Hudson River RR. When oper- set it in the stop-danger position at any ated automatically by a device on remote station by means of a selective the rail, the passing train released a device operated over the regular Morse pointer which started to move around a telegraph circuit. dial divided into three segments each representing 5 minutes. The pointer 1870 The first interlocking machine in movement was controlled by an escape- America was installed at Top-of-the- ment so that it moved across the dial in a Hill, a junction at Trenton, N. J., on the period of 15 minutes. for the Camden and Amboy Division of the train ahead was thus indicated up to 15 Pennsylvania RR. minutes. 1871 A system of automatic block signals, 1885 The first electric detector locking for in- comparable with presently used equip- terlocked track switches was installed by ment, was installed on the New York & the Pennsylvania RR at the Pittsburgh, Harlem RR and the Eastern RR. Pa., terminal by using depression trips to 1872 The first installation of closed d.c. track ground the indication circuit. circuit, invented by Dr. William Robin- son, was made at Kinzua, Pa., on the 1889 The first electric interlocking employing Philadelphia & Erie RR. dynamic indication, invented by John D. Taylor, was installed at East Norwood, 1873 The Robinson closed-circuit track block Ohio, at the crossing of the Baltimore & for switch protection was first put into Ohio Southwestern RR and the Cincin- use on the Philadelphia & Erie RR. nati and Northern RR. 1876 The first power interlocking of the Burn 1893 The first low-voltage, direct-current, pneumatic type was put in use on the motor-operated automatic semaphore Pennsylvania RR at Mantua “Y,” West block signals were installed on the Philadelphia, Pa. Central RR of New Jersey in Black Dan’s 1876 The Boston & Lowell and the Boston & Cut, east of Phillipsburg, N.J. They were Providence RRs introduced the Robin- two-position lower-quandrant signals son electromechanical signal for with the motor and driving chain outside automatic blocking, controlled by direct the mast. current track circuits. 1900 The first three-block indication was in- 1880 The first automatic was placed stalled on the Pennsylvania RR between in trial service on the Middle Division of Altoona and Cresson, Pa. The signals the Pennsylvania RR. A glass tube in the were two-position, lower-quadrant, train air line located on the locomotive home and distant automatic semaphores, near the rails was designed to be broken by a “track trip” set in operating position 1900 In Acton Town, England, an illuminated when the signals were in the stop posi- track diagram was first used in connec- tion. tion with resignaling on the District Ry. due to electrification, It dispensed with 1881 The first interlocking of the hydraulic separate track indicators and brought type was installed by the Union Switch & together all track occupancy information Signal Co. at Wellington, Ohio, for a on the plan of tracks and signals, thereby crossing of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Ry. facilitating the work of the signalman with the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago handling traffic. & St. Louis Ry. 1901 The Taylor Signal Co. put in service the 1885 The “Dutch Clock” device for establish- first electric interlocking embodying the ing time intervals (headways) between “dynamic indication” principle, at Eau

216 Claire, Wis., on the Chicago, St. Paul, 1912 Cab signals were first used on an electric Minneapolis & Omaha Ry. railway, the Indianapolis & Cincinnati Traction Co. ● 1901 The Boston Elevated installed special 1914 polarized d.c. track relays. This was the The cam controller for control of power first attempt to operate track circuits on a application to d.c. propulsion motors was railroad where propulsion power was first used in the Chicago Rapid Transit supplied by electricity and the rails were co. used as the medium for current return. 1915 The American Railway Association adopted rules which permitted train 1901 The Boston Elevated made the first per- operation on single track by controlled manent installation of an automatic train manual block signal indications, super- stop system, which consisted of seding timetable and train orders. mechanical wayside trips engaging brake control apparatus on the moving car. 1919 The Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Ry. made the first trial installation of the 1903 The North Shore RR of California made General Co. intermittent the first installation of a.c. track circuits inductive train stop system. This system for automatic block signals. used magnetic induction to transfer sig- nals from wayside controls to train 1906 The first signal system with a.c. track equipment. circuits on a road using a.c. propulsion 1920 The first installation of automatic speed power was installed on the New York, control in the US. was that of the Regan New Haven & Hartford RR, The track Safety Device Co. intermittent electrical circuits were the two-rail type, 60 Hz, contact ramp-type train control system with impedance bonds. Propulsion cur- on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific RR rent was 25 Hz. between Blue Island and Joliet, Ill. 1907 The first automatic interlocking for the 1923 The Pennsylvania RR placed in service, protection of a railroad crossing was in- experimentally, the first installation stalled at Chester, Va., at a crossing of anywhere of the continuous inductive cab the Tidewater & Western Ry. with the signal and train control system coveting Virginia Railway, Power & Light Co. 43.5 miles of single track and 3.4 miles of two-track, between Lewistown and Sun- 1909 The Erie RR installed automatic signal- bury, Pa. It was the first instance where ing for train operation by signal indica- vacuum tubes were used for purposes tion on a two-track division, 139.7 miles other than in communication circuits. in length, which directed trains to: (1) This installation also was the first time stop and hold main track, (2) take siding, that cab signals were used in lieu of (3) proceed on main track regardless of wayside signals for operating trains by superior trains. signal indication.

