Ding? (Question for Eric, Bones, or any other engineer...)

Riding in the cab car, I'll sometimes hear a bell that goes off in the engineer's cab as we go through an interlocking. On UP/W, it'll usually chime most of the time when going through A2. Is this some kind of signal acknowledgment, or ? TIA...

I imagine qboy can answer this for sure, but seeing as the UP uses cab signals on that line, this is probably an audible cue for the engineer to acknowledge a change in the cab signal aspect.

Incidentally, there's also a loud bell IN the tower at A-2 that you can catch every so often if you overhear a conductor's portable while the operator is talking. I've been told it's there to alert the operator of a train approaching (from which line/direction? "beats me") so he can line it up.

What you are hearing is the the cab signal drop going over the plant at Western. Because of what very short break in the circuit we call it dead track. It occurs usually going thru x-overs or can occur going over a switch for short periods and then the signal picks right back up. At Western the ATC hit is so quick you don't have to acknowledge it.

Thats is also correct A-2 bell is constantly going off at certain times of the day with all the moves coming and going.

Thanks for the replies above. One other question: I was at Western Ave. (A2) recently with my scanner on, and on the Milwaukee side, I heard engineers calling out signal indications while passing control points, which went like this for instance:

"2138, diverging clear A3"...

Is this SOP; do you guys have to call out signals at ALL control points?

No, but it is common practice to call out signals "less than clear", and the subsequent signal(s). If you get an Approach someplace and call it out, and come flying into the next signal without slowing/stopping, the conductor is "supposed" to pull the air, because it's red for all he knows. Naturally you flew by because you saw it turn red to green, but the cndr. needs to know that too. That's why you can hear clears called out. Amtrak, in particular, also wants us to call out the next visible signal after a station stop or delay-in-block, even if it is indeed green.

As for your example - which I realize is just that, but here's some trivia anyhow - there is only one main-to-main crossover at A-3, which goes from 1 to 2 east or 2 to 1 west. This is a 10mph crossover. Going east, the best you can get to cross over there is a Restricting, but it is possible to get a Diverging Clear on it going west. Now, I'd bet that 2138, being an eastward train, would not be able to get a diverging clear there.

Many times, inbound Metras will not be lined up at A-2 right away, so they'll call "Approach A-3/Stop A-2" in advance, make their station stop short of the signal, and then call out "Clear A-2" when they get the signal and the highball.

Speaking of noises coming from the cab, when passing by the Bensenville yard, I hear a "beeep". I'm pretty sure we don't have cab signals on the Milwaukee west line, so I'm not sure what it is.

Also, there are two buttons in the cab car next to the engineer's side window, one is labeled for CNW and the other for BN. Does anyone know what they're for?

Thanks in advance for solving the conundrums.

Now this one, I have no idea. You are correct that there are no cab signal systems in effect on either of the ex-Milw lines. Does this beep have a high pitch or low pitch? It might be the tone-back sound for someone calling up the dispatcher on the B17 radio tower. That's the only thing I can think of, anyway. I do not run on the west line, just the north line. I'm also not intimately familiar with Metra's cab cars.

Its not a real high pitch. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being a very high pitch, I would call it a 3. It lasts maybe 1.5 to 2 seconds.

Now that I'm paying more attention, I've noticed it just east of A-2 also.

Uhh... no idea. Whatever it is, it's specific to Metra's equipment. Are you sure you've only heard it at those two particular locations? I guess it might be the alertor warning sound; I don't know what it sounds like on those things. With all the stops that Metra makes, I guess it's conceivable that coming out of A-2 or Bensenville depot might be some of the only locations where the engineer has a chance to go a long enough time without touching the controls...

I won't swear to that being the only times I heard it, because I'm not always sitting in the cab car. I thought of the alertor also.