I have just finished doing a draft article for the Atlantic Coast Line/
Seaboard Airline RR Historical Society on train stop and cab signals, and had
my curiosity piqued by a 1930 report by the American Railway Association(a
predecessor of today's AAR) Committee on Automatic Train Control which stated
that as a result of the 1922/1924 ICC orders, the CB&Q installed a Sprague
Intermittent Automatic Train Stop system between Creston and Pacific
Junction,(first order) and between Pacific Junction and Lincoln,(second order).
It turns out that the Srprague system was a favorite of the CB&Q's parents, as
both NP and GN had similar installations.
By 1950, it appears that the CB&Q had plans to install cab signals between
Chicago and Council Bluffs and between Chicago and Minn/St. Paul. The CB&Q had
petetioned the ICC for relief from installing cab signals/train stop between
Lincoln and Denver, but was denied.
My questions are as follows:
Were the train stop installations installed in the 1920's maintained?
If the installations were maintained in service, were they ever modernized and
did the systems get changed to either GRS or US&S systems.
What type of cab signalling was installed and by which signal company?
Was the system a cab signal only installation or was there a train
control/train stop system provided.
I am happy to share with the Society or its members copies of the 1930 ARA
report. I t has a lot of detailed information on the history of train control
up to 1930, has texts of the ICC orders, tables of installations, costs,number
of locomotives, etc.
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