Small town passenger stations on main line?

Stations along single-track main lines were very common on lots of railroads.

@Dave Ripp. posted:

I failed to find enough length for a passing siding.  I'm wondering, did real railroads ever stop at small passenger stations on the main line?

Of course they did, especially if it was a single track railroad.

On my "home" rails of the New York & Long Branch all the station stops were on the main line. The line  was mostly two tracks and there were no true passing sidings.  Some of the stations such as Sea Girt were just sheds while others were larger and more elaborate.

What was interesting to me when I rode the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Banff was how all the stations and platforms on the CP were on the mainline and the passing sidings were around the station stops.  I since learned that this factored into the decision to reroute the VIA Canadian over the CN mainline in 1991 as the CN stations were all off the mainline with the exception of a few stops in rural Ontario.  In Canada freight has priority over passenger trains.

My photo from the summer of 1982 at Little Silver station when I was 13.  Hard to see the southbound platform in this photo, but it was the same as the platform seen on the northbound track. 

Dave, you can also Google train stations along the Philly to Harrisburg, etc. such as the R5 route. As I recall from years ago taking the R5 to Temple University from Paoli, there were 4 lines, 2 eastbound and 2 westbound, with the inner lines being local and the outside lines being express. Like you, I don't have the room for passing sidings, but I can use trickery by using my outside mainline as a passing siding.

Also, there is tremendous vestiges of the PRR still left and a wonderful array of scenes to model in the route referenced above. I think my love of urban railroading was established as a child and then reinforced as a young man taking the train into the city from various directions; tunnels galore, giant industries and smoke stacks, every square yard seemed to be utilized back in the old days.

1.  Generally speaking, on single-track main lines, the passing track was on the opposite side of the main track from the depot.  That way, if an inferior freight train had to take siding, it would not block passengers from boarding a passenger train on the main track.  When opposing passenger trains were scheduled to meet at such a location, the normal practice was to allow the train taking siding to do station work, on the siding, while awaiting arrival of the superior train (which would approach on the Main Track, prepared to stop short of the platform if the passenger train in the siding had not finished station work.  In that case, the superior train would pull down and do station work after the inferior passenger train had finished.  Schedules were arranged, however, so that -- if both were on time -- the inferior passenger train would have time to finish station work and pull down to the end of the siding to meet the superior train, and leave the siding as soon as the rear car of the superior train (carrying the markers) had passed, so that the superior train could just glide in and make a normal passenger stop on the Main Track.

This routine worked when both trains were on time.  If one or both were running late -- or running in sections -- the process could be a little different.

2.  And, yes, main line trains served small stations.  Not all trains did this, however.  When there were multiple passenger train schedules, the limiteds were not scheduled to stop at small intermediate stations* but there were slower trains that had many more scheduled stops.  At the bottom of the prestige order were the local passenger trains which were scheduled for a regular stop or a flag stop at every station.

*  Limiteds had conditional stops (listed in the employee timetable) where they would board or set off passengers traveling to or from a station far beyond.  For example, the Santa Fe Chief had no scheduled stops between San Bernardino and Barstow, but would stop at Victorville to board passengers traveling to Albuquerque or beyond.  If there were qualifying passengers holding tickets for that date, the Engineer and the Train Crew would have a message attached to their Clearance card at San Bernardino, instructing them to make the Victorville stop.  This was to prevent travelers from using the premier, fast schedule, passenger trains for local trips.  An intermediate train the Grand Canyon, took care of the important intermediate stations and had a slower end-to end schedule with more conditional and flag stops.

And there were also flag stops in the schedule for passenger trains at stations where only a small number of passengers boarded or alighted and there were not passengers every day.  Approaching a flag stop, the Engineer was required to approach the station at a speed that would allow making a smooth station stop if the train was flagged by station employees (or passengers at unattended stations).  If nobody came out to flag, the train continued without stopping and resumed speed.  This could be an opportunity to make up time if the train was late on its schedule, but, if it was on time, the Engineer would run at less than maximum authorized speed, to the next location where a time was shown in the timetable, to "burn off" the time built into the schedule (but not used that day) for loading a couple of passengers at the flag stop.  If the train arrived early at the next station where a time was shown, then it would have to stop until the time shown in the timetable at that station.  Departing any location ahead of the time shown in the timetable was a serious rules violation and normally resulted in the crew being dismissed.  

Approaching any station, one mile in advance, the Engineer was required by rules to sound one extra long blast of the whistle, thereby alerting station personnel (or passengers at unattended stations) of the train's approach.  This provided an opportunity for the person who was going to flag the train to be in position with the flag or the lantern.

I only intended to write a short paragraph, but the answer was more complicated than a simple yes or no, and the number of us who actually ran passenger trains in the days of Timetable and Train Order operation is dwindling fast. So, I hope that the full explanation of how it worked and why it was done that way has not been just a long, boring sermon on obsolete operating practices.

Tom, that is a well thought out and great answer to my question. This helps me out and hopefully others who read it as well.

