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Miscellaneous Signal "Series" SIgn


Sal151

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What's up transit experts? I have a question for you guys,

 

 

What's the story behind the "series" misc signal?

 

Why don't we have them in the system anymore?

 

When were they installed? Removed?

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SERIES SIGN

A fixed signal, bearing the letters “SERIES,” located at the entrance to a section of track on which trains are required not to exceed series speed; it indicates that the master controller of a train not be advanced beyond the series position until the train reaches a Resume Speed Sign.

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I'll leave this for my active RTO folks. Are the displays in the cabs now called speedometers? I remember when they were installed on Redbirds 9022-23 the term was "speed indicator" and the R62/62A cars were the same. When the R142/142A manuals were issued it was the same thing. The distinction was that automobiles had speedometers which were accurate but the displays in the cabs weren't. There were many times I took a s/b (5) into Gun Hill, or Morris Park and completely stopped but the indicator said I was still going 8mph. Car Equipment,the Legal Department and Bombardier were aware of it back then. I've read posts over the years where people say that the train was going 45 or 50mph and I wonder how accurate the poster is and where did they glean that information from. BTW besides the Series sign there was another miscellaneous sign that read "C". That meant to coast through the area without taking power . The curves around Spring Street on the Lexington line had them. They weren't removed but painted over in black. Carry on.

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I'll leave this for my active RTO folks. Are the displays in the cabs now called speedometers? I remember when they were installed on Redbirds 9022-23 the term was "speed indicator" and the R62/62A cars were the same. When the R142/142A manuals were issued it was the same thing. The distinction was that automobiles had speedometers which were accurate but the displays in the cabs weren't. There were many times I took a s/b (5) into Gun Hill, or Morris Park and completely stopped but the indicator said I was still going 8mph. Car Equipment,the Legal Department and Bombardier were aware of it back then. I've read posts over the years where people say that the train was going 45 or 50mph and I wonder how accurate the poster is and where did they glean that information from. BTW besides the Series sign there was another miscellaneous sign that read "C". That meant to coast through the area without taking power . The curves around Spring Street on the Lexington line had them. They weren't removed but painted over in black. Carry on.

 

I think that was my terminology error in not being specific. On R143s, R160s, and R188s they are labeled as speedometers, but on many older car classes they are still speed indicators. My inclination is to think the NTT fleet are all speedometers, but I'd have to confirm that for the R142/As. I believe the initial distinction arose in the early 1990s. There were speedometers first installed in the 1970s with the new R44-R46--a gear attached to the axle gave a direct indication--but those largely failed due to vibrations and other jostling. I believe the R68 car class also came with geared 'teeth-counting' speedometers. But with the switch from a mounted bracket speedometer to the doppler magnetic EDO devices on the early 1990s came 'speed indicators' which were not quite as accurate but were far more durable. R32s and R42s received doppler devices in 1992 while R40s received them in 1994. There were other retrofits for other car classes around the same time. I have heard some reputable sources refer to those EDO dopplers as speedometers, but I think speed indicator is the more precise term.

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I'll leave this for my active RTO folks. Are the displays in the cabs now called speedometers? I remember when they were installed on Redbirds 9022-23 the term was "speed indicator" and the R62/62A cars were the same. When the R142/142A manuals were issued it was the same thing. The distinction was that automobiles had speedometers which were accurate but the displays in the cabs weren't. There were many times I took a s/b (5) into Gun Hill, or Morris Park and completely stopped but the indicator said I was still going 8mph. Car Equipment,the Legal Department and Bombardier were aware of it back then. I've read posts over the years where people say that the train was going 45 or 50mph and I wonder how accurate the poster is and where did they glean that information from. BTW besides the Series sign there was another miscellaneous sign that read "C". That meant to coast through the area without taking power . The curves around Spring Street on the Lexington line had them. They weren't removed but painted over in black. Carry on.

 

Generally yes, the phrase "speedometer" is used by crews and RTO for everything in existence now, even though new people are taught not to rely on them, especially on non NTT equipment (but on NTT as well, they can go bad too if mis-calibrated, or they can lose calibration and get stuck on 0 all the same).

 

There are a couple of "C" (coast) signs still in the system, but the definition is not taught anymore.

 

Reminds me of how the "hand brake indicator light" went from telling you if/when a handbrake was applied en route to somehow people are occasionally trusting it to say that all HB's are released even though that's not what it's for... and nowadays the counterweight is taught as the ultimate judge of the position of the HB (applied or released), not the chain.

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