Here's a collection of clips from several trips on the Florida Seaboard line. Signals and other stuff I discovered along the way, plus a few trains, too.
Anybody can go out and shoot videos of trains but only Danny can provide all of the historical and interesting information in that calm, soothing voice. Another well done video, DH. Thank you.
This reminds me of the old Santa Fe signal that once guarded a diamond crossing in my area.. If the local coming into the yard fouled the main, all eastbound trains would have to stop and let their conductor walk to the diamond crossing to unfoul the main before they were picked up by the train for the run east.
I always like seeing old equipment still in use. In Fitzgerald, GA, on Street view, you can see an old cement whistle post with the 4 black long-long-short-long markings on it at the N Lee St. grade crossing. There's also a doll-arm signal at Malcolm Way. The Main St. crossing only had two old crossing signals with no gates. There was cat-eye reflectors on the crossbuck and metal screening around the lights. But, they were replaced a couple years ago with modern cantilevers and gates. I'm sure they had a lot of cars running the signals and decided to install gates.
All my friends ask me "Who is your favorite youtuber?" I reply with Distant Signal and they always always always say "Who is that?" Then I use the occasional Well you would get it if you were a railfan. Good video DH I look forward to your uploads and stop everything I'm doing and watch your videos as soon as I get the notification!
I love stuff like this, not sure if even more than just regular videos, but the history and facts behind the landmarks and such that Danny narrates is just so cool.
Those concrete mile markers with bevels and "roofs" are from L&N, Seaboard Coast Line's sister company, and partner during the short term combo name of, "SCL / L&N, Family Lines System." This means those two, and any other such L&N markers were probably put in service sometime after the full acquisition of L&N in 1971. They were made by Dixie Precast out of Atlanta, GA. Dixie precast is also who made the popsicle stick-like concrete Whistle Posts for L&N. I noticed one such post in this video at the bottom of the picture (over on the right) at 9:17, but couldn't make out what it said. It appeared to be what L&N called a "blank," with no indented "W," "SW" (Station Whistle), upside down "U" (Tunnel Post), or "TW" (Trestle Whistle), molded into it, which is intended to have black paint added to the engraved-looking letters. - Awesome video! And that's an amazing announcer-quality voice you have there too!
I found your Distant Signal channel four months ago and was immediately impressed with the exceptional quality of your work. It bears the stamp of a truly professional broadcaster; I wasn't surprised to hear that you had been in the biz for four decades. I too worked in broadcasting/video/audio, mostly behind-the-scenes; retiring after 43 years of making pictures and sound fly through the air (since March of 1967). I held a variety of jobs... a film cameraman/processor/editor, non-linear video editor, field producer, announcer, executive producer, TV engineer, and DVD mastering engineer. I was with NBC News for 23 years, traveling the world editing all kinds of stories for NBC Nightly News and the Today program. Some of them were famous events. One of those was my last film assignment. It was August, 1977... the death of Elvis Presley. After a week in Memphis I went on to many other stories, as a videotape editor, Electronic Journalism, "EJ" NBC called it. All this is to say that when it comes to the creative/artsy/technical aspects of television, I do know what I'm talking about. Danny Harmon, your rail coverage always proves you are a consummate pro videographer, writer, editor, and narrator. Eminently astute in railway operations, you are also a-widely-knowledgeable historian! When I first saw one of your railfan pieces, I didn't know what a railfan was, but now, having devoured ALL of your TH-cam videos, you have enlightened me; I am a railfan! Like thousands of others, I have learned much from your superb, multi-faceted stories. Thank you!
Afternoon Danny, I am contacting you all the way from South Africa, and Town called Richards Bay on the east coast fairly far north up the coast. I am sure a rail fan and really enjoy your many videos and also to see the many varied trains that you guys have in that part of the States. Here we mostly only see long coal and timer trains as Richards Bay is a port town with a large coal terminal with a lot of ship traffic as well as a large paper mill. Other trains are the local sugar cane units as not for off from us is the Felixton Sugar Mill. Once again thank you for you great videos and all the info you include with them hope to here from you . Regards Ryan
In DTC you can only give authority from one physical location to another. In CSX's flavor of TWC with a form EC-1 you can give authority from point a to b, it doesn't have to be one physical location to another and/or separate authorities for each block. Way cool that there is still a DTC block sign in the ballast as once CSX switched to EC-1 those DTC block signs vanished quick.
I very much enjoyed this informative history lesson of the old RR systems. Many times I have seen various signals,the dwarf signals in particular and wondered what each light indicator meant. Happy railfanning my friend and like always,thanks for sharing!
Hi Danny! My name is Ayden, I just wanna say I love your videos. I have been watching since I was in 4th grade. Now I am in 10th grade. Hope all is well. Thanks for the amazing video productions over the past years!
Hi Danny, the 5-color dwarf is a 2-head as you'd assumed. But the top lens is lunar, while the bottom two are green and yellow respectively. When there's a red over green or yellow aspect on a dwarf, trains are permitted a medium speed through the turnout, as opposed to Slow speed when there's no red light at all. Interesting thing about that is there were several 3-light dwarfs on the A-line that had a fixed red in the top of them and a green or yellow would just light with them consecutively to indicate a more favorable aspect. The two I specifically remember having this setup were the two dwarfs protecting the double track main, (thru Orlando and Winter Park) permitting trains to proceed leaving the wrong direction onto single main.
Excellent as always, the artifacts used to give identity to the respective railroad, but now that everything has been replaced by aluminum gantries and most codelines have been removed, there is not much left to tell the story.
When you had that shot of the single loco running light engine and said “I don’t know where this guy was going” it reminded me of something very funny I saw a number of years ago. I used to go to this model train shop that was in a little shopping center that has a rail line up on an embankment right behind it. One evening I pulled into the shopping center and there was a single CSX loco (no idea what type) sitting all by itself on the embankment. Saw a man come out of a deli in the shopping center, cross the parking lot, climb the very steep embankment, hop into the cab, then heard the engine start up and he drove it away. He acted like he had just stopped at the deli in a Ford Taurus and not a locomotive longer than a tractor trailer. Still makes me laugh to think about.
