Tralee Line CTC

Irish Railway Record Society

Tralee Line Mini-CTC

OLIVER DOYLE

The original mechanical signalling system installed in the latter part of the 19^th century had 10 block posts between Killarney Junction (Mallow) and Tralee - all with Railway Signal Co. lever frames. However, with the closure of the smaller stations, Lombardstown, Rathcoole (not a block post), Headford Junction, Ballybrack and Gortatlea on 9 September 1963 , the opportunity was taken to reduce the number of block posts. Also three of the four branches, Kanturk, Kenmare and Farranfore had closed leaving only Castleisland remaining. For more than a quarter of a century there have only been seven operational block posts on the line with one, Millstreet, switched out most of the time since 1988. The Mallow-Tralee line has nineteen mid-section level crossings operated by gate keepers, four level crossings at stations and one 4-barrier CCTV-monitored crossing.

The Tralee Line mini-CTC was commissioned at 17:20 on 25 February 2005 and covers the railway from Tralee to Banteer inclusive. At Banteer it interfaces with the existing mainline CTC controlled from Dublin Connolly. All signals and points have their number prefixed with TL – Tralee Line. This is the third in an ongoing series of mini-CTC projects to be completed and represents an investment of €11.5m.

The Tralee Line Emergency Control Panel is located in the former Mallow South signal cabin beside the Mallow ECP which covers the area of Mallow station and the line as far as the Banteer down home signal. The system is currently being worked from its ECP but will be eventually transferred to Connolly CTC. Thereafter the ECP will only be used in event of a failure. The system was designed, installed and implemented by IE’s own staff. The points, crossings and track were installed by the local permanent way staff.

All the station layouts were modified except Tralee and an important design consideration was the provision of space for most platforms to be extended to 174 metres. This is the standard for an 8-car railcar set of vehicles of 21 metres such as 2800 or 2900 classes. This is, of course, more than adequate for the new railcars just ordered, which are maximum of six vehicles, each 23 metres in length. A second capital project is dealing with the platform extensions and these should be complete by the end of 2005.

A major infrastructure renewal took place in Tralee in 1979 when the platforms were extended and the layout rationalised. The points at the eastern end and signals were converted to electric operation controlled from the existing mechanical frame in the signal cabin. The original Westinghouse-63 points machines, by now over 25 years old, were removed and replaced by the same model of the latest design.

At Farranfore, the Kerry Co-op siding on the up side, disused since 2001, was removed and the station now has simply a mainline with a loop, sharply contrasting to the 1918 layout when it was an important junction with 15 turnouts.

There were two closures to allow final installation of track and signals prior to the commissioning. The line from Killarney to Tralee was closed after passage of the 09.15 Tralee-Cork on Thursday 10 February to allow installation of a new turnout at the Killarney end of Farranfore station and pre-commissioning of points and signals. Tralee and Farranfore signal cabins closed as block posts and the line from Killarney to Tralee became a permanent way possession under the control of the Killarney signalman. The bay platform in Killarney was closed after the departure of the 09:15 Tralee-Cork on Saturday 12 February for re-laying and extension of the platform to accommodate 174m trains. The main platform as a result is 275m long.

The remaining section of the line from Mallow to Killarney was closed after the passage of the 07:00 Tralee-Dublin on Monday 14 February. A possession was taken of the line between the up stop signal MW813 at Killarney Junction (Mallow) and Tralee . Mallow ECP was switched in for the duration of the closure.

KILLARNEY

The original station at Killarney, opened on 15 July 1853 , by the Killarney Junction Railway had a simple layout with one short platform under the overall roof. However, with the opening of the Tralee & Killarney Railway on 18 July 1859 the layout was altered to allow trains to and from Tralee propel from and to the main station. Today this is an important commercial consideration as the station, the busiest by far on the route, is close to the town. Many of the passengers arrive and leave the station on foot.

In the early years of the last century, ‘day excursions’ from London to Killarney became popular both via the London & North Western Railways Holyhead-Kingstown route and via the Great Western Railway’s new route via Fishguard-Rosslare opened on 30 August 1906 . The excursionists travelled on Friday evenings to the respective Welsh port where they joined the steamer for Ireland at 02:30 or 03:00 and on arrival at Kingstown ( Dun Laoghaire ) or Rosslare Harbour were taken by special train to Killarney and returning Saturday evening to arrive back in London Sunday morning.

