--Mulliganaceous--

Yesterday I was commuting back north. Once that train reached Eglinton the driver immediately announced that this train will be out of service, possibly due to a mechanical issue. Saw the signal this train is facing. A double yellow, I recorded the entire footage of this train heading into the rarely-used center track. Made my day and gave me a smile after a week of drudgery and "unfree" time. The video footage is here; please note it is a vertical video.

West of the Sheppard station, there is an incredibly long tail track [aronund 800m long] used to store up to two or probably three spare trains. Under normal service, this line always have four trains running, and frequently I saw another train parked on either side of the tailtracks. East of Don Mills station, there are a pair of two very short tailtracks, which are probably never used unless they are used to store work cars. I have a few questions regarding the usage of these tailtracks. I am kinda curious as the Sheppard tail tracks is the only dead-end tracks that contain multiple interlock signals within it; furthermore these interlock signals can change from double red to something like yellow over green, so trains heading into these tail tracks don't need to be called on to access it. More interestingly, trains must use the tail track to go back to the Yonge line, maybe for maintenance over the Davisville or Wilson yards. Each day I see this station I saw a different arrangement of trains parked on these tail tracks; it likely implies that these tracks are used regularly each day, possibly during regular times like maybe every midnight or so. On the other hand, the Don Mills tail tracks are controlled by interlock signals that are always double-red, but with a call-on signal. The tail tracks are very short, implying that they might only be used to store non-revenue vehicles like work vehicles and garbage trains. I never saw such usage ever during my time I took the TTC. It can be said that the Sheppard line is incomplete and that there has been multiple failed proposals to extend the lines both ways. This way, 6-car trains can be used and the removable walls can be tore down. Attached is the layout and all the observed signals I saw around the Sheppard-Yonge subway station; I still have trouble clearly observing the link that leads trains from the Sheppard line to the Yonge line deep within the tailtracks, and understanding which signals are used to lead northbound Yonge trains into the Sheppard line. How often are the Sheppard tailtracks used? Do trains enter the tailtrack at scheduled times or randomly depending on whatever maintenance is needed? How often are the Don Mills tailtrack used?

Is it because that train is an "extra" and that it is no longer needed at the time it was sent to the pocket track? I don't quite understand the "late call by TTC" and "leading Davisville".

Today, at 3:00PM approximately, I saw a TR stored inside the Eglinton pocket track. After I return home, this train left, aka emerged from the pocket track. I bet this track ain't used that rarely, and are more often used during morning hours. @Wayside Observer How did you manage to get into the pocket track?

So, the center track is used more frequently than it looks, mainly due to the gap trains. However, it is not predictably used; the three times I saw it being used are all at business day nights. The T1 is not often seen in the yellow or purple lines anymore. They are only seen during exceptional circumstances such as having many TR trains being out of service. In fact, it is hard to see the path of the center track even if you are in front of a northbound T1 or on the rear of the southbound T1 [unlike the Osgoode case where the wall can be seen]. You might just see the bored section that the end of the center track is a bored tunnel. The only reliable way is if one of the CPTDB members are TTC staff authorized to go into the tunnels. In fact, I saw one staff [in the Nov 30 occurrence] walk into the tunnels and into the center track to inspect the train that has been put out of service. You have stated what I have predicted. A signal with a lunar indicates that at least one of the possible branches that follows the signal is timed, as the crossovers itself constitute two blocks, one for each possible paths if the train may take either path. In the case for the northbound Eglinton signal, there is an interlock signal with a lunar, and there are two possible paths, with each path constituting one block. In most cases, trains go on the straight track towards Lawrence. The block after the signal is immediately straight after the signal and is not timed, so if the block is clear it will be Y/G if the next signal is red, and G/G otherwise. Much less commonly, trains go on the diverging track. The block which follows is separate from the block immediately straight after the signal, and it is timed, so it will be Y/Y lunar. The two paths belong to separate blocks. A signal showing the lunar aspect basically replaces the green, indicating the track ahead is clear, but you still have to slow down due to grade timing. A green with a lunar is not possible, so the yellow over lunar replaces it and is less restrictive than the yellow without the lunar. It also seems that the Y/Y over lunar could replace G/Y, but in my observations, the flashing red signal following it is right at the end of the crossover or the entrance of the center track. I want something less restrictive than Y/Y over lunar.