Jeez man...that is a trove of information I gotta watch about five times to take it all in..or at least part of it until I get comfortable in processing. Great stuff as usual and thanks as always...
Great documentation Danny! I loved seeing to old code line poles from the overpass shot. That use to be a way to see where RR tracks were from a distance when traveling in unfamiliar territory.
Thanks! Yeah, good catch. I didn't even notice those pole lines until after I had already recorded the narration. Tallahassee is about the last place that still has code line poles still in service... or at least still standing.
I also always watch for old code lines ((and on older photos telephone/ telegraph/communication) poles. For the same reason , as a boy in those days they helped me see where the tracks were 😅going. So sad , at least to me, that they’re not around any more. Super-duper job as always, Mr. Harmon!
The five-light dwarfs are actually (from top to bottom) lunar, red, green, yellow, red. If you think about the dwarf as two signal heads, a white over red would indicate the restricting movement into the house track, whilst a green or yellow on the bottom three would indicate the diverging move from siding to main.
Danny, your voice over work's narration is so very good. Yet not knowing anything about your day job, but from my perspective, I would say you might have been employed in broadcasting at some point (Radio/TV). In my neck of the woods, there are two such railfanning channel guys who do quite similar, but their voices don't carry the same resonance as yours. Thornapple Valley, in Michigan, and Delay in Block productions, also in Michigan.
Well, Danny, I was also in a form of broadcasting for 27.5 years, but I accepted my pension at age 53. I was an employee of the City Of Fort Wayne, Indiana, 911 Cummications Emergency Dispatch, And Call Center. On any given shift day, I could be answering incoming 911 calls, or maybe I'd be radio dispatching for the fire service, and then on a different day, I might be dispatching for police service. Actually, I had a Fire Service Commision and retired on their pension. Since my pension had begun in 1996, that center has gone through major changes. The city and the county government have combined their 911 centers into a single entity. They even have a new name. And the Mission of the new 'Consolidated Communication Partnership Department' is to provide excellent customer service to citizens, public safety employees, and one another. We will work to support our team members as we provide quick, accurate information to all those we serve. They even moved the center out of the basement, to the sixth floor of the Rousseau Center (Formerly known as the City-County Building).
Timothy M, My dad was a 911 EMS dispatcher for Broward County, Fl. When Broward decided to implement the 911 CAD system, the company, SCC I believe, that was installing and training were impressed on how well my dad took to it they offered him a position in Boulder, Colo. and he took it. A few years later SCC was bought out by Motorola. He worked for them for quite sometime as a CAD support tech. When he started hearing rumors of their office moving to Cedar Rapids, IA. he put out his resume and got hired on for the city of Jacksonville / Duval County back in Fl. as a senior CAD support tech for their 911 system...since retired traveling the country in their RV and Jeep Wrangler...
Your Father must be younger than I, but I could be way off the mark. I'm almost age 75 (in July). The first use of any computer, at any time of my existence, was in the 911 center (and before it was called that) in 1969. Our center was an outgrowth of the fire services' alarm center, and It was located on the 2nd. floor and at the rear of old fire station one at 319 E. Main St. The radio dispatch for both the police and fire service had begun in 1934. It wasn't two way at first, however; the police service was just a receiver in the police squad car. In fact, anyone could listen in to the calls, because the frequency was in the high 1500 megacycles of the A.M. Band. And the telephone system was just as ancient. It was a plugin cord, and manual switch connection manual PBX. Just like you'd see in the old black & white movies. But, by the time I started in July of 1968 they had upgraded to the Telephone company mainframe switching system network. Also, The public safety two-way radios had been upgraded to the VHS upper band of 153 to 159 MHZ., in the late 1950s. In 1971 we moved the center to the basement of the then 'new' City-County building basement. It had to be located in the basement to receive any federal grant funding, from the predecessor of Homeland Security, which was called the National Center for Civil Defense. The idea of a nuclear strike and radioactive fallout were still a very big concern. By the way, we did have a scaled down emergency auxiliary center at another building some miles away. We had access to a local basic record keeping the computer network commencing 1972 and began with a new CAD system in 1981. It was in its infancy. As it continued to morph, as did the developers, Spillman Logistics of Seattle. When I retired in 1996, the upgrades were still in progress, and so was the public safety agencies two-way radio systems. Everything was changed over to encrypted a 800 MHZ, trunking system, which functions like the Cellular telephone technologies do.
He's about the same, young 70's. He started in the small little city suburb of Ft. Lauderdale called Lauderhill in '71-72, just before I was born (they came from NJ.) I remember mom taking us there to see him sometimes for dinner, on the second or 3rd floor... Lauderhill was absorbed by Broward Sheriff's Office and so was he for EMS dispatching. BSO's comm center was on the 7th floor of the City Hall / Justice building in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. He retired from BSO in '94-95 time frame to go to SCC in Boulder. So I'm guessing the 911 CAD system came to be in Lauderdale, 93-94ish... I remember my dad having to go to work during hurricanes while mom, my sister, and I stayed at home away from him...Never understood why, but as I got older and realize the importance of his job, I knew... Hurricane David was the first one I truly remember as a child...I was 6. I know tech needs to move forward, but the trunking systems kinda sux for hobbyists...unless you send hundreds of $$$ to get a new digital trunking scanner... It's gonna be a while for the railroads to get there, but it will happen... I think they'll move forward more aggressively to the 800MHz trunking system after all the Positive Train Control stuff comes on line...
On one of his other videos, I'd asked where that ringing sound was coming from. I have since discovered that the older 80's style EMDs had visible bells on them in various spots. And that the bells on the EVOSs (and probably the newer EMDs as well) are electronic.
