1962 Uniform Code of Operating Rules – Interlocking Rules

INTERLOCKING RULES

Note: Whenever the word “signalman” appears herein, it applies to the employee performing the duties.

605. Interlocking signals govern the use of the routes of an interlocking, and as to the movements of trains within interlockings, their indications supersede the superiority of trains but do not dispense with the use or observance of other signals whenever and wherever they may be required.

605A. Unless otherwise specified in special instructions, rear flag protection is not required within interlocking limits.

611. Unless otherwise provided, signals must be kept in the position displaying the most restrictive indication, except when displayed for an immediate movement.

612. Appliances must be operated carefully and only by those charged with the duty. If any irregularity affecting their operation is detected, the signals must be displayed to give their most restrictive indication until repairs are made. Any defects must be promptly reported to the superintendent.

613. When a route is set, signals must be operated sufficiently in advance of approaching trains or engines to avoid delay.

615. When necessary to change any route for which the signals have been cleared for an approaching train or engine, switches, moveable point frogs or derails must not be changed or signals cleared for a conflicting route until the train or engine for which the route was first cleared has been brought to a stop.

616. The lever operating a switch, derail, moveable point frog, detector bar or lock must not be moved when any portion of a train or engine is standing on or closely approaching the switch, moveable point frog or derail.

617. Operating levers must be blocked or marked and should not be used when a track, switch or signal is undergoing repairs or when a track is obstructed.

618. During cold weather the operating levers must be moved as often as may be necessary to keep connections from freezing. The use of salt is forbidden.

619. If the force whose duty it is to keep switches clear when snow or sand is drifting is not on hand when required, the fact must be reported to the superintendent.

621. Signalmen must observe, as far as practicable whether the indications of the signals correspond with the positions of the levers.

622. Signalmen must not make nor permit any unauthorized repairs, alterations or additions to the interlocking.

623. If there is a derailment, or if a switch, moveable point frog or derail is run through, or if any damage occurs to the track or interlocking, the signals must be restored to display their most restrictive indication and no movement permitted until all parts of the interlocking and track liable to consequent damage have been examined and are known to be in safe condition.

624. When necessary to disconnect a switch, moveable point frog, derail, facing point lock, detector bar or electric locking circuit, all switches, moveable point frogs and derails affected must be securely spiked or fastened in the required position and the levers locked or marked in such a manner that they cannot be operated before any train or engine is permitted to pass over them.

625. When switches, moveable point frogs, derails or signals are undergoing repairs, Stop indication must be displayed for any movement which may be affected by such repairs until it has been ascertained from those in charge of the repairs that the switches, moveable point frogs and derails are properly lined and secured for such movement.

626. Signalmen must , as far as practicable, observe all passing trains and note whether they are complete and in order. Should there be any indications of conditions endangering the train, or any other train or engine, the signalman must take such measures for the protections of other trains as may be practicable.

628. Hand signals must not be used when the proper indication can be displayed on interlocking signals.

631. Lights in interlocking stations must be so placed that they cannot be seen from approaching trains.

633. If a train or engine overruns a signal indicating STOP, the fact must be immediately reported to the superintendent. In case of apparent disregard of signals by trains or engines, signalmen must, if practicable, see if proper indication was displayed.

634. Signalmen must not permit unauthorized persons to enter the interlocking station.

When a signalman is relieved, he must transfer all necessary information.

637. A running switch movement must not be made within interlocking limits.

661. If a signal indication permitting a train or engine to proceed, after being accepted, is changed to a STOP indication before it is reached, the stop must be made at once. Such occurance must be reported to the superintendent.

663. A train or engine must not pass an interlocking signal indicating STOP until conductor or engineman has been fully informed of the situation, or hand signal has been received from the signalman. Movement may then be made at restricted speed. Yellow flags by day and yellow lights by night will be used by signalmen giving hand signals. Such occurance must be reported to the superintendent.

667. Sand must not be used, nor water allowed to run from engine appliances within interlocking limits.

669. Trains or engines stopped by signalman in making a movement through an interlocking must not move in either direction until they have received the proper signal from him.

670. A reverse movement within interlocking limits, or a forward movement after making a reverse movment, must not be made without the proper interlocking signal indication, or permission is received from the signalman.

670A. When a train or engine having accepted an indication of an interlocking signal permitting it to proceed stops within thirty feet after passing such signal it must not again proceed without permission from the signalman or under the provision of Rule 672.

671. When an interlocking station is closed, should a signal for an open route indicate STOP, train and engine crews must know that the route for their train is properly lined and be assured they are protected against movements on conflicting routes, after which train may proceed at restricted speed. The fact must be reported to the superintendent from the first available point of communication.

672. When a train or engine is stopped by the STOP indication of an automatic interlocking signal, and no immediate conflicting movement is evident, a member of the crew must proceed to the crossing and unlock box marked switches and be governed by instructions posted in the box. In boxes where lights are provided to indicate the approach of trains, if those of the opposing railway are lighted and no train is seen approaching, he will open the switch and give proceed hand signal to his train. If lights are not provided, or if those of the opposing railway are not lighted, such employee, after opening the switch, must wait three minutes before giving his train signal to proceed. After his train has occupied the crossing, he will close the switch and lock box.

At automatic interlocking where push buttons are provided on signals to enable a return movement to be made over the crossing while switching, trainman will unlock box and push button. If signal does not clear, he must comply with instructions in preceding paragraph.

Special instructions will be issued as may be necessary.

673. When a train is running against current of traffic it must approach interlocking limits under such control as to be able to stop at a dwarf signal indicating stop.

Falconbridge Nickel Mines Railway

Posted on August 14, 2024 by Chris van der Heide

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.

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.

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 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. 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 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.

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.

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 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.

Waterloo Region Model Railway Club

Modeling CP Rail's Sudbury Division in the 1970s