Model Forum / General / Railroads / December 2009

You are just plain wrong and seem intent on classifying
yourself with the undesirables who were criticised in the OP.

For myself, I have worked at a railway signalling manufacturer
for 10 years.

And all generalisations are false.

Aside from the obvious issues of scale distance, I'd assume our club
layout has signals in the right places, given the day jobs of the people
who specified them.

Who it appears know bog-all about English regional architecture...

Is that for Inter-City services?

(and function) "Home Signal", and

I bet the magazines can use apostrophe's better than signallers :)

On Dec 22, 7:06 am, "invalid" <inva...@invalid.invalid> wrote:

Although not necessarily relevant to a discussion based on BR and it
predecessors and sucessors, the Victorian Railways (Australia) Rules
and Regulations of 1919 when describing signal indications have
"Semaphore signals other than distant signals" and "Distant signals".
the previous rule says that "Fixed Signals are classified as Distant,
Home, Starting, Advanced Starting, Automatic, Calling-on, Disc and
Dwarf Signals".

I think that those selling model railway semaphore signals might not
like the idea of describing their red, square-ended signal as being a
"Semaphore signal other than distant signal" though. Home seems like a
perfectly reasonable description of the item, once it's planted on the
layout it then can take a different name.
Whether modellers choose to call it something different is a different
thing altogether.

I wonder what term the real railways would use when ordering this
equipment from their own workshops, or outside suppliers? I bet they
wouldn't ask for equipment for 2 distants,  6 home signals, 2 starters
and one advance starter.  It would be for 2 distants and nine what?

John

-----

All -

Sorry to spoil a good story with some facts, but when in doubt go back to
primary sources.

The MOT Railway Construction and Operation Requirements for Passenger Lines
and Recommendations for Goods Lines (1969 edition) - the so-called Blue
Book - includes:

"Stop and Distant semaphore signals or equivalent light signals to be
provided for each running line at all block posts and to protect any
connections there."

The British Railways Rule Book 1950, Rule 16 note (iii) states:

"The term "stop signal" refers to a home, starting or an advanced starting
signal."

Rule 34 states:

"Fixed signals consist of distant, stop and subsidiary signals."

Rule 35 includes two pages of diagrams, one headed "Distant Signals" and the
other "Stop Signals (Home, Starting and Advanced Starting)"

Rule 37 is headed "Stop Signals (Home, Starting and Advanced Starting)"

The Great Western Railway General Appendix to the Rule Book dated 1 August
1936 includes coloured diagrams of all sorts of signals.

A signal with a full length red arm and a white vertical stripe is described
as a Stop signal. A signal with a notched full length yellow arm and a black
vee stripe is described as a Distant signal (caveat - other railways may
have used different designations).

From this it should be clear that the term Stop signal refers to the
physical form of the signal, while the terms Home, Starting and Advanced
Starting refer to different functions performed by a Stop signal according
to where it is sited. The term Distant signal refers both to its physical
form and to its function.

Thanks.