Hi, I am new to model trains, and I am gathering my equipment bit by bit. We are located in New Zealand and dedicated equipment for my layout are not easy obtainable. I however want to know the traffic rules of the railroad signals so I can configure my DCC accordingly later down the road. I would appreciate if someone can let me have the signal rules and meanings and of the signs along the tracks, like speed warnings and the rest. The DCC control units are also far to expensive here, so I am going to build mine with Arduino boards.
[#welcome] to the Forum, your posts are delayed in moderation for a while.
Not to hiijack your thread but what DCC systems are popular down there?
Here is a start on your signal education: https://signals.jovet.net/rules/index.html
Hello ā [#welcome]
In the eastern portion of the U.S. there has been the adoption of the NORAC rules. This is mainly due to the consolidation of many previous railroad lines with their own signal rules into a consolidated effort. A lot depends on the era you plan to represent. This chart from April of 1993 may be of some help to you:
And the reverse:
NORAC_0001 by Edmund, on Flickr
In the western portion of the U.S. there is the General Code of Operating Rules.
More here:
https://www.trains.com/mrr/how-to/model-railroad-operations/what-railroad-signals-mean/
Canada and Mexico have adopted their own set of operating rules.
Hope that helps,
Ed
There are options to dcc controled signal systems. Atlas makes one type. ISS or integrated signal systems makes a comlete signal system line so do a few others. all operate independent of dcc. Also as shown above, different regions have different signal operation rules. specifiing which region you wish to work in will help those in the know about that region get you the info you seek. I am in the northeast in NORAC territory.
Shane
someone on the Arduino Programming Questions forum posted Two & Three Position Signalling that is for New Zealand
It depends a bit on your era. In early steam days, you would see timetable and train order, where the only signals were at stations to indicate picking up orders at the station or on the fly.
In the 20th century Automatic Block Signaling came along, signals indicated the start and end of āblocksā - red light (or semaphore at āstopā or ādangerā) meant the block was occupied, yellow meant the block was clear but the next one occupied, green meant the next two blocks were clear.
Two- or three-head interlocking signals are/were used at junctions and where two or more railroads crossed. So green-over-red meant you were continuing forward on the main, red-over-green meant you were going into a sidetrack or entering a branchline, red-over-red was an āabsolute stopā.
Starting around 1960 you had Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) and other options where signalling related more to speed than block occupancy and interlocking status etc.
Hereās a linke to a whole bunch of signal aspects, names, and indications used by various railroads. Some current, others from years gone by. I think the one for the Cascade and North Western is for a model railroad.
Railroad Signal Aspect Charts (jovet.net)
Jeff
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Signalling is a giant topic, and there are many different sets of signal rules and indications used by different railroads.
Need to at least narrow things down to a specific railroad to follow for the actual signal indications.
These pages will start giving you a good overview on how the systems generally work.
http://www.lundsten.dk/us_signaling/index.html
http://dev.ctcparts.com/?page_id=228
If an audio-visual intro works better for you:
US signals vary by railroad. There are two basic systems in place āABSā (automatic block system), also called āAPBā and āCTCā (Centrailized Traffic Control).
IN ABS the signals indicate the condition of the blocks and switches ahead, but do not convey authority . In CTC a dispatcher or control operator controls the positions of critical switches and clears routes, the signals authorize movements (and indicate the condition of blocks and switches ahead).
As others have mentioned, it is easiest if you pick a railroad and an era and whether you want ABS or CTC. Most modelers want CTC. If you canāt narrow it down to one area, picking the eastern or western half of the US (essentially the NORAC rule book or the GCOR rule book) will nearrow things down a lot.
As already stated, signaling really is a giant topic.
I see three approaches to model railway signaling:
- Signals that may look nice but donāt really do anything
- Signals that respond to trains to some degree, but are not necessarily the most prototypical
- Signals that behave as prototypically as possible, and are ideally essential to faithfully operating the layout
You didnāt specify a country, a railroad, a time period, or a scale. Of the three goals listed above, they start out cheaper and get progressively more expensive as you go down the line.
10 days without even a uh-huh from the OP. Have we been had again?
Heās been given some very good information, in good context, that has objectively provided him the answer to the questions he posed (and a great deal more besides).
While it would be nice if he commented on what was meaningful, or asked for further advice or (if needed) clarification ā he may have seen that he was answered, and gone directly to planning or implementing something based on that. I hope he posts again when he has more complete things that heāll be proud to show or share.
I donāt ever feel āhad.ā Iām sure for some of us, trains and forums like these are at the forefront of our minds more often than not. But, children, spouses, parents, other family, friends, chores, health, and of course, work intrude into our lives, too. This is a hobby, not a job. Responses on forums like this, or lack thereof, are not something to take personally.
I hardly take it personally. I do usually smoke out the single posters immediately because they either spark members to provide long responses or to argue with one another about DC vs DCC or the best system or to design a proposed layout.
He might well have a lot he can teach us about Arduino. A forum works best as a two way street and not as a search engine. I have alway maintained that one learns more when they post than when they lurk.
I have been involved in a bunch of forums from grilling to rescue dogs to MR since Al Gore invented the Internet. I can count on my thumbs the number of times I asked a question then forgot about the thread.
However I was a doctor in a prior life and given that our demographic contains a lot of people in their golden years. The number of all the bones in my body would be less than the ways a health crisis, trauma or other emergency could keep someone away from a forum. I hope that is not the case here.
Just because itās so easy on the internet for letās say āinaccuraciesā to be perpetuated, Iāll point out Al Gore never said he āinvented the internetā. He said in an interview that he had ātaken the initiative in creating the internetā - that is, as a Congressman and Senator, he had been the key person in changing a group of unconnected federal government networks into one, and then opening that to the general public.
Welcome to the hobby. Iām in Australia and I think I have too much to convert to DCC and I like my transistor throttles anyway. It is not so much how the signalling works and what they all mean but applying the signals to YOUR layout would be an interesting exercise. I am trying to figure out mine for a junction with 10 possible pathways but I operate without it for nowā¦ one day!
You may be interested in the (absolutely) free download mag I offer here that is read around the world so if you can PM me, using the messages with your email and I can send you the links!
Regards from Australia
Trevor
PS Messages did not seem to work so I am at railwaymodelleraustralia01@gmail.com
When you are ready.
The address is also open to anyone else whpo would like to be on the free mailing list