CPL history lesson

[NW Mailing List]

This is the reason that the PRR eventually converted their position
light signals at interlockings (known as "home" signals) to have red
lenses in the stop positions.

CG Tower

On 1/3/07, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

>

>

> "Prior to being converted to color, didn't it seem kind of confusing for the

> untrained eye to distinguish a stop indication, a restricted indication and

> a proceed indication? Because you figure all you saw was 3 lights in 3

> different positions. How were engineer-trainees supposed to distinguish the

> indications?"

>

> Jerry,

>     Your question isn't far fetched at all. Engineer C.H. Poage related to

> me that this could indeed be a problem in the fog at a distance. The example

> he recalled was rounding the curve at Port Republic going north and dropping

> down onto the flat at Lynnwood. After rounding the curve, the track is then

> straight for 2 1/2 miles and you can see the signals at both ends of

> Lynwood. There is a siding there so these are Home or Stop signals.

>     Fog will tend to lay in this low lying area and obscuring the signals.

> So you can well see that if you are following a train and running on an

> approach signal, it could be hard to distinguish if the train ahead had

> cleared the block ahead or stopped in the block. Since ALL of the signals

> were yellow, you didn't know if the next one was Clear, Approach or Stop as

> all you could see was a big fuzzy yellow ball of light.

> Jimmy Lisle

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