As you can see below, an interesting discussion is occurring on the
NYC-Railroad list about signal practices.
What were the practices on the Q for block signals and interlocking signals
in terms of the types of signals used. My personal observations were that, at
least with Lines West, signals governing sidings were head-offset target
signals, whereas those governing blocks were vertical tri-light signals.
Interlocking signals, if I were remember, were also target signals.
I am hoping this post, with the inclusion of the post below, will inspire
someone to write about signaling practices on the Burlington. I remember, as a
teenager, riding in a dome on the DZ as a fellow explained signalling.
Unfortunately, I did not understand a lot of it, although, as a dome rider, I
had been interested in the signal bridges as part of the overall experience. I
would like to revisit those memories with some additional insight into what I
was seeing and why.
sjl
"Stephen J. Levine" <sjl@prodigy.net> wrote:
To: NYC-Railroad@yahoogroups.com
From: "Stephen J. Levine" <sjl@prodigy.net>
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:32:19 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: [NYC-Railroad] SIgnal "Rules" For NYC System Railroads
I always wondered by some signals had offset heads and some did not.
Was that generally standard for all railroads where the block signals had
offset heads and the interlocking signals were vertical?
aschneiderjr@sbcglobal.net wrote:
Right, my mistake. Alex
On 9 Jul 2007 at 17:15, Richard Stoving wrote:
> Alex,
> Nice summary, but didn't you mean to write that interlocking signals had
> a vertical arrangement, while block (stop and proceed) signals had
> offset heads?
> Rich
>
> aschneiderjr@sbcglobal.net wrote:
>
> > Ken,
> >
> > Although initially each railroad wrote its own rules, coordination
> > began during
> > the 1880s. A "standard rulebook" was written, although each railroad
> > could,
> > and did, adapt it for its own needs. Rules 281 and following,
> > governing
> > signals, were commonly condensed to omit aspects which a particular
> > railroad did not use, and the illustrations depicted semaphores, color
> > lights /
> > searchlights, or position lights depending on the style(s) used by
> > that
> > railroad. The NYC used most of the standard aspects; you should look
> > for a
> > NYC rule book at a train show for specific information. The two
> > editions
> > commonly available are ca. 1938 and 1956. Stickers showing rule
> > changes
> > subsequent to publication are often pasted on appropriate pages.
> >
> > As the New York Central was formed by mergers between 1914 and 1936 of
> >
> > independent railroads which had developed signal systems
> > independently,
> > the answer to your question depends on WHAT portion of the NYC you
> > model and WHEN. I will try to give a short overview.
> >
> > First, you need to understand the difference between BLOCK and
> > INTERLOCKING signals. Block signals are spaced along main lines to
> > keep
> > a following train from running into one preceding it, while
> > interlocking signals
> > are installed where multiple routes and/or crossings are controlled by
> > a
> > tower operator. The most restrictive aspect of a block signal is "Stop
> > and
> > proceed", while the most restrictive aspect of an interlocking signal
> > is "Stop".
> > Block signals on the NYC had a number plate denoting the mileage from
> > a
> > particular point, such as Buffalo in the case of the main line from
> > Buffalo to
> > Chicago. Interlocking signals did not have number plates.
> >
> > Semaphore signals were the first to be developed and most signals were
> >
> > initially of that type. Color light signals and "searchlight" signals
> > began to
> > appear around the time of World War I. The former had a separate bulb
> > and
> > lens for each color to be displayed by that head (normally green,
> > yellow and
> > red), while the searchlight had a single bulb and lens and a
> > mechanical
> > "spectacle" between the bulb and the lens so the correct color was
> > displayed. The color light was cheaper to maintain, but the
> > searchlight was
> > thought to be safer because incident sunlight could not be reflected
> > back
> > and give a misleading indication. The Michigan Central (Chicago -
> > Detroit -
> > Buffalo) and Lines East (Buffalo - New York) liked searchlights, the
> > Lines
> > West (Chicago - Cleveland - Detroit) liked color lights, typically in
> > a triangle
> > arrangement. You need localized information here. Semaphores were
> > still in
> > widespread use into the 1940s.
> >
> > If a signal was to display more than three aspects, two or three heads
> > were
> > used. In the case of a block signal they were arranged in a vertical
> > line and
> > normally three heads were used, while in the case of an interlocking
> > signal
> > the upper one was offset to the left and the lower one to the right
> > and
> > normally two heads were used. When a fourth block signal aspect was
> > used
> > it was typically ADVANCE APPROACH; my impression is that this level of
> >
> > signalling was only used on multi-track main lines.
> >
> > Interlocking signals were common at junctions even on routes whose
> > traffic
> > did not justify block signals along the main line. A simple, yet
> > fairly complete,
> > understanding of interlocking signals is to think of the top head as
> > governing
> > normal speed track beyond the signal, the middle head as governing
> > medium speed, and the bottom head as governing low speed. If no track
> > of
> > a given speed existed beyond the signal, the corresponding head would
> > be
> > red at all times. So a block signal in advance of a slow speed
> > diverging route
> > into a yard might have a three aspect head in the top position, a
> > red-only
> > "dummy" in the middle position, and a two aspect head allowing only
> > red and
> > yellow in the bottom position. When the diverging route was lined, the
> > best
> > signal available was "restricting", which in essence meant, you're on
> > your
> > own, watch for other traffic, broken rails, misalligned switches or
> > anything
> > else. A signal governing a route into a siding might substitute a
> > three aspect
> > head on the bottom if block protection thru the siding was provided.
> >
> > Hope this didn't exceed your interest level. Signals add a lot of
> > interest but
> > interlocking signals, in particular, can be complex.
> >
> > Alex Schneider
> >
> > On 9 Jul 2007 at 11:21, Ken Leaver Jr wrote:
> >
> > > I have a copy a friend gave to me years ago of what I believe to be
> > an
> > > Model Railroader Article titled "The ABC's of prototype Signaling"
> > by
> > > Gordon Odegard. It lists a bunch of rules such as Rule 281: Name
> > Clear,
> > > Indication Proceed. My question is, who set these rules? The FRA???
> > And
> > > if so, I presume then the NYC followed them? If not, what did the
> > NYC
> > > use for its' signal aspects. In particular, for STOP,
> > PROCEED-PREPARE
> > > TO STOP, PROCEED AT RESTRICTED SPEED and STOP.
> > >
> > > I want to keep my Signal Aspects simple, so I don't plan on using
> > that
> > > many, 3 or 4 at the most. For certain, I want STOP, PROCEED-PREPARE
> > TO
> > > STOP, and CLEAR. The fourth on might be PROCEED AT RESTRICTED SPEED,
> >
> > > but on a model railroad that seems rather redundant. Is there a
> > signal
> > > aspect that I am missing that might be useful on a model railroad?
> > Is
> > > the fourth aspect needed? Especially those who model and operate
> > > something following the NYC Prototype, what do you use? I would like
> > to
> > > use Type-G signals. Is there any other information I need to provide
> > so
> > > my questions can be answered?
> > >
> > > Thanks for any info and help!
> > >
> > > Ken L.
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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