The yellow-over-yellow and the yellow-over-yellow-over-lunar are the two only "proceed" possibilities that guarantee you to take the diverging path, which includes the center track. In the latter case, this occurs if the block which goes into the center track is timed. The signals indicating proceed to Eglinton dead-end center track is a yellow-over-yellow-over-lunar since the track which leads to the center track is timed. The call-on is occasionally used, and may indicate taking the diverging path if only the center track block is timed. What is the less restrictive signal? Is it green-over yellow? Is it ever used in the TTC, as I never heard of that occurring in the TTC. Can you take a picture of a green-over-yellow in the TTC if you saw it, and how the center track looks in the driver's perspective?

[It is getting a little off-topic; I am asking how and when this center track is used, right now and before] I used only 'center' on this thread; this is the American spelling [in Canada 'centre' is preferred]. 'Centre' is here only as a tag to assist searching. Just use one version or another consistently.

The center track is the old storage track left over when Eglinton was the terminus. Thing is, there are still bored sections on the old storage track which further intrigued me, implying that the center track might be a normal one, but the later decide to leave it the way it is as a dead end. As of now, the center track haven't been ripped — it is still in the original alignment. I can still see the "tube tunnel" parts of the dead-end center track. As for the potential spelling error, I use 'center' rather than 'centre' more often.

North of Eglinton Station, a center track is provided where trains can move towards it rather than north towards Lawrence station. Interlock signals which lead to the center track can set the path to the center track by signaling a double yellow signal. However, unlike most center tracks, the Eglinton Center track is effectively a dead-end tail track and can never be used for normal service. Trains at Eglinton Station can pull into the tailtrack from both the northbound and the southbound platform. Unlike most cases where a train is headed to a dead-end track, the train is given a double-yellow signal, which is one of the possible "proceed" signals from the northbound platform [signal N338, X54] and the only "proceed" signal from the southbound platform [signal NA338, X58] other than the call-on. There are around two red signals further down the center track. Most interlock signals which lead to a dead-end track require a train to be called on to pull into, such as one of the three Finch tailtracks. Furthermore, there is a lunar signal on both signals, which is only used if the train is headed into the dead-end center track, implying that the center track constitutes a grade-timed block and the first red signal after will flash and evolve into a yellow signal. I first had the impression of that center track during my childhood when my father came to view the subway tunnel with me - that was before the TR era. All three tracks use tube tunnels [similar to the Finch West center track]. Since I use the TTC everyday to commute to university and work [usually 3 days a week] for over a year, where I use most of the Yonge portion of Line 1, I only saw the Eglinton center track used three times. Hence, it is used quite rarely, considerably less than the tailtracks beyond each terminal station. In fact, in the first instance I saw [early August 2018] I was actually riding on a train which has been declared out of service just before it reaches Eglinton station, where everyone is forced out of the train, and the train heads into the center track to reverse through a double-yellow. In the second instance [November 30 2018 @ 12:30pm] a track-level injury had occurred and service between Eglinton and Bloor had been shut off. The northbound train that arrived at Eglinton just before the announcement was forced into the center track through the double-yellow. In the third occurrence, the train went out of service around Davisville station. I believe that the same train went into the center track. I only saw the double-yellow signal used on the northbound signal just twice, and never saw the NA338 signal being used. Attached is a diagram which labels the layout of the Eglinton center track in my impression and observation, and another instance of a 'normal' center track. I have a major question regarding the use of this center track: Under which circumstance is this center track used, and how often is this dead-end center track used compared to an ordinary center track such as the one north of York Mills? I am wondering if the center track is more often used in the past, and how the center track is used nowadays. Do TTC operators record and log instances where the center track is used? How long is that tail track? Is there any emergency exit in that tail track?