A method of controlling a railroad track comprising: partitioning each of a plurality of physical track blocks (101a - 101d) into a plurality of virtual track blocks (A i - D i), wherein the physical track blocks (101a - 101d) are adjacent physical track blocks separated by insulated joints (102a - 102c) and signal control houses (103a - 103c) are associated with said insulated joints (102a - 102c); transmitting a first track signal (TC-A) between said adjacent signal control houses (103a, 103b, 103c) using a transmitter at each of the adjacent signal control houses (103a, 103b, 103c), wherein the first track signal (TC-A) is an available open sourced Electrocode and is carried by signals transmitted via at least one of the rails of the corresponding physical track block; detecting a presence of a train within a physical track block in response to the adjacent signal control houses (103a, 103b, 103c) not receiving the first track signal (TC-A); transmitting a second track signal (TC-B) between the adjacent signal control houses (103a, 103b, 103c) using a transceiver pair at each of the adjacent signal control houses (103a, 103b, 103c), wherein the transceiver pair is a different component of the adjacent signal control houses (103a, 103b, 103c) from the transmitter, wherein the second track signal (TC-B) is implemented as a reflection of the transmitted energy using said transceiver pair, the signature of the energy from the transmitter of the transceiver being proportional to the distance from the insulated joint to the nearest axle of the train; in response to detecting the presence of a train within a physical track block (101a - 101d), determining a virtual track block (A i - D i) within the physical track block in which the train is present based on the transceiver receiving the second track signal (TC-B) reflected back to the transceiver; and transmitting a code identifying the virtual track block in which the train is present. partitioning each of a plurality of physical track blocks (101a - 101d) into a plurality of virtual track blocks (A i - D i), wherein the physical track blocks (101a - 101d) are adjacent physical track blocks separated by insulated joints (102a - 102c) and signal control houses (103a - 103c) are associated with said insulated joints (102a - 102c); transmitting a first track signal (TC-A) between said adjacent signal control houses (103a, 103b, 103c) using a transmitter at each of the adjacent signal control houses (103a, 103b, 103c), wherein the first track signal (TC-A) is an available open sourced Electrocode and is carried by signals transmitted via at least one of the rails of the corresponding physical track block; detecting a presence of a train within a physical track block in response to the adjacent signal control houses (103a, 103b, 103c) not receiving the first track signal (TC-A); transmitting a second track signal (TC-B) between the adjacent signal control houses (103a, 103b, 103c) using a transceiver pair at each of the adjacent signal control houses (103a, 103b, 103c), wherein the transceiver pair is a different component of the adjacent signal control houses (103a, 103b, 103c) from the transmitter, wherein the second track signal (TC-B) is implemented as a reflection of the transmitted energy using said transceiver pair, the signature of the energy from the transmitter of the transceiver being proportional to the distance from the insulated joint to the nearest axle of the train; in response to detecting the presence of a train within a physical track block (101a - 101d), determining a virtual track block (A i - D i) within the physical track block in which the train is present based on the transceiver receiving the second track signal (TC-B) reflected back to the transceiver; and transmitting a code identifying the virtual track block in which the train is present.