In all seasons, track pan areas were constantly wet, slippery, and covered with moss and debris. Steady leakage or splashing of water could undermine the trackbed; consequently, Belgian blocks and similar paving materials were typically installed to protect the understructure and guide the excess water to drains that were installed throughout the pan area. Tunnels of up to four feet diameter crossed under the trackbed at intervals to collect the water and provide access to the water supply and steam pipes. In some cases, the captured water was recycled. Periodic cleaning out of these tunnels was difficult and messy.

Track pans were provided with marker lights to indicate beginning, middle, and end.

Track troughs in service will be marked:
At entrance    By day: White target
                     By night: Lunar white light
At exit           By day: Yellow target
                     By night: Yellow light
At middle       Same as at entrance.
Out of service By day and night, all yellow targets
                     and yellow lights.
Enginemen must be notified when tank troughs are out of service.
Care must be used to prevent unnecessary overflow of tank.
When passing over tank troughs, the use of poker or scraper and the shaking of grates is prohibited.
(From The Pennsylvania Railroad—Rules for Conducting Transportation, September 30, 1951.)

Railroads maintained elaborate rules to avoid problems at water pan installations. Pan locations typically were identified in employee timetables, along with specific guidance as to which locomotive would take on water in what order and for how many seconds, speed reductions, and the responsibilities of engineer and fireman. Nevertheless, it was not unknown for single locomotives to back up for a second runby to fill the tank.

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Track Pan Symbol Used on Track Maps.

Upon approaching a track pan, the engineman would advise the fireman to get into position at the control valve, which was located above the water leg on the front of the tender behind the engineer. The engineer would then issue the drop-scoop order, often verbally and with a body signal as well as a blast on the whistle. This same procedure was repeated to signal raising the scoop. Even though most pans had end ramps to help raise the scoop, an on-board-controlled raising mechanism was necessary to avoid possible damage.

      
  Scoop Control Valve (l)     Tender Water Level  Monitoring Pipe(r)

The scoop control on PRR tenders featured a valve handle lock, a drop-down piece to prevent the handle from being moved accidentally. The scoop control mechanism on the New York Central involved a control operated by the fireman on the left side of the tender and two cut-out cocks, one operated by the fireman and the other by the engineer. Which brings us back to the accident at Lydick on the NYC in 1945 recounted at the beginning of this article.

Thought we forgot, didn't you?

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