In a typical freight yard where all the switches are in line and switch mechanisms are all on one side so the guys don’t have to cross the tracks…
What colour lights are there on each switch? From the throat, the switcher cannot de-rail because no switch is ever against him. All he needs to know is if the switch is straight ahead or (let’s say) left. What then are the colour of the lights on the switch mechanism?
Also, on the reverse of this, if a switcher is beyond a switch, what are the colours on the lights he will see that prevents him from derailing?
Hi Barry, As Dave H said, the colors varied by railroad, but it was/is quite common to reserve green and red for switch stands controlling main-track turnouts, and to use yellow and red everywhere else, as in yards. Yellow (or green) would indicate a switch lined for its normal (not necessarily straight) route, and red would indicate the reverse route. This is one off many cases in railroading in which red is not necessarily a “stop” indication. So long, Andy
Hi Barry, I don’t know the PRR standard for switch stand indicators. In color photos taken in PRR yards I’ve seen switch lanterns with white and yellow targets around the lenses. The white target appears to indicate the normal route, and yellow the reverse. These were daylight photos and the lanterns aren’t lit so I couldn’t tell the color of the lenses. I’ve also seen photos of PRR switch stands with paddle indicators instead of lanterns, again with white indicating the normal route, and again yellow for reverse but with a red reflector on one side of the yellow paddle. Chances are good that someone here knows more about the PRR than I do (that wouldn’t be too hard!). So long, Andy
Wow! Wow! Thank you 4merroad4man what a fantastic reference article. Thank you sir, excellent. And doc, there’s the man with the evidence! Thank you guys. As usual the prototypye threads are a treasure house of information and shared knowledge.