There is a rail line that runs from Noblesville, Indiana to Tipton, Indiana, which the Indiana Transportation Museum (heritage railroad) used to run trains on. It's the second oldest rail line in the state of Indiana (built 1852), originally the Indianapolis and Peru, which through the years later became the Indianapolis Michigan City line, then the Nickle Plate, then Norfolk Southern, before being put up for potential abandonment. There are still some cement whistle post markers from the 1800s still standing along the line. The former Monon track (current CSX track) between Crawfordsville and Munster has quite a bit of the L&N cement mileposts along the line (the Monon was merged into the L&N in 1971). On the near Southside of Indianapolis, at CP Dale, facing South, is a Pennsy Frankensignal. It's made up of two different Pennsy signal parts, cobbled together. The line that it is on is a former Pennsy line (from Louisville to downtown Indianapolis). It's the oldest rail line in Indiana, 1847, originally the Jeffersonville, Madison, & Indianapolis. Present day, MP 0 - MP 4 is CSX territory; MP 4 to Louisville is Louisville and Indiana (L&I locomotives have a Pennsy heritage paint scheme).
@@distantsignal You're welcome! I should clarify something about the line that runs between Noblesville and Tipton: The line used to run between Indianapolis and Michigan City. As I mentioned, it was laid down in 1852, originally the Indianapolis and Peru. Was reorganized, extended to Michigan City (the original thought that Michigan City would grow to the size of present-day Chicago, which the opposite happened). It was leased to the New York Central via stock control via the Lake Erie and Western, was sold to the Nickel Plate, which was bought by the Norfolk and Western, which became Norfolk Southern. About 1990, Norfolk Southern was going to abandon the line. Noblesville, and Hamilton County bought the line to preserve it for future commuter rail use. Indianapolis joined in, and the Hoosier Heritage Port Authority was formed. Commuter rail never happened. ITM was kicked out of Forest Park, then disappeared. Tom Hoback, who started the current Indiana Railroad (freight railroad; historically, there was another Indiana Railroad, the interurban line), started the Nickel Plate Express, which currently runs between Noblesville and Tipton. Ironically, when ITM was there, the stainless steel coaches that they had were used on the original incarnation of the Santa Fe's El Capitan train between Chicago and Los Angeles. The Nickel Plate Express uses the Hi-Level stainless cars used on the El Capitan train when it was equipped with the Hi-Level cars. Indianapolis is home to the world's first union station (1853, originally called Union Depot; the second, and current, building was built on the same spot), the world's largest traction terminal (demolished in 1968), and the first belt railroad. A good book to read on that is INDIANAPOLIS UNION AND BELT RAILDROADS, by Jeffrey T. Darbee. Another couple of good books to read are: MONON: THE HOOSIER LINE, by Gary W. Dolzall; INDIANAPOLIS RAILWAYS: A Complete History of the Company and Its Predecessors From 1864 to 1957, by Jerry Marlett. I can give you a lot more information regarding railroading up here. Feel free to send me a message!
Oh, and another example of differing terminology - we call "sidings" loops and "tailtracks" sidings, or, if they are used to enable a train to reverse through a turnout (into a yard, for example), it's a headshunt.
My Mother-in-Law lives in Macclenny and I had no idea any of those items are even there! Guess I will need to do some searching the next time I am down for a visit.
Soooo I take it that the dwarf in downtown Hellahassee is approach I drive by it everyday and have only seen it lit once, I've never seen the doll arm lit. Being from UP, BNSF, SP territory the doll arm was something new to me that caught my attention.
Awesome video Danny! On my trek to Folkston last June, I stopped by Maccleny and saw a Green signal and saw that same local with a Solo SD40-3 Rebuild. Hope to see you in folkston next week!
Thank you! That must have been a pretty nice gig. Tallahassee only has a few crossings. Were those track signals hard to keep running? How far out did your territory go? DH
I went from just South of Tallahassee Yard just before you got to the GF&A connection, to the North End of Drifton which is by Monticello. I lived for many years at the KOA campground in Monticello in a camper because I would get bumped from time to time. The signals were and still are old school . Yes they can be quite a job to keep up with. It is what we refer to as normally de-energized coded track. It all works with mechanical relays. Most of them were way older than me. I was born in 1962 if that tells you anything. There are no plans to upgrade the Tallahassee sub to PTC. Amtrak no longer runs on it from my understanding.What is also quite noteworthy they "Amtrak" does not run PTC as of yet. It is rumored that the Tallahassee sub is for sale. along with other areas system wide. I have watch your videos and you go to many of the places I have worked . Either Maintaining or in signal construction. I am in North Carolina now, but will be calling Florida home again soon.
Wow! Thank you, JB. I didn't know that was de-energized territory. I don;t really know what that is but I've heard other maintainers talk about it. You going back to North Florida?
Distant Signal Not quite sure yet-Most likely central Florida-It will depend what jobs come up. We will me moving into our MotorHome and get something permanent down the road. I only have a little over 5 years left to work before I retire.
Loved the video Danny, was interesting to see the Tally line... It's been announced that it is indeed sold, they haven't said who it's been sold too yet though. Last summer we were out that way, a DD went off for a 19,000 foot Q606. Absolutely ridiculous...
Union Switch & Signal was founded back in the day by George Westinghouse. In fact he came up with the whole railroad signaling idea, along with the Switch Frog, the steam heaters in passenger cars and of course, the air brake.
at live oak the one railroad you call the Florida railroad was actually the Florida navigation and railway. which took over the Tallahassee, Quincy & palate railroad.
These videos do no justice to how loud trains really are, and not just the horns. I kid you not , on the last two videos I filmed, I could literally feel the ground shaking as the train went by. That's something I'd never noticed before.
MP 791 is my train night spot, the house with that old ford SUV and the fire at the corner of the crossing is where me and 2 others hang out on some saturdays
I believe why CSX didn't replace the rest of the signals west towards Tallahassee and Pensacola is because they knew they were going to sell the line in which they did in 2019 to a class 3 railroad!
Great video danny. That 5 headed dwarf is set up as Lunar on top, red, green, yellow, ( it may be yellow of green, some have the two swapped but mine is green yellow), red. The restricting would be placed on top and the green and yellow aspects below that way you can get medium speed indications out of that siding (Red over green or red over yellow). Glad to have helped out with your question on the switching limits sign!
I should add that im specifying the dwarf at Macclenny. The dwarf at Lacoochee can be either that or id suspect it has a red top, then yellow, then R/Y/G The color light signal was able to display an advance approach, so using that one could suggest the dwarf may be able to do the same, just showing a medium advance approach out of the siding.
