1962 Uniform Code of Operating Rules – Handling of Switches and Derails

HANDLING OF SWITCHES AND DERAILS

Note: When spring or dual control switches are operated by hand, they are then hand operated switches and rules governing hand operated switches apply.

104. HAND OPERATED SWITCHES – Except where switchtenders are stationed, conductors are responsible for the position of switches manually operated by them and members of their crews. Employees are not relieved of responsibility in properly handling switches.

Switches must at all times be secured. Main track switches must be lined and locked for main track when not in use. Yard switches that are equipped with locks must be lined and locked in normal position after having been used.

A main track switch must not be left open unless in charge of a member of the crew or a switch tender.

After a switch has been turned the points must be examined and the target or light observed to know that the switch is properly lined.

When a train or engine is clear of the main track waiting for an approaching train, the crew on engine must, when practicable, see that the switches in front of the engine are properly lined for the approaching train.

A train or engine must not foul a track until switches connected with the movement are properly lined, or in the case of automatic or spring switches the conflicting route is known to be clear.

A member of the crew of a train occupying the main track at a meeting or passing point will, when practicable, open the switch for the approaching train and protect it until relieved by a trainman of the other train or a switchtender.

When a train is closely approaching or passing over a main track switch, employees must keep not less than twenty feet from the switch stand, and on single track must, in addition, when practicable, stand on the opposite side of the track.

The position of the switch at the end of two tracks is normal when set for trains leaving single for two tracks.

When a train or engine turns out from the main track at any point, the switch must not be restored to its normal position until the train or engine has cleared the fouling point.

If it is known or suspected that the points, or any parts of a switch are damaged or broken, the switch must be protected, section foreman notified, and report made to the proper authority from the first available point of communication.

Both switches of a crossover must be open before a train or engine starts to make a crossover movement and the movement must be completed before either switch is restored to normal position. When a crossover is to be used the switch in the track on which the train or engine is standing must be opened first.

104A. SPRING SWITCHES – When a trailing movement is stopped before passing entirely through a spring switch, the movement must not be reversed nor slack taken in until the switch has been properly set by hand.

When a train or engine is stopped by fixed signal governing movement over a spring switch in the facing point direction, the points must be examined, and if not properly closed and cannot be closed by hand, they must be spiked in proper position before being used. After movement over switch has been made spike must be removed and superintendent notified immediately. If switch points are found in proper position, train will be governed by indication of signal.

Trains or engines must stop and examine main track spring switches before making facing point movements over them unless receiving a signal indication permitting them to proceed.

NOTE: Wherever the words “train dispatcher” appear herein, they apply to the employee performing the duties.

104B. DUAL CONTROL SWITCHES – When a train or engine is stopped by a signal governing movement over a dual control switch, if no conflicting movement is evident, a member of the crew must immediately communicate with the train dispatcher and be governed by his instructions. Such instructions must include information as to the route to be used. These instructions must be in writing and repeated to ensure correct understanding.

When a train or engine is required to move over a dual control switch under a Stop indication, movement must not be made until after selector lever has been taken out of “power” position and placed in “hand” position. Hand throw lever must be operated until switch points are seen to move with the movement of hand throw lever. Switch must then be lined for the route to be used. Selector lever may be restored to “power” position and locked as soon as leading wheels have moved onto the switch points.

When switching is to be done over a dual control switch, the switch may be operated manually by a member of the crew after authority to do so and work and time limits have been obtained from the train dispatcher as prescribed by Rule 266. Selector lever must then be placed in “hand” position and hand throw lever operated until switch points are seen to move with the movement of hand throw lever. Selector lever must be left in “hand” position until switching movements have been completed.

When selector lever is placed in “hand” position, all signals governing movements over the switch will display STOP indication and the train or engine granted work and time limits may consider the indication of such signals suspended, and movements may be made on hand signals until switching completed and selector lever is restored to “power” position and locked. Train dispatcher must be notified when switching completed and selector lever has been restored to “power” position and locked.

104C. ELECTRICALLY LOCKED HAND OPERATED SWITCHES – Hand operated switches equipped with electric locks must be operated with instructions posted at the switch.

104D. Sand must not be used nor water allowed to run from engine appliances over spring or power operated switches.

104E. DERAILS – Where derails are provided on other than the main track they must be known to be in proper position before signals are given for movements on tracks so equipped, and except while such tracks are being used the derails must be kept set in derailing position whether or not there are cars on the tracks. Employees must know where derails are located.

105. Unless otherwise provided by signal indication, trains or engines using other than main track must proceed at restricted speed.

105A. Except on subdivisions specified in the time table, the train dispatcher must be advised when cars are left on a siding.

