THE C.T.C. MACHINE
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THE C.T.C. MACHINE |
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The letters C.T.C. stand for Central Traffic Control. The machine in the Meath car of the Galesburg Railroad Museum was built for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company in 1947 when the railroad yard was being moved from Quincy, IL to West Quincy, MO, located on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The yard in Quincy was on the river front and subject to flooding. The control of this machine was given to the Train Dispatcher, located in a new yard tower in the West Quincy Yard. The Dispatcher could control the movement of train and engines in and out of the yard. The board shows the territory covered by this particular machine. In 1947 there were 12 passenger trains in and out of West Quincy depot each day going in four different directions. With one person being able to control all of the traffic in and out and through the yard, it is easy to see the advantage of the CTC machine. This particular machine has a history of its own to tell. Because it was so dependable, safe and cost effective to operate, it was moved to different locations where the railroad felt it would be more cost effective. In 1958 it was moved from West Quincy yard to an office building in the CB&Q yard on the river front in Hannibal, MO. Of course, the Train Dispatcher followed. In 1960 three other machines were moved from Brookfield, MO and Galesburg, IL to the same location. In 1974 during the great Mississippi River flood, all of the machines and equipment were inside the office building surrounded by six feet of water. The building was protected by sand bags, but inside the dispatchers and CTC machines were still moving trains over the road. In 1975 the office was moved from the river front office to higher ground in an office building on the bluff in Hannibal. In 1983 the Hannibal office and one in Cicero, IL were consolidated and relocated to Galesburg. So our machine moved once again. It was still doing its job in 1990 when it was replaced by a computer. Upon its retirement, the Burlington Northern Railroad donated the machine to the Galesburg Railroad Museum where it is preserved to this day as it was in its working days. The operation of the machine: The switches were controlled by moving the switch lever to normal or reverse, then sending out a start signal by pushing the start button. This would start the electric motor located in the switch machine located at the switch and throw the switch to the desired location. A white light was for straight track, red for the turn out or crossover route. When the lights were lit, you could be sure the switch points were locked and fit up properly. You couldn't give a clear signal over a switch where the points did not fit up properly and the light would not come on until they fit and the lock lever was in place. The back of this machine is full of relays that work in conjunction with each other, and this provides the guards for a safe operation. The red lights along the track would light up when a train was on that section of track and as it moved on it lit up the next light and the prior one would go off. This is how the dispatcher followed the movement of the train. Another safeguard was a red light which would come on if there was a broken rail. A signalman would be called and he would determine the location of the broken rail with a meter reading. Signals were so interlocked the dispatcher was unable to make conflicting movements into another and he could not give a train a signal to run into a section of track occupied by another train. During the days of all the passenger trains at West Quincy, there was a power switch on both ends of the depot track. In later years with the discontinuation of the trains, the west switch was removed. There are 24 tracks in West Quincy but only tracks 1 and 2 at the East or North end have power switches so trains did not have to stop and hand throw them as they entered or left. The Yardmaster was in control of the yard and he issued the instructions as to what tracks were to be used. The little machine sitting on the CTC machine table is called a Ringer. When telephones were first being used on the railroads, this type of machine was used to call a station. By selecting the line you wanted to use, you had to punch the proper number combination for that station and push the start button which would send out an electrical impulse that rang a bell in the station being called. The station agent would then plug his telephone in on the line that the call came in on and answer it. There was a combination that would ring all stations at once. This system worked well for some 50 years but wet weather would affect its efficiency. |