I was recently in Tallahassee and I found a park east of town off of Blair Stone Rd named Government Park and the Tallahassee main runs right by the park. There are trails there and there is a distant signal near by.
my experience running on the dwarf signals with this setup in my territory is the aspects are green, red, green, yellow, red. This allows a low is slow signal it to display a clear (double green).
CRengineer17 this signal he showed in the video allows for trains to diverge through a crossover to the main or proceed onto the house track. Therefore the proceed indication would be a lunar over red restricting, but the diverging route will be red over green or yellow medium speed aspect.
CRengineer17 that's cool. Where is your territory? Down here in the South, dwarfs are typically only used for tracks not controlled by CTC, that are entering or crossing CTC so it would be unlikely to get a Clear aspect from one even though it's in the rulebook
request: take the silver star to NY Penn. Here are 5 stops that are must see in the area. 1- Grand Central Terminal 2- Newark Penn Station 3- Riverdale Metro North Station 4- New York City Subway 5- Danbury Railway Museum
I just finished watching another rerun of Narrow Gauge Glory on the RFD channel, and I would swear you did the voice over promoting Herronrail.com and the videos they sell.
Im amazed how often you go to tallahassee and here you are at macclenney (this is the area I am in all the time) - but you dont show anything out of the baldwin yard.
Awesome Video! I've always loved the SAL/SCL Railroad, they used to be the 2nd largest operator in my hometown before the end of the Family Lines System. Have you ever considered coming down to South Florida? There are a TON of SAL-SCL artifacts still in use.
North of the Miami International Station there is a trestle bridge originally built in the mid-20's. Along with that, there is a 1960-70s era Crossing Signal just north of the trestle. In terms of block-signals, I can't think of any off the top.
I know this is a broad question but I will be in Orlando in a week for work and was wondering where is the best place to go for some awesome rail fanning. I'm a PA yank and I want to take advantage of the time I have down there to do some train watching. Any info will be awesome! PS love your videos and cant get enough. Its mostly all NS or CN up here so would be nice to see some blue power for once!! thanks anyone in advance for info. PSSSS.. Willing to drive a good hour or so out of Orlando for some good spots.
Hi there. Orlando isn't my stomping ground, but I do know you can catch CSX action in Sanford, but only middays and nights after SunRail stops running. Auto Train also in Sanford, arrives early morning 7 - 9A and Departs between 3 - 5PM. If you want a little more action, Lakeland is a better bet. 45min to an hour west of Orlando on I-4. Take the KathLeen Rd Exit 31 and turn south. Go about two miles and you'll see Lakeland Junction on your right. Park on the street across the daycare and TECO office. As in most terminals, early morning and late afternoons are best here.
Distant Signal. Thank you very much for the info. Just one more reason I recommend all of your videos to friends. Really a great guy helping us other rail fans out. I will probably take the trip to Lakeland one afternoon. Even if I only catch one I will be a happy guy. Thanks again!
Hello, nice work always. Question, do you ever get interfeared with by Snakes while photographing stills or video s ? Thank you Rardie Leahy. Foxborough, ma.
Great video Danny. At 5:46, there are these type of signals in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania where Norfolk Southern goes by. Looking west at the signal, it has a number plate 2002W and two heads. The top is a Y patterned signal. The bottom only has 2 lights but not the third light to make it a Y pattern. Could you explain to me what the bottom light would mean and also the number plate. I assume the W stands for West. Also on the other side of the signals looking east has only the top head of the Y patterned. Have you ever seen this type of signal and is it a non absolute?
I am really enjoying learning about train signals, you are explaining them very well which I am thankful for. I have one question not about signals but about those large CSX box cars that look just like the Auto train auto racks are they used for a similar purpose?
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Anybody can go out and shoot videos of trains but only Danny can provide all of the historical and interesting information in that calm, soothing voice. Another well done video, DH. Thank you.
Danny Harmon is a class act. Really the best videos I've seen. Its Hollywood production quality. Danny is awesome in front and behind the camera.
This guy has the perfect voice for narration!
Kind of reminds me of Danny Harmon. There are some older train videos on TH-cam that were narrated by Mr. Harmon.
@@dsmith9964 this is danny
JoeyLovesTrains I know it sounds like a documentary on a tv station or a newscaster explaining a current event
it would be 100 x's better if it was David Attenborough
He does narration for tv shows if you have Motor Trend channel he narrates shows there.
This reminds me of the old Santa Fe signal that once guarded a diamond crossing in my area.. If the local coming into the yard fouled the main, all eastbound trains would have to stop and let their conductor walk to the diamond crossing to unfoul the main before they were picked up by the train for the run east.
I always like seeing old equipment still in use. In Fitzgerald, GA, on Street view, you can see an old cement whistle post with the 4 black long-long-short-long markings on it at the N Lee St. grade crossing. There's also a doll-arm signal at Malcolm Way. The Main St. crossing only had two old crossing signals with no gates. There was cat-eye reflectors on the crossbuck and metal screening around the lights. But, they were replaced a couple years ago with modern cantilevers and gates. I'm sure they had a lot of cars running the signals and decided to install gates.
All my friends ask me "Who is your favorite youtuber?" I reply with Distant Signal and they always always always say "Who is that?" Then I use the occasional Well you would get it if you were a railfan. Good video DH I look forward to your uploads and stop everything I'm doing and watch your videos as soon as I get the notification!
Wow! Thank you!!! That's awesome!
BNSF Bandit,
Roger that!!!!
I love stuff like this, not sure if even more than just regular videos, but the history and facts behind the landmarks and such that Danny narrates is just so cool.
Those concrete mile markers with bevels and "roofs" are from L&N, Seaboard Coast Line's sister company, and partner during the short term combo name of, "SCL / L&N, Family Lines System." This means those two, and any other such L&N markers were probably put in service sometime after the full acquisition of L&N in 1971. They were made by Dixie Precast out of Atlanta, GA. Dixie precast is also who made the popsicle stick-like concrete Whistle Posts for L&N. I noticed one such post in this video at the bottom of the picture (over on the right) at 9:17, but couldn't make out what it said. It appeared to be what L&N called a "blank," with no indented "W," "SW" (Station Whistle), upside down "U" (Tunnel Post), or "TW" (Trestle Whistle), molded into it, which is intended to have black paint added to the engraved-looking letters. - Awesome video! And that's an amazing announcer-quality voice you have there too!
