1962 Uniform Code of Operating Rules – Train Signals

TRAIN SIGNALS

17. The headlight must be displayed to the front of every train by day and by night. It must be extinguished when a train turns out to meet another and has stopped clear of the main track, or is standing to meet trains at the end of two or more tracks, or at junctions with switches properly lined for the approaching train. It should be left extinguished until the rear of the expected train has passed.

17A. On engines so equipped, the headlight will be dimmed:

  • When standing on yard tracks
  • When standing on the main track at meeting points after the switch has been lined for the siding
  • Approaching stations where trains are receiving or discharging passengers
  • Approaching stations where train orders or clearances are to be picked up
  • Approaching meeting and passing points, junctions, end of two or more tracks where trains or engines are clear, to assist in train identification by train and engine crews
  • On two or more tracks when approaching trains and when trains are approaching in the opposite direction

Except that the full power of the headlight must used approaching all public crossings at grade and until such crossings are reached regardless of their location.

17B. Engine used in road service which are regularly required to run backward for any portion of the trip, except to pick up a detached portion of a train or in making terminal movements, shall have a headlight on the rear.

Under under conditions requiring an engine to run backward at night, a white light must be displayed on the leading end.

17C. Should the headlight fail while the train is en route at night, repairs must be made as quickly as possible. If repairs cannot be made, such lights as are available will be displayed and train may then proceed to the first point where repairs can be made, passing over all public crossings at grade not specially protected by watchman, gates or automatic crossing signal with care and at a speed not exceeding twenty miles per hour.

Train dispatcher must be advised from first open train order office when a train is running with defective headlight, and he will, when possible, notify other trains concerned.

17D. On engines so equipped, oscillating white headlight must be displayed to the front by day and by night. It must be extinguished when the headlight is dimmed or extinguished.

Oscillating white headlight should be used in a stationary position as a subsitute headlight in case of failure of the headlight.

17E. Yard engines will display a headlight to the front and rear by night.

Under conditions not requiring display of markers, other engines without cars will display a white light to the front and rear by night.

Note: headlight on end coupled to cars may be extinguished subject to requirements of last paragraph of Rule 17A.

19. MARKERS – the following signals will be displayed to the rear of every train to indicate the rear of the train.

  1. By day – markers not lighted.
  2. By Night:On single track and when running with the current of traffic on two tracks, markers lighted displaying red to the rear.On two tracks, when standing or running against current of traffic, markers lighted displaying red to the rear on the outside, and green to the rear on the inside.

    On more than two tracks, when running with the current of traffic, or when standing or running against the current of traffic, markers lighted displaying red to the rear unless otherwise directed by special instructions.

    When a train is clear of the main track to be passed by another train, lighted markers will display green to the rear.

When the rear of a train is equipped with built-in markers, they must be lighted by day and by night.

When a train is equipped to display a single flashing type marker it will be unlighted by day; by night it will display flashing red to the rear, except when clear of the main track to be passed by another train it will display flashing green to the rear.

EXCEPTION: The requirement that markers display green to the rear when clear of main track does not apply in CTC.

19A. A train not equipped to display markers as prescribed by Rule 19 will display a red flag by day and a red light by night to indicate the rear. The red light will be replaced by a white light when the train is clear of main track.

EXCEPTION: The red light will not be replaced by a white light in CTC.

20. All sections except the last will display two green flags and two green lights by day and by night in the places provided for that purpose on the leading end of the engine.

21. Extra trains will display two white flags and two white lights in the places provided for that purpose on the leading end of the engine, except that white flags and white lights need not by displayed in CTC.

22. When two or more engines are coupled, for all or part of a subdivision, each engine shall display signals as prescribed by Rules 20 and 21.

23. One marker, flag or light display where in Rule 19, 20 and 21 two are required will indicate the same as two; but the proper display of all train signals is required.

24. When two or more engines are coupled the leading engine shall sound the signals as prescribed by Rule 14.

26. A blue signal displayed at one or both ends of an engine, car or train, indicates that workmen are under or about it; when thus protected it must not be coupled to or moved. Each class of workmen will display the blue signals and the same workmen are alone authorized to remove them. Other equipment must not be placed on the same track so as to intercept the view of the blue signals without first notifying the workmen.