Ashland VA on CSX main line and last stop before Richmond…..

The white pitched roof at the top center is the station……this is Ashland Rail Days, April 2023.

Peter

A number of pictures of small town stations show the freight station located on the same side of the rails as the passenger station, and without a separate siding.  So am I correct that if freight cars being loaded or unloaded at the freight station were occupying part of the siding/line closer to the passenger station then the passenger train would stop to pick up and discharge passengers from the siding/line further from the station? 

@Bill N posted:

A number of pictures of small town stations show the freight station located on the same side of the rails as the passenger station, and without a separate siding.  So am I correct that if freight cars being loaded or unloaded at the freight station were occupying part of the siding/line closer to the passenger station then the passenger train would stop to pick up and discharge passengers from the siding/line further from the station?

Not normally.  Timetables gave actual authority to scheduled trains, to use the Main Track at a specified location in a specified direction, at a specified time.  If a local Second or Third Class (or if running as an Extra) freight train was working the freight house off of the main track at the time a scheduled First Class passenger train was due at that station, then the crew on the local would soon be getting an unpaid vacation.  That is a serious rules violation.

Of course, the Train Dispatcher could issue train orders to both trains, permitting the local to occupy the main track and for the passenger train to take siding at that location.  But the chances of it turning into a mess would dissuade the DS from ordering that move and getting the blame if it caused serious delay to the passenger train.  Lots of things could go wrong.

So, that would not be normal practice.  The local would normally wait in the siding for the passenger train to pass and then, if it had timetable or train order authority to occupy the main track, come out of the siding, do its freight house work, and either duck back into the siding or proceed to the next station on the Main Track..

And unattended freight cars would never be placed on spot for loading or unloading on the Main Track, and be left unattended.

The order of precedence for Main Track authority was: 1. Right (Train Order); 2. Class, and 3. Direction (both specified in the timetable).

Tom, for purposes of my question I was avoiding drawing a distinction between which line was considered the siding and which the main and just said there were two through tracks.   However let's assume that the line closer to the station was considered the siding and the one further away the main.  That way the cars spotted at the freight station are on the siding rather than the main.

@Bill N posted:

Tom, for purposes of my question I was avoiding drawing a distinction between which line was considered the siding and which the main and just said there were two through tracks.   However let's assume that the line closer to the station was considered the siding and the one further away the main.  That way the cars spotted at the freight station are on the siding rather than the main.

See my first post in this topic about the siding not normally intervening between the depot and the Main Track.

But let's say there are two Main Tracks at this fictional station.  In that case, a local freight might do freight house work off of the Main nearest the depot, but must not block passengers crossing that Main Track for passenger trains using the other Main Track.

And, as I previously said, freight cars would never ever be left unattended on a Main Track in order to do freight house loading or unloading.  That is extremely unsafe and against operating rules, because -- sooner or later -- there would be an incidence of the cars rolling away.  Lots of things could go wrong, such as vandals releasing hand brakes, crew members relying on air brakes and then the brakes leaking down to zero psi, crew failing to test hand brake before leaving cars and then having the hand brake be ineffective when the air leaked down to zero.  Extremely unsafe, as proven by disastrous incidents.

In railroading, trains or engines must have some form of authority to (even Yard Limits, which is not on yard tracks, but is a form of authority for use of a Main Track without having to talk to the Dispatcher) occupy a Main Track for any reason.  Auxiliary tracks (sidings, spurs, yard tracks, etc.) can be used without authority.  So, it would be fine for a local freight crew having authority to use the Main Track, to stop and switch a station, or do station freight house work, off of a Main Track.  Cars uncoupled on the Main Track would have to be secured by use of hand brakes (The engine might have to leave part of the train on the Main Track while doing station work in spur tracks.).  But they could not leave cars on spot on a Main Track for freight house work and move on to the next station.  If the siding was actually nearest the depot, then cars could be left on spot at the freight house, unattended, with derails at each end of the siding placed in the derailing position in case the cars rolled away.

Model railroading is so much easier than the prototype.

Many of the stations in the small towns on the mainlines still exist around here including the NYC, B&O, Erie, and Lackawanna (before the merger). Needless to say they no longer serve as passenger stations.

*MY PHOTO*

Cohocton, NY. Erie ran on one side of the station, tracks still exist.

Lackawanna on the other side where the track has been removed. Guessing the Phoebe Snow did not stop here.

Both on the mainline to Buffalo, NY.

Pete

@Norton posted:

Many of the stations in the small towns on the mainlines still exist around here including the NYC, B&O, Erie, and Lackawanna (before the merger). Needless to say they no longer serve as passenger stations.

*MY PHOTO*

Cohocton, NY. Erie ran on one side of the station, tracks still exist.

Lackawanna on the other side where the track has been removed. Guessing the Phoebe Snow did not stop here.

Both on the mainline to Buffalo, NY.

-----------Love this shot, thks !    Rich

Pete