I found your Distant Signal channel four months ago and was immediately impressed with the exceptional quality of your work. It bears the stamp of a truly professional broadcaster; I wasn't surprised to hear that you had been in the biz for four decades. I too worked in broadcasting/video/audio, mostly behind-the-scenes; retiring after 43 years of making pictures and sound fly through the air (since March of 1967). I held a variety of jobs... a film cameraman/processor/editor, non-linear video editor, field producer, announcer, executive producer, TV engineer, and DVD mastering engineer. I was with NBC News for 23 years, traveling the world editing all kinds of stories for NBC Nightly News and the Today program. Some of them were famous events. One of those was my last film assignment. It was August, 1977... the death of Elvis Presley. After a week in Memphis I went on to many other stories, as a videotape editor, Electronic Journalism, "EJ" NBC called it. All this is to say that when it comes to the creative/artsy/technical aspects of television, I do know what I'm talking about. Danny Harmon, your rail coverage always proves you are a consummate pro videographer, writer, editor, and narrator. Eminently astute in railway operations, you are also a-widely-knowledgeable historian! When I first saw one of your railfan pieces, I didn't know what a railfan was, but now, having devoured ALL of your TH-cam videos, you have enlightened me; I am a railfan! Like thousands of others, I have learned much from your superb, multi-faceted stories. Thank you!
LaCooche, probably one of my favorite cities that you pronounce, I know, I know, Im being an immature man-child but its still a fun city to pronounce
Afternoon Danny, I am contacting you all the way from South Africa, and Town called Richards Bay on the east coast fairly far north up the coast. I am sure a rail fan and really enjoy your many videos and also to see the many varied trains that you guys have in that part of the States. Here we mostly only see long coal and timer trains as Richards Bay is a port town with a large coal terminal with a lot of ship traffic as well as a large paper mill. Other trains are the local sugar cane units as not for off from us is the Felixton Sugar Mill. Once again thank you for you great videos and all the info you include with them hope to here from you . Regards Ryan
Thanks again Danny. I don't get much time these days to catch any action around my area.
I am learning new things every day about the rail road. Thanks Danny
In DTC you can only give authority from one physical location to another. In CSX's flavor of TWC with a form EC-1 you can give authority from point a to b, it doesn't have to be one physical location to another and/or separate authorities for each block. Way cool that there is still a DTC block sign in the ballast as once CSX switched to EC-1 those DTC block signs vanished quick.
I very much enjoyed this informative history lesson of the old RR systems. Many times I have seen various signals,the dwarf signals in particular and wondered what each light indicator meant. Happy railfanning my friend and like always,thanks for sharing!
Hi Danny! My name is Ayden, I just wanna say I love your videos. I have been watching since I was in 4th grade. Now I am in 10th grade. Hope all is well. Thanks for the amazing video productions over the past years!
Really enjoy seeing your channel about train .
Hi Danny, the 5-color dwarf is a 2-head as you'd assumed. But the top lens is lunar, while the bottom two are green and yellow respectively. When there's a red over green or yellow aspect on a dwarf, trains are permitted a medium speed through the turnout, as opposed to Slow speed when there's no red light at all.
Interesting thing about that is there were several 3-light dwarfs on the A-line that had a fixed red in the top of them and a green or yellow would just light with them consecutively to indicate a more favorable aspect. The two I specifically remember having this setup were the two dwarfs protecting the double track main, (thru Orlando and Winter Park) permitting trains to proceed leaving the wrong direction onto single main.
Thanks for sharing! Just a few days ago, I saw CSX #19 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Amazing how these engines move around the country like that!
Hi Distant Signal, An awesome video with lots of great information. Thank you!
Excellent as always, the artifacts used to give identity to the respective railroad, but now that everything has been replaced by aluminum gantries and most codelines have been removed, there is not much left to tell the story.
Thanks, Danny. Great to see your videos. I like how in depth, you give us information, with your videos.
Very professional. Impressive!
When you had that shot of the single loco running light engine and said “I don’t know where this guy was going” it reminded me of something very funny I saw a number of years ago. I used to go to this model train shop that was in a little shopping center that has a rail line up on an embankment right behind it. One evening I pulled into the shopping center and there was a single CSX loco (no idea what type) sitting all by itself on the embankment. Saw a man come out of a deli in the shopping center, cross the parking lot, climb the very steep embankment, hop into the cab, then heard the engine start up and he drove it away. He acted like he had just stopped at the deli in a Ford Taurus and not a locomotive longer than a tractor trailer. Still makes me laugh to think about.
Jeez man...that is a trove of information I gotta watch about five times to take it all in..or at least part of it until I get comfortable in processing. Great stuff as usual and thanks as always...
Nice compliment, Todd. Thanks!
You make some of the best train videos out there.
Great documentation Danny! I loved seeing to old code line poles from the overpass shot. That use to be a way to see where RR tracks were from a distance when traveling in unfamiliar territory.
Thanks! Yeah, good catch. I didn't even notice those pole lines until after I had already recorded the narration. Tallahassee is about the last place that still has code line poles still in service... or at least still standing.
I also always watch for old code lines ((and on older photos telephone/ telegraph/communication) poles. For the same reason , as a boy in those days they helped me see where the tracks were 😅going. So sad , at least to me, that they’re not around any more. Super-duper job as always, Mr. Harmon!
That’s very interesting Danny. Love your videos!!!👍👍👍❤️
Glad you like them!
The five-light dwarfs are actually (from top to bottom) lunar, red, green, yellow, red. If you think about the dwarf as two signal heads, a white over red would indicate the restricting movement into the house track, whilst a green or yellow on the bottom three would indicate the diverging move from siding to main.
Danny, your voice over work's narration is so very good. Yet not knowing anything about your day job, but from my perspective, I would say you might have been employed in broadcasting at some point (Radio/TV). In my neck of the woods, there are two such railfanning channel guys who do quite similar, but their voices don't carry the same resonance as yours. Thornapple Valley, in Michigan, and Delay in Block productions, also in Michigan.