106. Trains will run under the direction of their conductors. When a train is run without a conductor the engineman will perform the duties of the conductor. Conductors, enginemen, and pilots, if any, are responsible for the safety of their trains an the observance of the rules and under conditions not provided for by the rules must take every precaution for protection. This does not relieve other employees of their responsibility under the rules.

107. Trains or engines must move with extreme care when meeting or passing a train carrying passenger which is receiving or discharging traffic at a station. They must not pass between such train and the platform at which traffic is being received or discharged unless the movement is properly protected.

108. In case of doubt or uncertainty, the safe course must be taken.

110. When snow removal equipment is being operated, points must be raised, wings closed, and a speed of fifteen miles per hour must not be exceeded when meeting or passing trains on adjacent tracks or passing structures which are liable to be damaged.

111. When other duties will permit, employees in the vicinity of passing trains must observe the condition of equipment in such trains; trainman at rear of passing trains will be in position, on rear platform where provided, and trainmen of standing trains in best possible position on the ground from which a view of both sides of passing trains can be obtained. If a dangerous condition is apparent every effort must be made to stop the train.

Trains and engine crews of moving trains must, when practicable, be on the lookout for signals given by employees calling attention to conditions on their train.

Trainmen at rear of moving trains must frequently look back at the track to see if there is evidence of dragging equipment.

Conductors and trainmen must know that cars in their train are in good order before starting and inspect them whenever they have and opportunity to do so. All cars taken in their trains en route must be examined with extra care.

When practicable, employees of a moving train must make frequent inspection of their train to ensure it is in order, and when a freight stops a trainman will be in position to inspect the train as it pulls by.

When starting freight trains speed must be regulated to permit trainmen to entrain.

112. A sufficient number of hand brakes must be applied on cars left at any point to prevent them from moving. If left on a siding they must be coupled to other cars, if any, on such track unless necessary to separate them at public crossings at grade or otherwise.

Before coupling to cars at any point care must be taken to ensure that cars being coupled are properly secured.

Before coupling to or moving cars being loaded or unloaded, all persons in or about such cars must be notified. Vehicles and loading or unloading devices must be clear.

Cars must not be moved foul of other tracks unless the movement is properly protected.

113. When for any reason a siding or crossover is to be used, speed through turnouts must not exceed fifteen miles per hour unless otherwise specified.

114. Before making running switches stop must be made, hand brakes and switch tested. They must not be made with or onto occupied cars or cars containing explosives or other dangerous commodities.

151. (TWO OR MORE TRACKS) Where two main tracks are in service, trains or engines must keep to the right unless otherwise provided.

Where more than two main tracks are in service, they shall be designated by numbers and their use indicated by special instructions.

152. (TWO OR MORE TRACKS) When a train or engine crosses over to or obstructs another track, unless otherwise provided, it must first be protected as prescribed by Rule 99 in both directions on that track.

Evolution of an Image – CP Freight Car Paint Schemes

Posted on January 21, 2026 by admin

Like any company or institution that’s been around for a long time, Canadian Pacific has gone through a number of image and branding changes over the years. This article will look at the various rolling stock paint schemes used by Canadian Pacific over the last century.

Early Block (<1951)

CP’s lettering standard from the early half of the 20th century featured the Canadian Pacific name in simple gothic block lettering. There were variations in how this lettering was positioned depending on the car type or era, but they all used the same stencils and this was more or less standard from at least the WWI through WWII periods.

CP Spans the World (1947-1951)

Starting in 1947, this “CPR Spans the World” herald and slogan were introduced by CPR’s marketing highlighting CP’s steam ship connections that connected the railway to Europe and Asia. A number of boxcars repainted during 1947-1950 received this herald prominently applied to the right of the car side. Otherwise, the lettering was identical to the previous standard “block” lettering scheme, just with the addition of the “Spans the World” herald.

Due to the size and prominence of the herald, this was only applied to boxcars, with no change to the paint scheme on any other type of car.

Stepped Gothic (1951-1962)

CP’s standard boxcar scheme throughout the 1950s featured the railway’s name in “stepped” offset rows on the right hand side of the car, with the “CPR” initials prominently emphasized. Even though unaffiliated with the CPR at the time, the Pacfic Great Eastern and Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo railways would also copy this idea, introducing their own similar lettering schemes with stepped lettering.

Like the late 1940s “Spans the World” graphic, this was only applied to “house” cars like box cars and refrigerators, with other car types like hoppers, gondolas, and cabooses continuing to carry the simple block lettering above.

A minor change to this scheme would come in 1957 when the horizontal white lines above and below the car number, previously an AAR standard, were discontinued.

The Script Era (1963-1969)

CP had used a version of script lettering in marketing logos going back to the early 20th century, but in the early 1960s the script lettering was revised and the railway’s image updated to make wide use of it as their primary branding, applying the new lettering to locomotives, freight cars, cabooses, ships and trucking divisions, and all company paper work.

