| August 1923, No. 306 | Canadian Railway and Marine World (Toronto) | Page 381, col. 3 |
Block signal installation, between Toronto and Hamilton.
The Canadian National Rys. on account of increased traffic, are equipping the Oakville Subdivision, London Division, Southwestern Ontario District, Central Region, which extends from Toronto to Hamilton, 38.71 miles, with automatic block signals. They will govern main line movements from Bathurst St. Jct., 1.3 miles of Toronto union station, to Stuart St. station, Hamilton. From Bathurst St. Jct. to Canpa, 7 miles, they will govern movements over all 4 tracks; from Canpa to Port Credit, 4.57 miles, they will govern movements on 3 tracks, as a third track is being built to Port Credit from Mimico. From Port Credit to Hamilton, 25.84 miles, where the line is double track, the signal will govern movements on both tracks.
The signal system will be of the color light type. No semaphore arms or discs will be used, colored lights being relied upon for both day and night indications. The signals will be mounted on steel cantilever brackets, each bracket serving 2 tracks. On the 4-track portion of the line, the brackets will be staggered. On the 3-track portion, they will support the signals governing movements on two tracks, and the signal for the third track will be supported by a pole at the side in the ordinary manner. Each signal will have 3 lamps, arranged vertically one above the other, equipped with red, yellow and green lenses, respectively, to given the usual indications, viz., red, the stop indication; yellow, the caution; and green, the proceed, and the whole system will be operated in accordance with the standard rules applying to the usual type of block signal system. A special feature of the signal lights will be that each will be equipped with 2 filaments, furnishing resistance to currents of different voltage. In case of one filament failing, the diminished intensity of illumination will warm the signal maintainer that a new filament is necessary./ The signal light lenses will be about 8 in. diam. A similar installation, although on a much smaller scale, was made by the G.T.R. about a year ago, between Lachine and St. Henri, Que. Only 12 signals were used, but these were sufficient to demonstrate the desirability and reliability of the color light system.
The Board of Railway Commissioners' approval for the Toronto-Hamilton installation was given by order 33,817, June 27, and construction is proceeding from the Toronto end. The signal and line material is being supplied by Union Switch & Signal Co., Swissvale, Pa., and the cantilever supporting brackets by Bates Expanded Steel Truss Co., Chicago. The installation is being done by V.N.R. forces, under the direction of C. H. Tillet, Signal Engineer, Central Region, Toronto, and it is expected that it will be completed in the autumn.
Railways: C.N.Rys.