Thanks Tim. Yes, I've been a broadcaster for 40 years this past March.
Well, Danny, I was also in a form of broadcasting for 27.5 years, but I accepted my pension at age 53. I was an employee of the City Of Fort Wayne, Indiana, 911 Cummications Emergency Dispatch, And Call Center. On any given shift day, I could be answering incoming 911 calls, or maybe I'd be radio dispatching for the fire service, and then on a different day, I might be dispatching for police service. Actually, I had a Fire Service Commision and retired on their pension. Since my pension had begun in 1996, that center has gone through major changes. The city and the county government have combined their 911 centers into a single entity. They even have a new name. And the Mission of the new 'Consolidated Communication Partnership Department' is to provide excellent customer service to citizens, public safety employees, and one another. We will work to support our team members as we provide quick, accurate information to all those we serve. They even moved the center out of the basement, to the sixth floor of the Rousseau Center (Formerly known as the City-County Building).
Timothy M, My dad was a 911 EMS dispatcher for Broward County, Fl. When Broward decided to implement the 911 CAD system, the company, SCC I believe, that was installing and training were impressed on how well my dad took to it they offered him a position in Boulder, Colo. and he took it. A few years later SCC was bought out by Motorola. He worked for them for quite sometime as a CAD support tech. When he started hearing rumors of their office moving to Cedar Rapids, IA. he put out his resume and got hired on for the city of Jacksonville / Duval County back in Fl. as a senior CAD support tech for their 911 system...since retired traveling the country in their RV and Jeep Wrangler...
Your Father must be younger than I, but I could be way off the mark. I'm almost age 75 (in July). The first use of any computer, at any time of my existence, was in the 911 center (and before it was called that) in 1969. Our center was an outgrowth of the fire services' alarm center, and It was located on the 2nd. floor and at the rear of old fire station one at 319 E. Main St. The radio dispatch for both the police and fire service had begun in 1934. It wasn't two way at first, however; the police service was just a receiver in the police squad car. In fact, anyone could listen in to the calls, because the frequency was in the high 1500 megacycles of the A.M. Band. And the telephone system was just as ancient. It was a plugin cord, and manual switch connection manual PBX. Just like you'd see in the old black & white movies. But, by the time I started in July of 1968 they had upgraded to the Telephone company mainframe switching system network. Also, The public safety two-way radios had been upgraded to the VHS upper band of 153 to 159 MHZ., in the late 1950s. In 1971 we moved the center to the basement of the then 'new' City-County building basement. It had to be located in the basement to receive any federal grant funding, from the predecessor of Homeland Security, which was called the National Center for Civil Defense. The idea of a nuclear strike and radioactive fallout were still a very big concern. By the way, we did have a scaled down emergency auxiliary center at another building some miles away. We had access to a local basic record keeping the computer network commencing 1972 and began with a new CAD system in 1981. It was in its infancy. As it continued to morph, as did the developers, Spillman Logistics of Seattle. When I retired in 1996, the upgrades were still in progress, and so was the public safety agencies two-way radio systems. Everything was changed over to encrypted a 800 MHZ, trunking system, which functions like the Cellular telephone technologies do.
He's about the same, young 70's. He started in the small little city suburb of Ft. Lauderdale called Lauderhill in '71-72, just before I was born (they came from NJ.) I remember mom taking us there to see him sometimes for dinner, on the second or 3rd floor... Lauderhill was absorbed by Broward Sheriff's Office and so was he for EMS dispatching. BSO's comm center was on the 7th floor of the City Hall / Justice building in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. He retired from BSO in '94-95 time frame to go to SCC in Boulder. So I'm guessing the 911 CAD system came to be in Lauderdale, 93-94ish... I remember my dad having to go to work during hurricanes while mom, my sister, and I stayed at home away from him...Never understood why, but as I got older and realize the importance of his job, I knew... Hurricane David was the first one I truly remember as a child...I was 6.
I know tech needs to move forward, but the trunking systems kinda sux for hobbyists...unless you send hundreds of $$$ to get a new digital trunking scanner... It's gonna be a while for the railroads to get there, but it will happen... I think they'll move forward more aggressively to the 800MHz trunking system after all the Positive Train Control stuff comes on line...
On one of his other videos, I'd asked where that ringing sound was coming from. I have since discovered that the older 80's style EMDs had visible bells on them in various spots. And that the bells on the EVOSs (and probably the newer EMDs as well) are electronic.
There is a rail line that runs from Noblesville, Indiana to Tipton, Indiana, which the Indiana Transportation Museum (heritage railroad) used to run trains on. It's the second oldest rail line in the state of Indiana (built 1852), originally the Indianapolis and Peru, which through the years later became the Indianapolis Michigan City line, then the Nickle Plate, then Norfolk Southern, before being put up for potential abandonment. There are still some cement whistle post markers from the 1800s still standing along the line.
The former Monon track (current CSX track) between Crawfordsville and Munster has quite a bit of the L&N cement mileposts along the line (the Monon was merged into the L&N in 1971).
On the near Southside of Indianapolis, at CP Dale, facing South, is a Pennsy Frankensignal. It's made up of two different Pennsy signal parts, cobbled together. The line that it is on is a former Pennsy line (from Louisville to downtown Indianapolis). It's the oldest rail line in Indiana, 1847, originally the Jeffersonville, Madison, & Indianapolis. Present day, MP 0 - MP 4 is CSX territory; MP 4 to Louisville is Louisville and Indiana (L&I locomotives have a Pennsy heritage paint scheme).
This is great information. I'm definitely filing this away for when I get up in that territory. Thanks!
@@distantsignal You're welcome! I should clarify something about the line that runs between Noblesville and Tipton: The line used to run between Indianapolis and Michigan City. As I mentioned, it was laid down in 1852, originally the Indianapolis and Peru. Was reorganized, extended to Michigan City (the original thought that Michigan City would grow to the size of present-day Chicago, which the opposite happened). It was leased to the New York Central via stock control via the Lake Erie and Western, was sold to the Nickel Plate, which was bought by the Norfolk and Western, which became Norfolk Southern. About 1990, Norfolk Southern was going to abandon the line. Noblesville, and Hamilton County bought the line to preserve it for future commuter rail use. Indianapolis joined in, and the Hoosier Heritage Port Authority was formed. Commuter rail never happened.
