The project involves replacing turnouts at each end of the existing Tremont City siding, upgrading electronic switch machines and replacing railroad ties.
A railroad siding is a section of track that splits off the main track and runs alongside it before rejoining, used to allow trains on the same line to pass.
According to the announcement, In Tremont City north- and southbound trains on the railway’s DT7I Subdivision meet, and typically one train will pull into a siding there to allow the other to pass.
The current turnouts for this siding have manual switches that have to be thrown by hand, the announcement said, forcing trains to completely stop for conductors to get out and walk to the switch, which can take up to 30 minutes each time a switch needs to be operated and then put back to its original position.
Meanwhile, the ORDC said, northbound trains often have to wait for the southbound train to complete this process, which blocks railroad crossings on Upper Valley Pike and St. Paris Pike.
The project would replace the manual switches with new remote control switch machines.
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