RailRoadFan.com

It appears the unthinkable has happened: the derails have been removed on either side of the Saint Joe bridge. On 10/1, I heard a bridge tender and E train talking: the derails on either side of St. Joe bridge were removed on Monday, September 27.

For a long time, the derails at the St. Joe bridge have been controlled by the dispatcher while the bridge is controlled by the bridge tender.

So, before a dispatcher could give a train a light across the bridge, the the bridge tender had to close the bridge. Then the dispatcher could throw the derails and line up the train.

After the train passed, the dispatcher had to put the derails back in the derailing position before the bridge tender could open the bridge for boats.

As dispatcher territories have grown and dispatcher attention has been spread thin, this has led to lots of delays. Trains were delayed because the dispatcher would line up a train’s entire route, except for the bridge, and then the dispatcher forgot/wasn’t able to pay close enough attention to watch for the bridge to be closed so he could light up the signal at the bridge without delaying the train.

Then, after the train passed, the dispatchers would forget to put the derails back into the derailing position so the bridge could open, leading to irritation amongst boaters and the local Coast Guard station.

Over the summer, it was a frequent occurrence that trains would arrive at Benton Harbor to find a stop signal. They would then radio the bridge to confirm the bridge was closed, then tone up the dispatcher to ask for the signal.

It was also a frequent occurrence that the bridge tender would have lines of boats waiting and phone calls to the dispatcher on hold—and they would finally have to resort to toning up the dispatcher on the radio to get the derails back.

A few days ago, I heard a dispatcher tell a MOW worker “this is the first time I’ve worked this desk since they took the derails away.” I assumed he meant they had changed the things dispatchers were allowed to do with them. But it appears that they are physically gone.

I’m sure with PTC and modern signal control systems they have figured out a better way to make sure the bridge is closed before a clear signal can occur and to make sure the bridge cannot be opened in front of a train. They really did need to do something to reduce delays. But it sure seems strange to me that they would feel physical protection of the bridge via a derail is not needed. I guess runaway cars or trains are considered such a remote risk such protection isn’t needed anymore.

It would be nice if somebody could physically confirm their removal for us. To me, it seems most likely that they simply moved control over to the bridgetender. It is also possible that the derails are still in but spiked in the non-derailing position until the track department can remove them.

Funny to think how they reconfigured the bridge control only a few years ago with the very idea of making the bridge controlled by the RN.

I am in Texas for work, but when I get home to St. Joe next week I will see what I can see.

But when the engineer exclaims to the bridge tender “Hey! When did they remove the derails?!” I think chances are fairly good they are gone.

Yes the derails are gone. Now there won't be an unkown switch error on the TO to deal with.

Rob

The derails are a "SAFETY" device, per the CSX rules. So it looks like the CSX gave up on safety then . Which is cheaper 1) maintaining the derails or 2) fishing equipment ( & maybe an employee or 2 ) out of the river and dealing with the environmental issues & fines ? Asking for a freind.

wonder if they could make it a control point where the bridge operator controls both bridge and derails.. put in the split rail derails as well.

The Conrail bridge in Detroit lost their split rail derails after they reconfigured the interlocking and replaced mainline rail. Years ago. Bridge operator was in control of both. But now all are gone. Derails, bridge operator and the tower.

So this bridge was never removed? Thought sure they were going to 2-3;years ago.

Remove a movable bridge across a navigable waterway?

Yachtees in Ft. Lauderdale are unhappy that the Florida East Coast New River Bridge closes more due to the Brightline passenger trains.
They made a webpage to keep them somewhat less unhappy: https://www.nrbinfo.com/

It even has a live webcam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YFHDjig1hc

The boaters won the battle in Toledo where the NS lift bridge (at "Drawbridge") now closes for trains instead of opening for boats, similar to the Saint Joe swing bridge. There are times where NS takes advantage of the bridge being down and runs multiple trains. This annoys boaters but at least they are not seeing a bridge down for hours with few if any trains.

As for the removal of the St Joe derails I have a question. When was the last time they were used to stop an errant movement? If ever, did the derail prevent the train from going in the water?

PS: I hope railfans in Ft. Lauderdale are enjoying their railcam.

justalurker66 wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 09, 2021 2:46 pm

As for the removal of the St Joe derails I have a question. When was the last time they were used to stop an errant movement? If ever, did the derail prevent the train from going in the water?

I can’t say if they have ever prevented something from going in the water. Probably not, to be honest.

In the 70s or 80s there were a few boxcars that wound up in the drink. Someone posted a newspaper clipping on here at some point, and I just don’t have the time to find it at the instant.