Derailment Aftermath

[trainman8119]

I got the opportunity to ride the L today headed to the courthouse on the west side. Trains are operating very slowly in the Dearborn subway. I got on at Clark and Lake and rode to Congress and Kedzie. The entire time in the subway the train was moving at about 10 mph. On the way back I noticed that all the signals were red from the entrance point at Halsted to Clinton (where I got off) and beyond as far as I could see. I would imagine the signal, instead of being a stop was some sort of a restricted signal, since we never did stop, but were moving at a slow speed.

Kind of makes me think that there may be more problems down there than we are led to believe.

[Busjack]

The CTA is supposed to be replacing the block signals on the Blue Line with cab ones (per the Construction Update). However, what makes me wonder about this report is that if the block signals are still working and the track trips are still there, it shouldn't have been legal or possible to go through all reds. (After all, it was the track trip switch accidently being triggered that stopped the derailed train.) Something fishy is going on if all this happened.

It also depends where you were on the train when you saw the red signals, since the first car of the train will turn the signals red. You have to be looking out the front of the train to see what signal the operator does. That was much easier when there was the "railfan seat," but not now that there are full width cabs.

[trainman8119]

It also depends where you were on the train when you saw the red signals, since the first car of the train will turn the signals red. You have to be looking out the front of the train to see what signal the operator does.  

I was in fact in the front car looking out the front. As a one time Metra engineer, I know I saw red, and lots of it. The only thing other than red was a yellow entering the station at Clinton. Other than that, every signal from the time we entered the subway to that point (and slightly beyond, as I got off at Clinton and looked east into the subway) was a red one.

In standard railroad rules, there are times when you can pass a red signal, but are relegated to restricted speed (max 20 mph, looking for a whole mess of stuff) and I am wondering if something similar is in effect here. I know CTA does not follow FRA rules or standard railroad type rules, but I am not familiar with their operating rules in this case and exactly what went on here.