When emergency repair work is to be done under or about engines or cars in a train and a blue signal is not available, the engine crew must be notified and protection given to those engaged in making the repairs.

27. A signal imperfectly displayed, or the absence of a signal at a place where one is usually shown must be regarded as the most restrictive indication that can be given by that signal, except that when the day indication is unmistakable it will govern. Such conditions must be reported to the proper officer.

Employees using a switch where the switch light is imperfectly displayed or absent must, if practicable, correct or replace the light.

28. A combined green flag and white flag or combined or flashing green and white light will be used to stop a train at the flag stations indicated on the schedule or in special instructions.

29. When a signal(except a fixed signal) is given to stop a train it must, unless otherwise provided, by acknowledged as prescribed by Rule 14 (g), (h), or (n).

30. The engine bell must be rung when an engine is about to move; while moving about stations; while passing a train standing on adjacent track; and 1/4 of a mile from every public crossing at grade (except within the limits of such towns and cities as may be prescribed in special instructions) until the crossing is occupied by engine or cars.

32. The unnecessary use of the whistle or the bell is prohibited. They will be used only as prescribed by rule or law, or to prevent accident.

33. Watchmen stationed at public crossings at grade must use stop signals when necessary to stop trains or engines. They will use prescribed signals to stop highway traffic.

34. Crews on engines and snow plow foremen must know the indication of fixed signals (including switches where practicable) and members of train crews must know the indication of train order signals affecting their train before passing them. All members of engine and train crews must, when practicable, communicate to each other by its name the indication of each signal affecting the movement of their train or engine.

35. In emergency cases when track is suddenly found defective or is obstructed any employee must, by the use of flags, lights, torpedoes, fusees or other signals make every possible effor to stop trains in both directions.

Recent Posts

Falconbridge Nickel Mines Railway

While INCO (now Vale) was always the dominant player in the nickel mining and processing scene in Sudbury, Falconbridge (now Glencore) was the major independent competitor to INCO. This post will look at Falconbridge and how it relates to CPR’s railway operations.

Map showing location of Falconbridge smelter (top right) and rail lines. Red lines are Canadian Pacific, blue lines are Canadian National.

Falconbridge Mine and Smelter

Falconbridge Nickel Mines Ltd. was incorporated in 1928 to develop mining claims near the village of Falconbridge to the north-east of Sudbury. The first mine on the site was brought into operation in 1930. At the same time, development of a mill and smelter adjacent to the mine site was begun, with the smelter beginning operation in 1930 and the concentrating mill in 1933. A second mine at Falconbridge opened in 1935.

Due to patent restrictions in North America on nickel refining processes, Falconbridge purchased the Nikkelverk Refinery in Kristiansands, Norway in 1929 to acquire access to the refining processes they required. The smelter in Ontario produced a semi-refined nickel product known as “matte”, which would be refined to cathodes in the Norway facility.

FNM Railway map - Onaping-Levack

Rail map of the Onaping-Levack area. Red line at bottom left is the CPR main line. The (now-abandoned) FNM railway is in purple. Yellow is the INCO line to Levack Mine.

 

Hardy Mine/Mill

In the early 1950s, Falconbridge expanded their mining operations from their original mines on the east side of Sudbury and developed some mines on the north west rim of the Sudbury crater in the Onaping-Levack area. By 1955 these operations included a pair of nickel-copper mines, Hardy Mine and Mount Nickel Mine, and a processing mill (Hardy Mill) located alongside Hardy Mine on the south-west edge of the town of Levack, capable of processing 1,500 tons of ore per day into concentrate which would be shipped to the smelter at Falconbridge east of Sudbury in open cars (hoppers and gondolas). This dry concentrate has been described as “pyrophoric”, meaning it can spontaneously undergo oxidation reactions (combustion) in contact with air and/or moisture, and could arrive at the smelter in a clumped or “burning” state.

To serve the new mines and mill, a new private rail line was built between Hardy Mine/Mill to the CPR Levack siding where several interchange transfer tracks were built. FNM locomotives would haul loads from the mill to the CPR and bring back empties delivered by CP. Hardy Mill was FNM’s rail base of operations, with a single stall engine shop, repair track, and a turning wye located next to the mill loading tracks.