ITM was kicked out of Forest Park, then disappeared. Tom Hoback, who started the current Indiana Railroad (freight railroad; historically, there was another Indiana Railroad, the interurban line), started the Nickel Plate Express, which currently runs between Noblesville and Tipton. Ironically, when ITM was there, the stainless steel coaches that they had were used on the original incarnation of the Santa Fe's El Capitan train between Chicago and Los Angeles. The Nickel Plate Express uses the Hi-Level stainless cars used on the El Capitan train when it was equipped with the Hi-Level cars.
Indianapolis is home to the world's first union station (1853, originally called Union Depot; the second, and current, building was built on the same spot), the world's largest traction terminal (demolished in 1968), and the first belt railroad. A good book to read on that is INDIANAPOLIS UNION AND BELT RAILDROADS, by Jeffrey T. Darbee.
Another couple of good books to read are: MONON: THE HOOSIER LINE, by Gary W. Dolzall; INDIANAPOLIS RAILWAYS: A Complete History of the Company and Its Predecessors From 1864 to 1957, by Jerry Marlett.
I can give you a lot more information regarding railroading up here. Feel free to send me a message!
Great video as always Danny. It really brightened my day seeing this video
Thank you, Jaden Penn!
Wow this was amazing video very cool and great catches.
Amazing capture! I really like your videos! Keep up the amazing work!
These extras are the favorite part of lineside for me. Thanks
Oh, and another example of differing terminology - we call "sidings" loops and "tailtracks" sidings, or, if they are used to enable a train to reverse through a turnout (into a yard, for example), it's a headshunt.
My Mother-in-Law lives in Macclenny and I had no idea any of those items are even there! Guess I will need to do some searching the next time I am down for a visit.
It is great to see quality railfanning video with Tallahassee as the setting . Thanks!
Soooo I take it that the dwarf in downtown Hellahassee is approach I drive by it everyday and have only seen it lit once, I've never seen the doll arm lit. Being from UP, BNSF, SP territory the doll arm was something new to me that caught my attention.
Yeah, it's doubtful that doll arm will ever be lighted again.
Very nice video, Danny! I'd definitely like to check out the Tallahassee side sometime.
Awesome video Danny! On my trek to Folkston last June, I stopped by Maccleny and saw a Green signal and saw that same local with a Solo SD40-3 Rebuild. Hope to see you in folkston next week!
That signal you discuss at 1:30 is what we in the UK call a ground signal, though it's of a very different type to anything I've ever heard of here.
Great shots, Danny! As always!
Very nice video Mr Harmon, thank you for sharing.
Danny amazing video! That was one heck of a lashup on 652! Always look forward to your videos! Keep up the great work!
Max
Thanks so much, Max. Yeah that was a monster lashup. Like that one we saw on 604 that day.
Thanks for the old memories. I used to be the signal maintainer in Tallahassee in the late 90’s.
Thank you! That must have been a pretty nice gig. Tallahassee only has a few crossings. Were those track signals hard to keep running? How far out did your territory go?
DH
I went from just South of Tallahassee Yard just before you got to the GF&A connection, to the North End of Drifton which is by Monticello. I lived for many years at the KOA campground in Monticello in a camper because I would get bumped from time to time.
The signals were and still are old school . Yes they can be quite a job to keep up with. It is what we refer to as normally de-energized coded track. It all works with mechanical relays. Most of them were way older than me. I was born in 1962 if that tells you anything.
There are no plans to upgrade the Tallahassee sub to PTC. Amtrak no longer runs on it from my understanding.What is also quite noteworthy they "Amtrak" does not run PTC as of yet.
It is rumored that the Tallahassee sub is for sale. along with other areas system wide. I have watch your videos and you go to many of the places I have worked . Either Maintaining or in signal construction. I am in North Carolina now, but will be calling Florida home again soon.
Wow! Thank you, JB. I didn't know that was de-energized territory. I don;t really know what that is but I've heard other maintainers talk about it. You going back to North Florida?
Distant Signal
Not quite sure yet-Most likely central Florida-It will depend what jobs come up. We will me moving into our MotorHome and get something permanent down the road. I only have a little over 5 years left to work before I retire.
Loved the video Danny, was interesting to see the Tally line... It's been announced that it is indeed sold, they haven't said who it's been sold too yet though. Last summer we were out that way, a DD went off for a 19,000 foot Q606. Absolutely ridiculous...
Love your stuff
Union Switch & Signal was founded back in the day by George Westinghouse. In fact he came up with the whole railroad signaling idea, along with the Switch Frog, the steam heaters in passenger cars and of course, the air brake.
at live oak the one railroad you call the Florida railroad was actually the Florida navigation and railway. which took over the Tallahassee, Quincy & palate railroad.
These videos do no justice to how loud trains really are, and not just the horns. I kid you not , on the last two videos I filmed, I could literally feel the ground shaking as the train went by. That's something I'd never noticed before.
Again!! Kudos to another GREAT Distant Signal production.
I _always_ enjoy seeing the historical side of things. :) You guys have ATCS down there, or is it all fancy satellite? :D
FEC still has ATCS and NS does, but it's all but disappeared on CSX.
I’ve seen an abandoned railroad spur with a working signal , pretty cool
MP 791 is my train night spot, the house with that old ford SUV and the fire at the corner of the crossing is where me and 2 others hang out on some saturdays
Great information Danny! Thanks for another fantastic upload. Cheers, Dan
My theory of what happened at Macclenny with the signals, is the old searchlights went out and it was cheaper to replace them rather than fixing them.
I believe why CSX didn't replace the rest of the signals west towards Tallahassee and Pensacola is because they knew they were going to sell the line in which they did in 2019 to a class 3 railroad!
Hey, Danny. There's a new train excursion in Tavares, FL.
I love watching and listening to your videos. Thanks for sharing your wonderful work :-))
Thanks Kathy. Much appreciated.
Good to see you here!
JJRicks Studios You’re welcome !
