Early U.S signalling took its lead from the British Great Western Railway. A broad gauge 7ft 0.25 inch railway already operating at speeds of 60mph by the late 1840's. Due mainly to its stability and very solid track construction which used huge Longitudinal timber Baulks with steel ties. An Isambard Kingdom Brunel speciality. And by necessity was first in the game of "Time Interval Working" supported by "Disc & crossbar" type signalling from 1832. Which was quickly improved upon by the adoption of the "Naval Semaphore" methods. Which is where railways got the semaphore signalling ideas from. There were Naval Semaphore towers on both land and ships from the mid 1750's. Intended for sending messages between ships, and across country.
White is used on many city transit systems. Purple meant a derailment up ahead or there was a derailer set up ahead. The rare blue means construction, reapairs or maintenance ahead.
Thanks Larry, that was a very interesting and informative tutorial on signals and thanks for the links. I’m sure I will spend a couple of hours, “doing research”.
I was sorry not to see a video from you last week, but glad to see that you're back with another interesting topic. On the question of white signal lights, you may already be aware that, in the UK, some Ground Signals use red and white lights. According to Wikipedia, these "allow a train to move into a section under caution", e.g. if the section is already occupied. They can display two horizontal red lights (meaning 'Stop') or two white lights at a 45 degree angle to 'Proceed with caution'. Similar to these are the Shunt Signals, which display either two horizontal yellow lights or two angled white lights. Lastly, there are Junction Signals that are attached to the normal running signal at a junction and consist of a row of white lights to indicate the diverging route for which the junction is set.
Larry thanks for sharing My Layout is all controlled by signals using NCE Light-ITs to change the aspects . they work great and also look great on the layout
Hey Larry, In the past the glass Industry was not able to produce coloured lenses in in Amber/Yellow all what was possible were red and a green in the very early days. The other colours came later in time past 1910. Remember it is like the LEDs first it gave red only, than green later yellow and since a few yesrs white and blue.
The reason red-WHITE-green was rejected is because if a colored lens broke (especially red) you'd just see the light bulb and might mistake it for a proceed with caution signal. Semaphore signals, though mechanically complex, were also susceptible to winter weather. Lower quadrant semaphores (pointing down for clear, sticking out for red) could turn from red to green if the linkage broke or if heavy ice and snow forced it down. The upper quadrant semaphore attempted to fix this by going to red if the linkage broke or the arm was forced down. Unfortunately, icing conditions could freeze it in the clear position. The Pennsylvania Railroad's position light signals are an elegant solution to both weather, broken lenses, or burned out bulbs - aspects used a line of three lamps, all lamps being of the same color regardless of signal indication.
This topic could easily take up a ten hour video series. Lunar White was chosen by the PRR position light system after extensive testing. It had to have maximum visibility at distance in every conceivable weather condition from dark dense fog to bright sunlight. A lot of modelers make the mistake of the signal controlling directions. While there are signals cautioning the crew that a turnout has been set to diverge. The majority of signals control speed according to the rulebook. You can not proceed unless signaled to do so.
Hi Larry,i have a question about my dcc system it's a NCE Power pro when i put power on i have no power go to the tracks my controler lite no Power to track and the red light did not get on thank you for all that instructive videos
Has anyone every mentioned that your image of the Semephore on your junction crossing should be Red and not Green? Railroads are replacing target signals with aspect signals for ease of maintenance and greater option in configuration.
Do an internet search for “railroad semaphores” and I think you’ll see that it is correct! As for replacing targets I wonder how using multicolor LEDs might change that?
@@TheDCCGuy I was going on the basis of the caboose on the other side of the diamond being the end of a preceeding train...making the next block occupied, and depending on which route is the primary route(I presume your Piedmont Southern) all other traffic would have to be cleared before proceeding through the diamond. Not sure about using multicolor LED's, since vehicle traffic lights are being outfitted with LED's now I would think it's just the same "light" only in the reverse order. I've noticed a lot of the new tri-color and dual aspect signals are already LED's...mostly for the increased brightness and less power consumption.
That was just there both as a viewblock to disguise the end of track on the other side and to protect the crossing of the Southern mainline by the C&O tracks.
I heard that the colours uesd to be red on top green on botom the reason they are now red on bottom and green on top was because of a snow storm. Snow built up on top and blocked ot the red light so it could not be seen. The swich was made so the red was protected and could not be blocked out.
Early U.S signalling took its lead from the British Great Western Railway. A broad gauge 7ft 0.25 inch railway already operating at speeds of 60mph by the late 1840's. Due mainly to its stability and very solid track construction which used huge Longitudinal timber Baulks with steel ties. An Isambard Kingdom Brunel speciality. And by necessity was first in the game of "Time Interval Working" supported by "Disc & crossbar" type signalling from 1832. Which was quickly improved upon by the adoption of the "Naval Semaphore" methods. Which is where railways got the semaphore signalling ideas from. There were Naval Semaphore towers on both land and ships from the mid 1750's. Intended for sending messages between ships, and across country.
