I'll give it a shot.  #1 is a mile post or mile marker #.  #2 is % grade, in this case .45% (roughly 1/2 of 1% grade, or about 5.25" rise per 100 foot of track).  #3 is the elevation above sea level.  No clue on #4 or your other questions.  Understand that I'm no expert on reading this doccument and these are educated guesses.

Dear Ryan, Mike,

I agree with Mike,

# 1 = Milepost position
# 2 = Grade in %
# 3 = Elevation above sealevel (note that it rises and falls in relation to the grade %s)
# 4 = Could it be passing loop capacities in feet?
(Would love to see more <-----> either side of the shown strip, to see if the increment L<>R, change,
or relate to the location of the shown "POWER SW." or CTC-controlled turnouts)

Taking a stab at "CIP", you'll notice that anything crossing

- under (CULVERT or Bridge),
- over (power lines, overpass),
- or "at grade" (diamond-crossings with other RRs, road/rail grade crossings)

is noted.

I take the notation "C98 - 6' x 6' C.Cul - 75. Conc.C ..." above the mainline to mean

C98 - Culvert identification #
(Remember, railroads identify _everything_, track names, bridge #s, signal and turnout #s, etc etc!!!)

6' x 6' - cross sectional size of the culvert under the track

Cul - Culvert, ot other smaller undertrack floodway.

75 - ??? (Build year???)

Conc.C - "Concrete Construction"???

Using this logic

HWY.  X. - may mean a tarmac'd "Highway grade crossing"
F.X. - may mean an untarmac'd "Field" or "Farm grade crossing" 

Sound Plausible?

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

CIP is "Cast in Place"

#1 if you look at the top of the page you will notice 132-133-134 which you circled 133 These would be the Block markers or the starting point of each block and the #4 designates which side of the block a train is at for the switch tower to know where on the block an train is.

This is how I think the Blocks are laid out where there are 100 yards between blocks. This doesn't look like it's the  whole Blue print as there should be a compass marker showing which way is north so you know which way the blue print is situated and which way a train is headed when it activates the censers #'s 2450 & 2500.

Like if we look at the blue print as the top being north then a train passes and activates censer # 2450 and a few seconds later it activates censer #2500 then the tower or dispatcher knows the train is headed east to west. If the censers in the tower light up #2500 and then next lights #2450 the dispatcher knows the train is headed west to east The numbers 132-133-134 are actual Wooden stakes along the Right of way to show Block Numbers for the engineer to know where he is.

This is just what I think and I could be wrong. but it's does make scene to me that's what the numbers are determining

Dan

#1 is definately the milepost. No question. It has absolutely nothing to do with blocks or block boundaries or anything like that.

2,3 are grade and elevation.

#4 not quite sure of. It's NOT siding capacity, the 2450 and 2500 are both across from the same siding. The 6625 written just above the siding is the capacity.

Also, I noticed that the signals look to be numbered odd in one direction and even in the other, is that a valid observation?  How are the signals numbered?? It seems to increment by the mile, but the miles don't match up with any of the other information on the page.

Yes. Signals are indeed always numbered with even numbers one direction and odd the other. They're typically numbered to the closest tenth of a mile (eg. signal number 242 would be approximately located at mile 24.2) - keeping in mind the odd/even matching a specific direction rule (signal 242 might actually be closer to mile 24.1 or 24.3).

Signals over multiple tracks at the same location with have the same number and a suffix following. For example, 795-1 and 795-2 or 795S and 795N for south & north track, and dwarf signals on the Canadian Pacific at the end of a siding usually end with "B" (eg. 242 and 242B, and the opposing signal would be 241 or 243 depending on which end of the siding it is - signal numbers always go up in the same direction as mileage)



#1 if you look at the top of the page you will notice 132-133-134 which you circled 133 These would be the Block markers or the starting point of each block and the #4 designates which side of the block a train is at for the switch tower to know where on the block an train is.

This is how I think the Blocks are laid out where there are 100 yards between blocks. This doesn't look like it's the  whole Blue print as there should be a compass marker showing which way is north so you know which way the blue print is situated and which way a train is headed when it activates the censers #'s 2450 & 2500.

Like if we look at the blue print as the top being north then a train passes and activates censer # 2450 and a few seconds later it activates censer #2500 then the tower or dispatcher knows the train is headed east to west. If the censers in the tower light up #2500 and then next lights #2450 the dispatcher knows the train is headed west to east The numbers 132-133-134 are actual Wooden stakes along the Right of way to show Block Numbers for the engineer to know where he is.

This is just what I think and I could be wrong. but it's does make scene to me that's what the numbers are determining

Very, very wrong.

The numbers 132, 133, 134, etc. are the actual mileposts along the railway. NO relation to blocks or the start or end of blocks. As they are mile posts they are each one mile apart. Where you get 100 yards from for a block? 100 yards in only 300 feet, that's absolutely USELESS as a length for a block. Since a train can be over a mile long, blocks will usually be 1-3 miles long depending on the layout of the area.

The second half of your first paragraph doesn't even make any sort of sense at all.

And as far as a compass pointer, why would you need that? The entire subdivision is either technically North/South or East/West and you follow from start to finish along the diagram. And besides this is a technical schematic not a standard road atlas or topograhpical map you might be used to, the entire line will be shown as a straight line, any curves are usually noted at the top line just below the mile numbers (in this case this particular segment must be pretty straight as I don't see any curve notation on this short section.

Track charts have a lot of useful data, although some of it is difficult to interpret.  Not demonstrated on this page, but they can also provide schematics for secondary and industrial trackage.

(Click image for a larger view)

This section has some secondary trackage.

(Click image for a larger view)

moderator edit: reduced image dimensions so they fit on the page and added a link to the full-sized image.

 Thanks everyone for the helpful comments.  Here is a complete page.  I take it the arrows pointing up or down along the top by the milepost indicators are degree of curvature?  Then the EL2 1/2" nomenclature would be superelevation?  What about the RS in the the box at the top and the "flags" with the 80 and 90 in them?

Here is a link to the actual area as it is today:   http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=43.10213684449128~-88.40485543012619&lv...

I'm still curious what that number is along the bottom that consistently increments by 50...

Thanks,

Ryan

Dear Don,

Well caught, hadn't thought about the RR noting whether the concrete structure was Cast-In-Place,

or prefab somewhere else and assembled onsite...

Many Thanks!

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Dear Ryan,

"Arrows" = degrees of curvature?

Yes, very possibly...

"EL2 1/2" = Super Elevation?

Yes, this would make sense to me...

"RS" = "Restricted Speed"???
("Restricted" may be defined in MPH by specific local rules, as stated in the div/sub-div rulebook???)

NB that the curve right next to the "RS" note is, if we take our above assumptions to be correct, a 1min 30sec "tight curve". Ergo, a "speed restriction" would be totally logical on such a curve...

"80 - 90' flags = maybe fixed max speed limits at those positions?

Interesting questions!

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr