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| Preserved pneumatic switch machines? https://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28496 |
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| Author: | limejuice [ Sun Nov 22, 2009 10:26 am ] |
| Post subject: | Preserved pneumatic switch machines? |
Just wondering if any museum or historical organization out there has thought of preserving any pneumatic switch movements, such as the US&S A-1 or A-5. Their numbers are slowly dwindling, as each time Amtrak or Septa rebuilds a pneumatic installation these days, they're replaced with electric machines. It would be a shame to see such a remarkable and important piece of machinery disappear from the landscape without being preserved. |
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| Author: | Bob Davis [ Sun Nov 22, 2009 6:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Preserved pneumatic switch machines? |
Does CTA still have pneumatic switch machines at the Howard St. interlocker? I haven't been there in a long time, but I still remember the "PFFFF-ka-chunk" as the tower operator set up a route for the Skokie Swift or the Evanston Express. For years they had a bank of old streetcar-type air compressors (Westinghouse D-2's?) that would cycle on with the nostalgic sound of old-time traction when action picked up. There were probably plenty of "retired" compressors at Skokie Shops; it may have been cheaper to run them off the 600-volt third-rail power supply than run 3-phase AC and install modern compressors. |
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