In 1907, Killarney main platform was extended to 200ft and the bay platform repositioned to be on the opposite face (South side) of the extended main platform. Previously the bay platform was on the same side as the main platform.

The signal cabin was extended to 36 levers of which 3 were spare. On 23 August 1907 , Colonel von Donop inspected the new arrangements for the Board of Trade and was unhappy with the arrangements for reversing trains to and from the ‘Check Platform’. He wrote, “These cannot be regarded as entirely satisfactory as they entail the backing of passenger trains and it is regretted that the company has not seen its way to alter these arrangements”. Ninety-eight years later and without any recorded incident the layout is perpetuated but with the advent of railcars and push-pulls propelling of trains will be eliminated as the drivers change ends for the movement. When the new InterCity railcars are introduced in 2007, von Donop’s concern will be eliminated 100 years on!

Prior to the mini-CTC, Killarney, had the finest array of semaphore signals remaining in Ireland – an honour which probably now falls to Rosslare Strand. The opportunity was taken to extend the bay platform to 174 metres by moving the turnout nearer Rathmore. During the closure for the mini-CTC commissioning the platform and the adjacent mainline platform were extended by the platform contractor, working long hours. The two relatively sharp crossovers – facing and trailing – between the Mallow and Tralee lines were renewed with much longer crossovers allowing the diverging speed to increase. Because of their increased length these crossovers shortened the ‘ Check Road ’ and it was necessary to extend this towards Rathmore. The title of this piece of track dates back to non-corridor passenger stock when trains were stopped here and ticket checkers boarded each compartment to ensure passengers were in possession of a valid ticket. Some remains of the platform used by those early ticket checkers are still visible. There was also a ‘check’ platform on the down side and some scant remnants of this were uncovered during excavations for signal bases and equipment boxes.

The renewal of the plain track, two crossovers and three turnouts on the approach to Killarney station needed careful planning to ensure it could be replaced in seven days. The former station master’s field, a long linear piece of ground parallel with the main line was levelled and reduced in height to allow pre-assembly of the two crossovers and three turnouts. When the line closed for commissioning of the mini-CTC two road cranes, a 200-tonne and 400-tonne lift capacity, were brought in through the shopping centre car-park and positioned as required. The cranes were used to first lift out the old points and crossovers after they were cut into manageable pieces and dumped out of the way. The new crossovers were then placed in position. Any plain track was laid using rail-mounted earth-moving machines with a spreader carrying four concrete sleepers at a time and positioning them in place. The rail was then place in position and a total of some 200 welds as well as insulated joints were required to complete the track work so the signalling could be commissioned.

The signals in Killarney station area were not pre-erected to ensure they did not hamper the lifting in of the points and crossings.

Such a major relaying project required a considerable quantity of ballast. A train load was pre-positioned and worked in from Mallow. The train then went sometimes Mallow and other times to Millstreet to where a large ‘ballast dump’ was used to load the train using earth moving machines. Some ballast for Killarney Yard was delivered by road and spread by earth moving machines.

A feature of the Killarney layout for more than a century is the ground-frame worked engine release at the buffer stop end of the main platform. This is retained in the new layout worked by an electric panel located close by. It is released by the Tralee Line signalman at either the Mallow ECP or the Connolly Mainline CTC. The release can be given if the main platform track is clear or has been occupied for at least 90 seconds. The turnout and traps, on the adjacent line, were both renewed during the close down. This turnout was pre-assembled on the main platform.

Before the closure a locomotive was pre-positioned in Tralee and was used initially to test the signalling in Tralee before going to Farranfore and on to the outskirts of Killarney to ‘prove’ that section. A second locomotive was used to test the Mallow-Banteer section initially while the permanent way staff were installing the points blades at Millstreet. The turnouts (without points blades) and traps at both ends of Millstreet were pre-installed and the loop laid beforehand. The test locomotive was then able to run to the Rathmore home signal. There was

a major re-alignment and lengthening of the loop at Rathmore to facilitate an almost straight platform extension. The complex layout at Killarney with, nine points ends, nine running signals and four shunt signals was last to be tested before commissioning.

EQUIPMENT

The Tralee Line mini-CTC is worked by two Solid State Interlockings coded MWMS and RETL. These operate as a single system and appear as one to the signalman. MWMS interfaces with the existing Mallow signalling as well as working the Banteer and Millstreet station areas. RETL controls Rathmore to Tralee inclusive.