Great Video! Enjoyed the History, especially the Sketches and pics showing all the types.
White is used on many city transit systems. Purple meant a derailment up ahead or there was a derailer set up ahead. The rare blue means construction, reapairs or maintenance ahead.
THAT was a VERY informative video! I learned some railroad history today!
Thanks Larry, that was a very interesting and informative tutorial on signals and thanks for the links. I’m sure I will spend a couple of hours, “doing research”.
I was sorry not to see a video from you last week, but glad to see that you're back with another interesting topic.
On the question of white signal lights, you may already be aware that, in the UK, some Ground Signals use red and white lights. According to Wikipedia, these "allow a train to move into a section under caution", e.g. if the section is already occupied. They can display two horizontal red lights (meaning 'Stop') or two white lights at a 45 degree angle to 'Proceed with caution'. Similar to these are the Shunt Signals, which display either two horizontal yellow lights or two angled white lights. Lastly, there are Junction Signals that are attached to the normal running signal at a junction and consist of a row of white lights to indicate the diverging route for which the junction is set.
One thought I heard about having the red as the lower aspect is that if snow accumulates on the lens hood the red one will never be obscured by snow.
Interesting and educational. Thanks Larry
Larry thanks for sharing My Layout is all controlled by signals using NCE Light-ITs to change the aspects . they work great and also look great on the layout
hello Larry & it's is Randy and i like yours video is cool Thanks Larry Friends Randy
Hey Larry,
In the past the glass Industry was not able to produce coloured lenses in in Amber/Yellow all what was possible were red and a green in the very early days.
The other colours came later in time past 1910.
Remember it is like the LEDs first it gave red only, than green later yellow and since a few yesrs white and blue.
Thank you for sharing.👍
The reason red-WHITE-green was rejected is because if a colored lens broke (especially red) you'd just see the light bulb and might mistake it for a proceed with caution signal.
Semaphore signals, though mechanically complex, were also susceptible to winter weather. Lower quadrant semaphores (pointing down for clear, sticking out for red) could turn from red to green if the linkage broke or if heavy ice and snow forced it down. The upper quadrant semaphore attempted to fix this by going to red if the linkage broke or the arm was forced down. Unfortunately, icing conditions could freeze it in the clear position. The Pennsylvania Railroad's position light signals are an elegant solution to both weather, broken lenses, or burned out bulbs - aspects used a line of three lamps, all lamps being of the same color regardless of signal indication.
This topic could easily take up a ten hour video series. Lunar White was chosen by the PRR position light system after extensive testing. It had to have maximum visibility at distance in every conceivable weather condition from dark dense fog to bright sunlight. A lot of modelers make the mistake of the signal controlling directions. While there are signals cautioning the crew that a turnout has been set to diverge. The majority of signals control speed according to the rulebook. You can not proceed unless signaled to do so.
Nice video.
Hi Larry,i have a question about my dcc system it's a NCE Power pro when i put power on i have no power go to the tracks my controler lite no Power to track and the red light did not get on thank you for all that instructive videos
Sounds like time to call NCE for a trip back to their repair shop.
@@TheDCCGuy thank you Larry by the way i love your vidéos
Has anyone every mentioned that your image of the Semephore on your junction crossing should be Red and not Green? Railroads are replacing target signals with aspect signals for ease of maintenance and greater option in configuration.
Do an internet search for “railroad semaphores” and I think you’ll see that it is correct! As for replacing targets I wonder how using multicolor LEDs might change that?
@@TheDCCGuy I was going on the basis of the caboose on the other side of the diamond being the end of a preceeding train...making the next block occupied, and depending on which route is the primary route(I presume your Piedmont Southern) all other traffic would have to be cleared before proceeding through the diamond. Not sure about using multicolor LED's, since vehicle traffic lights are being outfitted with LED's now I would think it's just the same "light" only in the reverse order. I've noticed a lot of the new tri-color and dual aspect signals are already LED's...mostly for the increased brightness and less power consumption.
That was just there both as a viewblock to disguise the end of track on the other side and to protect the crossing of the Southern mainline by the C&O tracks.
Pops I was worried about you, no videos in the last few weeks.
I only took 1 week off!
Thanks Larry. BearCreek 🐾🌫🚂
I am surprised there was no mention of the most common from of color blindness in men - Red / Green colorblindness.
Engineers are required to get regular physicals including eye tests that include color blindness.
I heard that the colours uesd to be red on top green on botom the reason they are now red on bottom and green on top was because of a snow storm. Snow built up on top and blocked ot the red light so it could not be seen. The swich was made so the red was protected and could not be blocked out.
Because pink would be sooo last year💃
The Reason Is They Are Duplicating For The Rails Just like The Regular Traffic Of the Roads.
Actually it is the opposite as the highway signals came after the railroad’s.
The most common colour blindness is red-green. I hope engineers get tested for this
I can't speak for the US, but in the UK, every railway worker is tested for it as part of their occupational medical.
In the US engineers must have regular physical exams including vision test that do include color blindness.