In General
The signals Amtrak uses on the North East Corridor between New York City and Washington DC are a modification of the Pennsy Position Light signals. Amtrak removed the center lamp, and replaced the remaining lenses with color lenses, making it look similar to a B&O CPL (color position light) signal from a distance. I'm not quite sure if the term PCL is Amtrak's official name for the signals or not, but most signal fans use this term to differentiate the signals from CPL's.
Drawings for the signal heads are at the bottom of the Pennsy PL PL page, as are pictures of a typical Pennsy signal bridge.... and, while checking things out, you may also want to check out my signal timeline.
Click
here
for the PDF version.
Landsdowne MD
(southwest suburban Baltimore)
These signals are located
just south of the MARC commuter stop along Southwestern Blvd.
Aberdeen MD
This signal bridge is located just north of the station.
Northbound signals are numbered 652 (top two rows), southbound 651.
Wilmington DE
Just north of the station for NB trains.
Just south of the station for SB trains.
Just north of the station for SB trains coming into the station.
Note the use of LED's in this signal set!!!
Pictures from a trip
Michael Watnosky and I took in April 2008 to Wilmington DE are
here.
And pictures of the PL signals in Perryville MD are
here.
Altho they really don't belong on this page, Amtrak still uses the Pennsy dwarf signals and pedestals without modification. Pictures of them can be found elsewhere, but a few examples are included here for reference.
A ground mounted dwarf Position Light
signal.
A typical pedestal signal mounted on a
4ft or so mast. These can be found all over at places like Baltimore,
Philadelphia, etc, and of course, the Norfolk Southern still has oodles of them
around, as evidenced by this photo in Newark DE, and places like the interchange
in Perryville MD.
Disclaimers:
I love trains, and I love signals. I am not an expert. My webpages reflect what I find on the topic of the page. This is something I have fun with while trying to help others.
If this is a railfan page, every effort has been made
to make sure that the information contained on this map and in this railfan
guide is correct. Once in a while, an error may creep in :-)
Beware: If used as a source, ANYTHING from Wikipedia must be treated as
being possibly being inaccurate, wrong, or not true.
My philosophy: Pictures and maps are worth a
thousand words, especially for railfanning. Text descriptions only
get you so far, especially if you get lost or disoriented. Take
along good maps.... a GPS is OK to get somewhere, but maps are still
better if you get lost! I belong to AAA, which allows you to get
local maps for free when you visit the local branches. ADC puts
out a nice series of county maps for the Washington DC area, but their
state maps do not have the railroads on them. If you can find em,
I like the National Geographic map book of the U.S..... good, clear, and
concise graphics, and they do a really good job of showing you where
tourist type attractions are, although they too lack the railroads.
Other notes about specific areas will show up on that page if known.
Pictures and additional information is always needed if anyone feels
inclined to take 'em, send 'em, and share 'em, or if you have
something to add or correct.... credit is always given! BE NICE!!! Contact info
is here
Beware: If used as a source, ANYTHING from Wikipedia must be treated as being possibly being inaccurate, wrong, or not true.
RAILFAN GUIDES HOME
RAILROAD SIGNALS HOME
NEW 9/7/2008
Last modified:
21-Dec-2016