[Photos] BSS Cars W/ LCD block Numbers

heres proof

I never knew that it was in dispute. The digital run numbers started to appear sometime last spring. No all of the trains have them yet but I would say that more do then not.

Sean@Temple

They're called block numbers.

On the subject of BSS cars, what is the purpose of the ring that is mounted to the outside of the car above the cab (you can see it in the top picture above? The old Brill Redliners used these as well. Many years ago, I actually recall seeing the motormen mount them to the train before they left Fern Rock. I always assumed that they had something to do with triggering the signal system, possibly to identify whether the train was a local, express or Ridge Avenue train but don't know for sure. Can anyone help?

jfrey40535 wrote:They're called block numbers.

block numbers

what is a block number

glennk419 wrote:On the subject of BSS cars, what is the purpose of the ring that is mounted to the outside of the car above the cab (you can see it in the top picture above? The old Brill Redliners used these as well. Many years ago, I actually recall seeing the motormen mount them to the train before they left Fern Rock. I always assumed that they had something to do with triggering the signal system, possibly to identify whether the train was a local, express or Ridge Avenue train but don't know for sure. Can anyone help?

they had that kind of ring on the old r33 world fairs pre rebuilding

Listen to the door chimes. They sound EXACTLY like the T's chimes.

ctaman34 wrote:

glennk419 wrote:On the subject of BSS cars, what is the purpose of the ring that is mounted to the outside of the car above the cab (you can see it in the top picture above? The old Brill Redliners used these as well. Many years ago, I actually recall seeing the motormen mount them to the train before they left Fern Rock. I always assumed that they had something to do with triggering the signal system, possibly to identify whether the train was a local, express or Ridge Avenue train but don't know for sure. Can anyone help?

You are exactly right, it is a trigger for the IDENTRA system on the subway, which identifies which route the train is on.

Thanks!

Block numbers simply identify the specific subway/bus/trolley that is operating at a given time. Closest similarity is to a train number (e.g. Amtrak train #176). I don't know why the BSS has them and the MFL does not, but that's what they do. Lets supervisors know what run is coming/going, etc.

Block numbers are also a way of identifying the actual operator ( or crew, in the case of the BSS) of a vehicle on a specific run. Back in the PTC days, when I was a traffic checker, we had to record the vehicle number and the block number as well as the arrival time, boarding, leaving, and on each vehicle as it arrived at our check location. Among other things, this served to check that the operator was maintaining his schedule ( and particularly that he wasn't passing check points early--- a cardinal sin)

**Just a small correction.**

I do not believe that the block numbers/run numbers (whatever they may be) are LCD. LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Diode and those numbners look to be incandescent backlit or LED (light emitting diode).

If these were installed at the time of manufacture, there would be a very slight chance that they are LCD. Plus, there would be no point to have these small, seemingly insignifigant numbers to be LCD.

Carry on.

here it is

photo taken byGary Chatterton

Walt, I'm a current day Traffic Checker and we still do the same thing. Of course "corner checks" are rare these days, as we usually do "ride checks" where we get someone to cover every block on the route for the entire day. Unfortunately we're relegated mostly to the busses, but we do the Regional Rail routes every two winters.

Joe Wagner

First off, Block Numbers are the same things as Run Numbers, the only difference between them is what each TA calls them. SEPTA happens to have 'Block Numbers,' probably a hold-over from PTC days. NJT, NYCTA, and CTA all use Run Numbers. I've also heard them refered to as schedule numbers, depot numbers, operator numbers, equipment allocation numbers, and system numbers. You're splitting hairs claiming that the LED displays on the BSS cars are anything but run number boxes, it's like claiming the office car on the back of a freight train with a conductor in it isn't a Caboose but a Crummie because you happen to be on a railroad which calls Cabooses that.

And yes, they're LED displays, not LCDs. But while LED does stand for Light Emitting Diode, LCD OTOH stands for Liquid Crystal Display, there's no diodes involved in making the light. LCDs are of course best well known in Laptop screens and such, but the MFL's destination signs are also LCDs.

Now that the nit-picky BS is dispensed with, does anyone know when these Block Number boxes were added and for what purpose? All I remember was that I rode the BSS a month or two ago and suddenly the LED signs were on the fronts of all the cars. Didn't they have little scrolling numbers in the corners of the cars before? Why did SEPTA suddenly feel the need to change the block number boxes but nothing else?

It'd be interesting if they'd carried their little overhaul through the whole car, putting in multi-color LED displays (like WMATA's CAF cars have) and automated announcements. IIRC the BSS was the first system to have a 'next station...' feature in their cars, on the second order of BSS cars, I find it funny that now most systems have at least one car class with that feature, but the orignal line lags behind. I suppose that problem will be rectified in 20 years when the B-IVs come up for replacement.