Hardy Mine aerial photo

1975 aerial photo of Hardy mine and mill. City of Greater Subdury aerial imagery. (Click on image to open larger size)

The Hardy Mill operated until 1977 when it was closed, with the older mines in the area reaching end of life near the end of the 1970s, and newer replacement mines having their ore processed at the newer Strathcona Mill (see below).

Fecunis Mine/Mill

In 1956 a new pair of mines, the Fecunis and Longvack Mines were in development on the north-east side of Levack. The odd name of “Fecunis” is based on the chemical symbols of the primary minerals found in the rocks here – iron (Fe), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and sulphur (S). By 1957 these mines and a new mill at Fecunis to handle the production were on line capable of processing 2,400 tons per day of ore into concentrate, which like Hardy Mill was shipped in a partially dry concentrate in open cars. The FNM private rail line was extended past Hardy Mill to serve the new mill. Additionally another large mine, the Onaping Mine, was opened by the end of the 1950s.

Fecunis Mine Aerial 1975

Fecunis mine and mill aerial photo from 1975. City of Greater Sudbury aerial imagery. (Click on image to open larger size)

The Fecunis Mill closed operations in 1979.

Strathcona Mill

Also in 1956 the Strathcona Mine was discovered, though it would be 1967 before this mine went into full production along with a brand new mill which would serve as the basis for all further Falconbridge expansions in the Levack/Onaping area.

Strathcona Mill Aerial 1975

Strathcona mill Aerial 1975. City of Greater Sudbury aerial imagery. (Click on image to open larger size)

The new Strathcona mill opened in 1967 with a 6,000 tons per day capacity, but was upgraded quickly to 7,500 tons per day capacity to support increased production from various new mines in the area.

In contrast to the Hardy and Fecunis Mills, the concentrate produced at Strathcona Mill was shipped to the smelter in a slurry form, with the concentrate mixed with water. To handle this traffic, CP provided a small fleet of specially designed short cylindrical hoppers to carry the slurry from Strathcona to Falconbridge. The first 20 of these cars were built in 1967, with another 40 cars added in 1969. These cars operated to the late 1980s or early 1990s, as the cars were starting to wear out due to the rough effects of the concentrate slurry on the interiors of the cars. At this point, rail service to Falconbridge’s Levack operations came to an end, as Falconbridge elected to ship their product by truck rather than agree to CPR freight rates that would have covered replacement costs for the rail cars.

CP 381930 ore slurry car

CP 381930 represents the special hoppers that were constructed for the slurry concentrate service from Strathcona Mill to Falconbridge. Bill Grandin Collection photo.

While no longer rail served, Strathcona Mill remains an important and active processing site for nickel ores from Glencore’s (Falconbridge’s current successor) mines in the area to this day.

Nickel-Iron Refinery

In 1970 Falconbridge opened a large new facility on their property on the south-east side of their main smelter to recover the trace amounts of iron from the processed nickel ores in order to directly market it to the steel industry. Unfortunately this operation was short-lived and closed in 1972.

Aerial photos from 1975 show a rather significant set of railway yard tracks and loading (and/or unloading) structures at this (then shuttered) facility, and CN (which also accessed the Falconbridge smelter via the north side) also built a spur crossing the CPR spur to directly access the iron plant. However given the short lived nature of this operation we have very little other information on its operation from a railway perspective; what went in and out by which railway and what kind of cars used.

Falconbridge Smelter Upgrades

Another major project at Falconbridge was the construction during the 1970s of an upgraded smelter using new modern technology. This modernization project opened in 1978. The project included new fluidized bed roasters which removed iron sulphide from the ore, and electric furnaces to smelt the roasted ore. The upgrade also included an acid plant which captured sulphur compounds from the off-gas of the roasters and produced large quantities of sulphuric acid. Some of the tracks leading to the shuttered iron plant (which was itself demolished) were reused to built large tank car loading racks for the sulphuric acid.

