I have lived around Rocky Mount for all life. I have heard about YD,CB, and CO as yard locations. I know where they are located but can't find anyone to tell me what the letters stand for. Any ideas?

Tom Stallings

-- Tom Stallings (tlstalli@libertybay.com), August 07, 2000

Answers

YD was definitely the telegraph call sign for an interlocking tower. There is a photograph of YD tower in the rear of Prince's ACL book. I believe the location of that photograph was given as South Rocky Mount Yard. YD was likely derived from the word "YarD". I believe CO refers to current tower/yard office location within Rocky Mount. Using the same process, CO could be a derivation of "roCky mOunt". I've never heard of the location "CB". Was that junction where the Pinners Point Branch split off of the mainline north of the yard? If so there may have been an interlocking tower at that location, as well. Does anyone know if the modern CO tower replaced an earlier wood-framed tower? Hopefully, a former ACL employee will see your question and be able to do a better job at answering your questions.

Regarding a "master list" of ACL telegraph call signs, unfortunately, none of the former ACL depot agents I've had the opportunity to correspond with can recall there ever being a such a list. If the list did exist and someone is fortunate enough to locate a copy, it would definitely be a major find. Hope this helps.

-- Buddy Hill (palmettoLTD@hotmail.com), August 10, 2000.

The letters were used to identify the yard, station, or other locale by telegraph code. It was easier to tap out only a letter or two to identify a locale rather than tap out its full name, which could be quite unwieldy if the name were very long (like, say Philadelphia!) Just what locale or station each letter code identified is the real test. There must have been some kind of reference book or sheet that had this information printed on it by the railroad. If you can find one, you might be able to match a code to its locale. For instance, on the Susquehanna, the telegraph code for the station at Riverside, Paterson was "RS". Hope this helps.

-- John V. Pasquariello (GRIZZLETOAD@AOL.COM), August 08, 2000.