While the Tralee Line is an SSI based system, the engineering of the distant signals is by relays. The SSIs consist of separate signal and points modules capable of controlling two signals of up to four aspects. To avoid having to install a signal module at distant signals use was made of the ability of the signalling modules to operate relays. Relays were installed to operate the distant signal aspects remotely from the module, which directly operates the associated stop signal.

All points are operated by Westinghouse Type 63 point machines. Automatic normalising is provided for points from sidings at Banteer, Rathmore, Killarney and Tralee . This means that if these points are in the reverse direction for entry or exit from the sidings the points automatically revert to the normal position after passage of the train or if the route has been set over them in reverse and is subsequently cancelled by the signalman.

Three aspect (green and double yellow) distant signals are provided except on the approach to the terminal stations at Killarney and Tralee . At Millstreet, which had only a platform on the down side, there is a 2-aspect distant signal in the up direction as it will be rare to cross trains here in a ‘passenger only’ railway and trains would normally be signalled through to Banteer. In the down direction the inclusion of Doneen level crossing within ‘station limits’ made a 3-aspect distant practical. Three-aspect distant signals were first used in the Waterford Line mini-CTC project at Carlow and Bagenalstown and proved popular with drivers and offer a saving on journey-time with less approach release signals. See JOURNAL 154.

Secure train radio is provided from commissioning of the new signals. The train driver is able to talk directly to the Tralee Line ECP signalman in Mallow. Line-side telephones are also provided at signals and level crossings.

STATION LEVEL CROSSINGS

Four of the six stations on the Tralee line have level crossings, Banteer and Rathmore were worked by the signalmen as the signal cabins were adjacent to the crossings. Millstreet level crossing is worked by gatekeepers as it was a block post which was normally switched out, while Farranfore had automatic half barriers. On 13 February Farranfore was commissioned as a 4-barrier CCTV-monitored level crossing, worked locally initially, until control is transferred to a central location. A week later, Banteer was converted to 4-barrier CCTV monitored worked locally. Millstreet will be converted shortly to a 4-barrier CCTV monitored crossing when the road layout in the vicinity is modified. A 4-barrier CCTV monitored level crossing could not be installed at Rathmore until after the commissioning of the mini-CTC as the signal cabin was in use and has to be demolished and the road alignment straightened to allow motorists improved visibility.

MID-SECTION LEVEL CROSSINGS

Between Banteer and Tralee there are 16 level crossings worked locally by gatekeepers. Many of these were equipped with ‘Braker Point Marker Boards’. During the installation of the mini-CTC a separate project was in progress providing all these level crossings with standard colour light signals - stop signals 200 metres back from the crossings and distant signals a minimum of 1,000 metres in advance of the stop signals. This eliminated the need for the Braker Point Marker Boards and all these have been removed.

Gatekeepers are advised of the approach of trains by the sounding of a buzzer. The timing of the buzzer is usually based on the time a train enters the section and allows time for a train to travel to the approach to the crossing. Where a mid-section crossing is close to the station in rear, then alternative timing reference points are used such as the trains approach to the station from the previous section. Timing of crossings is simplified by the fact that most trains on the line are stopping passenger trains travelling to the same line speed of 70mph.

Three stations, Millstreet, Farranfore and Tralee , have mid-section level crossings close to the station and the signalling for these is inter-worked with the station signalling. Doneen level crossing, east of Millstreet, is incorporated into that stations signalling. Approaching Farranfore from the Killarney side there are two crossings close to the station, Dromore and Ballybane, and both have these have been linked to the station signalling. There are two

level crossings close to Tralee station, Clash and Rathass, both have high road usage and it was essential that their closure to road traffic was optimised. To achieve this and ensure drivers leaving Tralee are given a green aspect starting from the platform, a self normal-ising key switch was installed on the platform at Tralee . When a train is about to depart the station the Depot Controller activates the switch, which indicated to the mini-CTC system that a train is about to depart Tralee . The audible initiation is then given to the two

level crossings so the gatekeepers can close the gates and the advance starting signal from Tralee, which is also the protecting signal for the gates, can display a green aspect and, consequently, the starting signal from the platform give a green aspect. If both level crossings are not closed to the road traffic a train would leave Tralee platforms on a yellow aspect and be prepared to stop at the advance starting signal thereby losing time.

The 4-barrier CCTV-monitored crossing at Minish, near Killarney, continues to be temporarily monitored from Killarney former signal cabin pending transfer to a central location.

There are now no semaphore signals between Mallow and Tralee .