Signals for the Punkin Vine - 1926

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More from Railway Signaling, vol. 19, p. 330, August 1926:

>>
The Norfolk & Western has recently authorized the installation of AC Position-Light automatic block signals on the 121.6 mile single-track line between Roanoke, Va., and Winston-Salem, NC.  A new pole line is to be built to carry the signal control wires and the 60-cycle, 4400 volt, 3-phase power line which will be used not only to feed the signal system but also to light the stations, switch lamps, grade crossing signals and to operate pumping stations.  Existing water stations at four points will be converted to electrical operation with two motor-driven pumps at each station that will handle 300 gal. per minute.  It is estimated that the automatic signals along will cost $600,000 and the transmission line $275,000.  The electrification of water pumping facilities on the line will cost an additional $56,500 it is estimated, and the  4  1/2 miles of new passing sidings will cost approximately $165,000."
<<

Fell'as, there is TONS of such information out there in the railroad trade publications, and it's all digitized and up on Google Books.  And the PDF files are all word-searchable, which makes the job easy.   This is why I recommended last year that we organize an N&W Research Brigade to comb all the material and extract what we are interested in.

Finally, a personal note...  The above finding gives me a sense of closure on something.  When I was working on the Punk back in the 1960s, I asked one of the men (Bernard Kirk) who had hired in the 1920s if he knew when the automatic block signals were installed.  Without batting an eye, he said, "1926."  But I had always doubted that date.  Now I find Bernard was right.

-- abram burnett

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