Hi Everyone Just wondering could someone tell me what this is??

[miskelly]

Hi there everyone i just joined up to your forum to see if anyone here could help me with finding out what this wooden box is. My granda give me this box years ago and i assume its to do with a train station going by the writing on the front i am just wondering what exactly it is and what it was used for hopefully i am not completely wrong and its nothing to do with trains lol. Many thanks

Stuart

Images Below
http://postimage.org/image/fbl8zhbmb/
http://postimage.org/image/tbipdvnyr/

http://s13.postimage.org/fbl8zhbmb/20130105_102326.jpg

http://s13.postimage.org/tbipdvnyr/20130105_102254.jpg

[Silver Fox Phil]

Hello Stuart and welcome to the forum. I am not 100% sure of the pictures but I wonder if it could be anything to do with electrical equipment like Trip switches Shunt trips, and blocks, ect. It could be a case to hold these parts. I look forward to hearing if other ideas from anyone?
Anyway have fun on here
All the best
Phil

[Madcaravanner]

Originally Posted by Silver Fox Phil

Hello Stuart and welcome to the forum. I am not 100% sure of the pictures but I wonder if it could be anything to do with electrical equipment like Trip switches Shunt trips, and blocks, ect. It could be a case to hold these parts. I look forward to hearing if other ideas from anyone?
Anyway have fun on here
All the best
Phil

Now the polystyrene lining is unusual so it obviously is not overly old may be 50 or so years old and it held something that could either break or be damaged easily (?? dentonators) I am not the expert on here for this stuff but I'm interested actually looks like something I could use for fishing lures

[Kasane]

Could this have been from North America? Over here the terms block, switch and shunt are also used. Could these have stored tokens for use for local trains lifting, switching and setting off cars? The references to station numbers are interesting, these may be what are known as FSAC Codes. I couldn't find a really good match, the best being :

5887 CROW WING
5888 LENNOX
6479 FORDSON
6481 MCKEE

All four stations occur in two adjacent counties in Minnesota... the railroad is 'US' - which I cannot relate to a functioning railroad currently.

[Locoman4244]

Just had this quote fro m a friend of mine in the US who drives for Amtrak. Lucky ???????

Yes it is American it is a box that contains track shunts for the block indicated on the box. A rail shunt is a peace of metal that you place between the two rails that will show track occupancy and it turns the block signal red in both directions. This was used by maintenance away while working on the track. In case you call them differently a block is a length of track between two opposing signals. In one mile segments

Locoman 4244

[Locoman4244]

Miskelly

My US loco driver friend has now seen the inside of the box and this is what he now says ----

After looking at the pictures of inside of the box, I have changed by description of the item.

In the 1920’s, there was a new form of main track authority called Central Traffic Control (CTC). It allowed train dispatchers to control train movement by using track signals or also known as block signals instead of train orders by telegraph. Before computers the signals were changed by mechanical levers.



From time to time it was necessary to change the signals to red to protect track maintainers, trains on an adjacent main track or a control siding. The dispatcher would change the levers to indicate a red or stop signal to provide protection for them. He would then place a wooden block to prevent the lever from accidently change from red to green. These wooden blocks would have numbers that would correspond to the signal number. Once the blocks were placed he would advise that train or maintenance that they had block protection. The box is where the wooden blocks where stored.



In today’s time all switches and protection is done by computer but the reference of the phrase’ block protection’ is still used today.

[Kasane]

Interesting stuff, Locoman4244, I wonder how that box got across the Atlantic. So, I am thinking that these are FSAC codes ( I forget what the complete acronym is but it goes something like Freight Station A Code) and the four numbers are related to stations in close proximity. I am going to look again and see if I can get a better match!

Without trying to move this thread on, some readers might like to find out the latest signalling initiatives over here, PTC. In short it is to get the railroads to have GPS in all locomotives. The implementation date has slipped, as alluded to in this page :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_train_control

[Kasane]

I couldn't find any railroad with those four FSACs currently - so the above is my best guess for the locality where the box was used.