I am currently installing trackside signals and signal bridges on my layout. the detection and wiring is easy for me and i can figure it out. I use the over track and cantilevered bridges and need help with the placement of the signal heads. its a freelance railroad but it is modeled prototypically. i see bridges with single heads, double heads, heads stacked two or three vertically. i know these corespond with the tracks and sidings, but im not sure how. does anyone out there have info or a website that may help my understand the posion of the signal heads and what they mean for my bridges? thanks for all the help.
You can start here. Look at the section on getting started with model RR signals. Quite a few links are included.
http://www.waynes-trains.com/site/Signals/Model-Railroad-Signaling.html
First, pick a rule book.
http://www.railroadsignals.us/rulebooks/rulebooks.htm
There are different sets of signal aspects and rules used by different railroads.
All of them have the following in common:
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The entire signal is read together to determine the indication. It’s not actually as simple as “this light is for the main track, this light is for the siding”, although many indications will tend to have that effect.
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Each signal only applies to one track, at the location of the signal
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Signals indications are generally influenced by two things: a) the status of the next block, including route or speed through switches at an interlocking) and b) the indication of the next signal.
Signalling can be quite complicated, but the rules and logic are actually pretty straightforward once you understand the system.
I can see a signal bridge from my apartment window and once I figured out what those signals actually meant and how the surrounding signals function, it became very easy to read. Way easier than I expected, even.