Railway Operations

Operations at Levack should have been fairly simple. While the exact operations of the FNM railway aren’t really documented, it seems Hardy Mine is their base of operations with a small engine shop and repair track. Operating from this base of operations, FNM switchers would gather up outbound loaded cars from the Hardy, Fecunis, and Strathcona Mills and deliver them to the CPR interchange tracks, pick up empties left by CP and spot them at the mills for loading. As noted in the individual descriptions of the mills above, Hardy and Fecunis mills loaded dry or semi-dry concentrate into open cars and Strathcona loaded a liquid slurry into special cylindrical hoppers. On the CP side, a local operating out of Sudbury yard would run up to Levack siding to deliver the empties and lift the loads left by FNM, which would then operate to the smelter where the loads would be dropped off in interchange tracks for the Falconbridge plant switchers.

After Hardy and Fecunis Mills closed (in 1977 and 1979 respectively), the trains from Levack to Falconbridge became “unit” trains of cylindrical slurry cars from Strathcona Mill. By the 1990s rail transport of concentrate from Strathcona was replaced by trucks ending FNM’s rail operations in Levack.

Falconbridge Yard

CP-FNM interchange tracks at Falconbridge smelter site. Note that a CP track is actively performing an interchange here (locos and caboose visible at left.) This shot gives a good overview of the traffic between Onaping and Falconbridge, showing a mix of open cars of dry concentrate, and the distinctive little short slurry cars from Strathcona. At bottom right the FNM switcher appears to also be lifting or spotting covered hoppers probably for nickel matte. (Click on image to open larger size)

Outbound traffic from the smelter was in the form of powdered nickel matte. Due to patent restrictions on refining processes in North America, the matte was shipped to the Falconbridge owned refinery in Kristiansands, Norway for refining. Originally the matte was shipped out of the smelter in barrels, but changed to bulk shipments in covered hopper cars in 1968. As both CN and CP had rail access to the Falconbridge smelter, it’s a little unclear how much product went out via each railway during the 1970s. By the 1990s, CN had abandoned their spur line to Falconbridge and contracted a switching arrangement with CP, wherein CN would supply cars via the interchange at CN Junction between Sudbury and Copper Cliff and CP would exclusively switch the plant.

Coniston

CP local heading up the spur track to Falconbridge in the late 1990s. The train consists mainly of CN hoppers for nickel matte loading (as CN had abandoned their access to Falconbridge by this time and engaged in a switching agreement with CP) and tank cars for sulphuric acid. By this point rail moves of ore concentrate to the smelter had ended. WRMRC collection.

After the new plant upgrades in 1978, sulphuric acid also became a major outbound commodity; with again CN and CP both having direct access to the acid loading tracks until CN’s abandonment of their line to Falconbridge, making it hard to know how much traffic was split between the two railways.

After the 1978 electric furnace upgrade, coke was used as an input. This was sourced from the US and we have noted the occasional presence of various hoppers from the Eastern Seaboard in Sudbury yard in some late seventies photos. An additional input to the mill was powdered dolomite or limestone, which mostly arrived in Penn Central/Conrail covered hoppers.

After the late 1970s upgrade, separate locals handled the ore concentrate from the Levack region and the acid/coke/dolomite/matte traffic to the smelter.

Equipment

Diesel locomotives operated by Falconbridge consisted of a small collection of ALCO/MLW S-series switchers and GE centre-cab models. The larger ALCO and GE 80-ton units seem to have seen service at either Falconbridge or Levack, while the smaller 45 ton models were probably exclusively used within the Falconbridge smelter complex.

Falconbridge 108

Falconbridge S-4 #108, built new for Falconbridge in 1955, showing its 1970s era paint scheme. At CP’s Sudbury shops for maintenance or transfer between FNM operations.

FNM Railway Diesel Locomotive Roster
No. Builder Date Model Notes
101 ALCO 5/49 S-2 ex-NW 3321, ex-Wabash 321; to FNM 3/71
103 ALCO 12/46 S-1 ex-EL 309, ex-ERIE 309; to FNM ?/66
104 GE 8/26 45 ton New
105 GE 1/48 45 ton New; fire damaged 3/71, sold
106 GE 12/51 80 ton New
107 GE 4/53 80 ton New
108 MLW 7/55 S-4 New
109 MLW 1/50 S-4 ex-Canadian Commercial #1, to FNM /68

In terms of freight equipment, Falconbridge would have operated the usual assortment of hot-metal and slag cars for intra-plant movements within the smelter complex, and other freight equipment for the shipment of ores and concentrates from the Levack operation and shipment of refined products out from the smelter were provided by CN and CP.

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