A very interesting channel. Thanks from Orlando
Great video danny. That 5 headed dwarf is set up as Lunar on top, red, green, yellow, ( it may be yellow of green, some have the two swapped but mine is green yellow), red. The restricting would be placed on top and the green and yellow aspects below that way you can get medium speed indications out of that siding (Red over green or red over yellow).
Glad to have helped out with your question on the switching limits sign!
Thanks! I've never seen anything but red on that signal so I couldn't really say exactly what the color stack was.
I should add that im specifying the dwarf at Macclenny. The dwarf at Lacoochee can be either that or id suspect it has a red top, then yellow, then R/Y/G
The color light signal was able to display an advance approach, so using that one could suggest the dwarf may be able to do the same, just showing a medium advance approach out of the siding.
Very informative Danny.
I was recently in Tallahassee and I found a park east of town off of Blair Stone Rd named Government Park and the Tallahassee main runs right by the park. There are trails there and there is a distant signal near by.
Yes, I found that spot last time I was up there. There is an overpass above the main line. I didn't stop because it was raining.
At 5:01 an old CNW hopper car, great to see!
Great video! Danny you always find the cool stuff.
Great lessons on the things you weren't looking for!!!
Another great video DH! Never disappoint! I knew when you posted about West JAX getting the upgrade, I know those other signals would go as well.
That was a nice horn on CSX 7690
Wildwood still has a two-part dwaft signal
S-Line Productions dwarf*
You should be on the radio, you have the perfect voice for it.
my experience running on the dwarf signals with this setup in my territory is the aspects are green, red, green, yellow, red. This allows a low is slow signal it to display a clear (double green).
CRengineer17 this signal he showed in the video allows for trains to diverge through a crossover to the main or proceed onto the house track. Therefore the proceed indication would be a lunar over red restricting, but the diverging route will be red over green or yellow medium speed aspect.
ClawdyaTube as i said in my territory, not there
CRengineer17 that's cool. Where is your territory? Down here in the South, dwarfs are typically only used for tracks not controlled by CTC, that are entering or crossing CTC so it would be unlikely to get a Clear aspect from one even though it's in the rulebook
request: take the silver star to NY Penn. Here are 5 stops that are must see in the area.
1- Grand Central Terminal
2- Newark Penn Station
3- Riverdale Metro North Station
4- New York City Subway
5- Danbury Railway Museum
I just finished watching another rerun of Narrow Gauge Glory on the RFD channel, and I would swear you did the voice over promoting Herronrail.com and the videos they sell.
Yes, I did a lot of the narration on Herron's later videos.
I’ve always enjoyed your videos Danny.
Im amazed how often you go to tallahassee and here you are at macclenney (this is the area I am in all the time) - but you dont show anything out of the baldwin yard.
Awesome Video! I've always loved the SAL/SCL Railroad, they used to be the 2nd largest operator in my hometown before the end of the Family Lines System. Have you ever considered coming down to South Florida? There are a TON of SAL-SCL artifacts still in use.
I've been to the SFRC a few times. Are there still SCL-era appliances in use?
North of the Miami International Station there is a trestle bridge originally built in the mid-20's. Along with that, there is a 1960-70s era Crossing Signal just north of the trestle. In terms of block-signals, I can't think of any off the top.
Yet another great video! You are the best! Can't wait for the next one. LOL
Danny in Philly they have septa and They stander signal type are those y Signals
awesome video
I call those Y signals “Bowling Ball” Color Lights.
I am pleased to say those Y-signals in live oak are still there :)
You're the Best Danny!
Nice video again, Danny
Nice video, Danny!
Well done!
I know this is a broad question but I will be in Orlando in a week for work and was wondering where is the best place to go for some awesome rail fanning. I'm a PA yank and I want to take advantage of the time I have down there to do some train watching. Any info will be awesome! PS love your videos and cant get enough. Its mostly all NS or CN up here so would be nice to see some blue power for once!! thanks anyone in advance for info. PSSSS.. Willing to drive a good hour or so out of Orlando for some good spots.
Hi there. Orlando isn't my stomping ground, but I do know you can catch CSX action in Sanford, but only middays and nights after SunRail stops running. Auto Train also in Sanford, arrives early morning 7 - 9A and Departs between 3 - 5PM. If you want a little more action, Lakeland is a better bet. 45min to an hour west of Orlando on I-4. Take the KathLeen Rd Exit 31 and turn south. Go about two miles and you'll see Lakeland Junction on your right. Park on the street across the daycare and TECO office. As in most terminals, early morning and late afternoons are best here.
Distant Signal. Thank you very much for the info. Just one more reason I recommend all of your videos to friends. Really a great guy helping us other rail fans out. I will probably take the trip to Lakeland one afternoon. Even if I only catch one I will be a happy guy. Thanks again!
Awesome video and catches
Hopefully you can get a shot at the 5 Target dwarf signal at south end Lacoochee. Have you checked north end Lacoochee yet or not.
If you go to Oneco, there's a house siding by state Road 70.
Keep 'em coming!
Excellent video, Danny!
tommy4trains tommy this DJ AKA TINY MARKIPLER WITH A NEW channal
Excellent video & educational Danny! : )
Thank you Douglas!
Good catches Danny!
Hello, nice work always.
Question, do you ever get interfeared with by Snakes while photographing stills or video s ?
Thank you Rardie Leahy. Foxborough, ma.
Great Videos as always. What's the "Doll Arm" for on the signals?
Awesome video Danny!
Great video Danny. At 5:46, there are these type of signals in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania where Norfolk Southern goes by. Looking west at the signal, it has a number plate 2002W and two heads. The top is a Y patterned signal. The bottom only has 2 lights but not the third light to make it a Y pattern. Could you explain to me what the bottom light would mean and also the number plate. I assume the W stands for West. Also on the other side of the signals looking east has only the top head of the Y patterned. Have you ever seen this type of signal and is it a non absolute?
I am really enjoying learning about train signals, you are explaining them very well which I am thankful for. I have one question not about signals but about those large CSX box cars that look just like the Auto train auto racks are they used for a similar purpose?
I love all those rusty old tracks leading back to businesses. Danny how do you know so much inside stuff?
Awesome work