1911 The absolute permissive block system 1925 The first permanent installation of cab (APB), developed by the General Rail- signals without wayside automatic block way Signal Co., was first installed on the signals was made on the Atchison, Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo RR be- Topeka & Santa Fe Ry., between tween Kinnear and Vinemount, Ontario, Chillicothe, Ill., and Ft. Madison, Iowa. Canada, using direct-current semaphore The equipment was a Union Switch & signals. Signal Co. three-speed continuous in- ductive-type train control device. 1912 Train movements on the Chesapeake & 1926 The Illinois Central RR was the first to Ohio Ry. were directed for the first time equip an operating division with by signal indication without written and two-indication train orders.

217 continuous cab signals without wayside Signal Co. Type “N-X” (entrance-exit), automatic block signals, was made at Girard Junction, Ohio, on ● the New York Central RR. 1927 The first Co. centralized traffic control system was in- 1939 A four-indication, four-speed coded, stalled on the New York Central RR be- continuous train control system was in- tween Stanley and Berwick, Ohio. The stalled on suburban cars of the Key first dual-control electric switch System, Southern Pacific and Sacramen- machines, which provided for either to Northern Railroads operating over the hand or electric operation, were in- San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, troduced on this installation, California, The system was designed to handle 10-car multiple-unit trains 1930 The first use of the all-relay interlocking operating on a l-minute headway, The principle, as a substitute for indication installation included an N–X interlock- parts and magnets at the levers of a large ing system with a train describer and interlocking machine equipped with automatic operation of a single switch. mechanical locking, was at Cleveland Union Terminal, Ohio, 1939 The first application of coded detector track circuits in interlocking was made 1931 The New York Central RR installed a by the Norfolk & Western Ry. system of four~block indication signals on a line equipped with automatic block 1940 The first installation of coded track cir- signals in heavy suburban traffic terri- cuits for continuous cab signaling with- tory. out wayside automatic signals in steam 1932 The Philadelphia subways installed a territory, developed by the Union Switch modified type of the three-wire circuit & Signal Co., was made between Conpit code scheme of centralized traffic con- and Kiskiminetas Junctions, Pa., on the trol. Pennsylvania RR, 1933 The Pennsylvania RR was granted per- 1940 The Pennsylvania RR installed a mission by the ICC to convert all its centralized traffic control system be- locomotives equipped with the coded tween Harmony and Effingham, Ill., continuous train stop system to the using the Union Switch & Signal Co, coded continuous cab signal system with two-wire, 35-station time code type for whistle and acknowledger. This was the first time on a multiple-connected done with the understanding that the line circuit in which the line wires were Pennsylvania RR would voluntarily ex- continuous throughout the territory, and tend cab signal territory to include most which provided for the coordination of of its main line trackage. the code circuit and communication cir- cuits over the same line wires, This was 1934 The first installation of coded track cir- the first installation of a centralized cuits on steam-operated territory was traffic control system to employ a two- made between Lewistone and Mt. wire code line circuit in which all the Union, Pa., on 20 miles of four-track field locations were connected in multi- main line on the Pennsylvania RR, The ple across the line wires, average length of was 5,201 feet. Energy was coded storage battery 1940 The first installation of reversible coded for three and four-indication wayside track circuits in single-track territory signals, with coded 100 Hz a.c. superim- with centralized traffic control was posed for continuous cab signals, made between Machias and Hubbard, N.Y., on the Pennsylvania RR. 1937 The first installation of a relay-type in- terlocking with push-button automatic 1940 The first installation of absolute per- selection of routes and positioning of missive block (APB) signaling with three switches and signals, General Railway and four indications with coded track