Freight car colours remained the same: brown for box and other “house” cars, and black for open cars like flatcars, gondolas, and hoppers. Cabooses remained brown with red ends. Only the logos applied to the cars changed.

This lettering change was applied to most car types on the CPR except for flatcars, which continued to use the simple block lettering as the script lettering would not fit on this type of car. Also while some groups of new gondolas delivered later in the 1960s were delivered in the new script lettering, CP shops were loath to actually do any painting of the script lettering over car ribs, and there is little or no evidence of actual CP shop repaints of any cars with external bracing with script lettering.

A Colourful Introduction (1967-1968)

Starting in 1966 CP started to modify their script scheme for several large purchases of new freight cars in the late 1960s. The size of the reporting marks and car numbers were increased and the font modified slightly. They also introduced bold colour coding to several types of cars (mainly box type cars).

New mechanical refrigerator cars were painted silver with red lettering. Insulated heated boxcars were painted a striking yellow-orange with red script. And a large group of boxcars dedicated to paper service were delivered in a jade green scheme with a large pine tree graphic.

Cabooses also got a colourful upgrade, with several cabooses repainted during this period into a bright red with yellow ends. However due to the short-lived period these paint schemes were applied, no existing freight cars are ever known to have been repainted in similar schemes to any of the above cars. These schemes only appeared on newly built cars.

Flatcars, gondolas, and hoppers (other than a group of pressure-differential unloading hoppers which were painted in a silver and black scheme) remained black, but deliveries from around 1967 can be noted for the subtle change in the reporting mark/number font and size.

The CP Rail Era (1969-1987)

In October 1968, Canadian Pacific introduced their most radical rebranding in company history. All of the company’s divisions dropped the classic script lettering, and adopted a unified branding with a new name consisting of the parent company’s “CP” initials followed by the division name, and new logo called the “MultiMark”, with each division using the same logo but with their own colour. Canadian Pacific Railway became “CP Rail”, and adopted red as their primary colour. (The specific shade of red to become known as “Action” red.)

On the railway, this lead to a radical change in the colour landscape, with maroon and grey locomotives giving way to red (although note the black locomotive model in lead graphic in this section – this was the original proposal which CP management rejected) and brown and black freight cars shifting to brighter colours.

Locomotives and most freight equipment (boxcars, gondolas, and flatcars) was painted in the CP Rail “Action Red” colour which was adopted as the railway’s primary colour, matching the locomotives. The company’s bold new black and white “MultiMark” logo was applied at one end of the car covering the full height of the car side. (The paint standard had the MultiMark at the “B” (handbrake) end of the car, although many boxcar repaints just put it to the left of the car side as it was easier to mask over a pair of grabs than a full ladder.) Early box car repaints featured a contrasting black lower sill, which was dropped on later repaints which just kept the lower sill the same colour as the rest of the body.

Several other colours were used however. Following the colour coding introduced with the 1967 schemes above, paper service assigned boxcars received a green paint scheme, insulated heated cars as well as cabooses were yellow, and refrigerator cars were painted silver. Hopper cars were still painted black. The last two car types received a modified version of the MultiMark, with Action Red used instead of black for the triangle in the logo.

Interestingly, the “CP Rail” brand also started a trend among other unrelated Canadian Railways, with British Columbia Railway renaming itself “BC Rail” in the early 1980s, Canadian National briefly experimented with “CN Rail” branding in the late 1980s, and Ontario Northland introduced a bold new “ON Rail” image for their locomotive paint scheme in the early 2000s.

The Loss of the MultiMark (1987-1996)

The MultiMark logo lasted for almost 20 years before CP decided to remove it from their branding in late 1987. (The first locomotive to be outshopped in a new paint job without the MultiMark was in November 1987.)

While the “CP Rail” name and branding would still last another decade before reverting back to a version of “Canadian Pacific” branding, the MultiMark symbol was now a thing of the past. In the early 1990s, CP would modify their CP Rail logo to “CP Rail System” featuring a split Canadian and US Flag (known to railfans as the “Dual Flags” scheme), although this logo is not known to have ever been applied to freight equipment, only locomotives and maintenance vehicles.

The Return to Canadian Pacific (1997-2023)

In 1997 CP finally retired the “CP Rail” brand for good, moving to a modern interpretation of the Canadian Pacific Railway name and classic beaver herald. There would be some experimentation, with the beaver logo occasionally being dropped and restored and going through some minor styling updates, but this would more or less be CP’s branding until the 2023 merger with Kansas City Southern to form CPKC Railroad, which currently uses a modified version of the CP beaver logo with the CPKC initials instead of CP.

Waterloo Region Model Railway Club

Modeling CP Rail's Sudbury Division in the 1970s