Caltrain EMU Cab Video Signal Survey

The Position Light Blog · one year ago · 76 views

After the loss of the Caltrain gallery car railfan window I wasn't holding out much hope for having anything worthwhile to do on the Caltrain system as European spec rolling stock typically come with bulkhead style cab doors. However videos have been appearing showing that front facing views are present. This have the added benefit of providing a southbound signaling survey as previously such photos and videos were only possible facing northbound. I have already covered changes between San Jose and Tamien and can now confirm that the remaining Southern Pacific style signals in the terminal area have been replaced. The good news is that the few SP target type signals on the north end near the tunnels are still in place although unfortunately the triple unilens stacks at CP-COMMON were replaced by a standard LED modular type in a three virtual head configuration. Another note is how bad the sight lines for some of the wayside mast signals have become. This makes clear the advantage for position lights and cab signals in electrified territory. Although the freight spec PTC system Caltrain uses is kinda like a cab signal, moving to a Rule 562 coded track circuit arrangement might save them a lot of trouble. You can watch the video for yourself, but despite the hype the weekend and daytime local service is still highly underwhelming with little in the way of interesting signaling or routing. Although faster than diesel, the speeds are still slow compared to a limited stop run and unfortunately these have been largely curtailed with the fastest peak period trains still 3 or 4 minutes slower than the famed 4 or 5 stop Baby Bullets of the 2004-2024 time period.