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circuits was made on the Norfolk & 1951 A portable radio, called “Dick Tracy,” Western Ry., between Petersburg and was first used by yard switchmen on the Evergreen, Va. Southern Ry. in connection with cou- pling cars in the classification yard and 1943 The first installation of coded track cir- transferring them to the departure yard. cuits using polar reverse codes with three-indication signaling for either- 1952 The Erie RR placed in service at Water- direction operation was made on the St. boro, N, Y., in connection with the Louis Southwestern Ry. establishment of a remotely controlled 1944 The first installation of normally interlocking, a system of automatic train deenergized coded track circuits for identification, This system automatically centralized traffic control on single track identifies the direction and the number was placed in service between Laredo of a train as it clears a manual block on a and Polo, Me., on the Chicago, Mil- branch line. waukee, St. Paul & Pacific RR. 1953 The first installation of cab signaling 1946 The Pennsylvania RR demonstrated the using transistors in place of vacuum feasibility of centralized traffic control tubes was placed in service on the New operation over commercial communica- York, New Haven & Hartford RR by the tion circuits, including beamed radio. General Railway Signal Co. The test was made over approximately 1,130 miles of Western Union carrier 1953 The first installation using transistors in- telegraph circuit including about 90 stead of vacuum tubes in safety-type miles of beamed radio. This was the first (vital circuit) carrier equipment was time beamed radio was used for this pur- made on the Pennsylvania RR. The pose. equipment was developed by the Union Switch & Signal Division o f 1948 The first use of automatic train dispatch- Westinghouse Air Brake Co. ing in rail rapid transit was by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co. (now 1955 A crewless remote-controlled passenger SEPTA). The device employed a perfor- train was demonstrated on the New ated opaque tape driven by a clock York, New Haven & Hartford RR. mechanism. A beam of light scanning the tape triggered a photoelectric cell 1959 The inductive train phone was first used that automatically activated starting in raiI rapid transit by the Chicago Tran- lights at terminals. sit Authority. 1949 The Chicago Transit Authority initiated 1961 A completely automatic subway train experiments in the use of radar for train was placed in service on the shuttle run detection and separation assurance. between Times Square and Grand Central Station in New York. A motor- 1951 The Pennsylvania RR installed a three- man was on board for emergencies, but speed continuous inductive train control he was not involved in normal operation system in which the limits were 20 miles of the train and often spent his time per hour with no code, 30 miles per hour reading the newspaper, with 75 code, 45 miles per hour with 120 code, and no speed limit with 180 code. 1962 A crewless freight train operating system was tested on the Canadian Na- 1951 CTA began the use of automatic train tional RR. dispatching with remote override capability from central locations. The 1964 Automatic train operation (ATO) equip- system, which employs a mechanical ment, intended for use in the BART clock, pen graph recorders of train move- system, was operationally tested at ment, and line supervision, is still in Thorndale on the Chicago Transit operation. Authority North-South route.

. 219 1966 Four automatic train control systems for 1972 Four automatic people-mover systems BART were demonstrated at the Diablo were demonstrated at TRANSPO ’72, test track--one using the Washington, D. C., under the auspices of concept, two using coded track circuits, the U.S. Department of Transportation. and the other using a “trackwire” com- munications link and wayside control 1972 Revenue service was initiated on the equipment. Fremont-MacArthur portion of the BART system, Train operation, includ- 1966 Fully automated vehicle operation and ing start, berthing, and door operation, is innovative methods of train control were entirely automatic but under the super- demonstrated for the Transit Express- vision of an onboard operator, way (Skybus) system at South Park, Pa., by the Port Authority of Allegheny 1973 The Satellite Transit System, featuring County (Pittsburgh). automatic crewless vehicle operation, 1967 Audio-frequency track circuits in a rail was placed in service for passengers at rapid transit application were first the Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) Airport. placed in regular service by the Chicago 1974 The AIRTRANS system at Dallas/Ft. Transit Authority. Worth Airport opened for service. 1969 Revenue service was begun on the Operating on 17 interconnected routes, PATCO Lindenwold Line. After a AIRTRANS has automatic crewless manually initiated start, train operation trains to carry passengers, baggage, is completely automatic until the doors freight, and refuse within the airport are opened at the next station. complex.

1971 An automatic people-mover system was 1974 Demonstration of the Morgantown (W, placed in operation at the Tampa Air- Va,) PRT system was conducted, Small port. This system incorporates some of vehicles, operating on a fixed guideway, the ATC elements originally demon- circulate under automatic control and strated at South Park, without onboard operators,

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