Fixed stop signal?

There's plenty of places where this happens and the shunt signal in that situation gives the driver authority to go as far limit of shunt board or nowadays a position light signal with two reds.

Chris

There are plenty of places where there are running shunts i.e. in the main direction of running. For a current semaphore example I know is at Marchwood Hampshire. Calling on signals in CLS areas are position light signals below the main signal.

For my sins I worked on the S&T on the Southern for 9 years. The most eccentric area I worked on is the line on the Isle of Wight, the trains would stop to drop us off where we working and we flagged them down to get back.

Chris

Now thats the interesting thing, in LMS Journal No 7 Graham Warburton in his article on ground signals doesnt talk about shunting at all but gives trailing crossovers as an example where movement against normal traffic flow is controlled by ground signal.

cheers, Simon

Indeed - that's a classic use for them. Controlling setting back into a yard, siding or bay platforms is another. Where you see (are there any left?) stacks of them one on top of the other, the top one indicates the left-most route, the next one down the next left-most etc.. The tallest I ever used was at Exeter St. Davids which had four, and was placed half way over the Up-Down trailing crossover at the South end of the station so if you were held there you blocked the whole south (or should that be west?) end. Drivers who insisted on changing ends there were none to popular!

When MAS (Track Circuit Block) came in all dummies became singles, replacing "standard" dummies, calling-on arms etc - the possible route options were down to route knowledge. I notice that a lot of the now seem to be aquiring route indicators, a sign of the times I suppose.

Cheers Richard

The CLS replacements have always varied as to if they had route indicators or not for instance the 1969 re-signalling of Portsmouth featured both subsidiary signals with and without route indicators. For instance the subsidiary signal to gain entrance to Fratton yard from the North did not have a route indicator whereas the subsidiary signals on the up signals at Portsmouth and Southsea had 2 for the back road and down relief. In some cases the route indicator for the main signal is used for the subsidiary signal as well.

Similar arrangements were done for the Southampton re-signalling of

Chris

That's right - I'd didn't make myself too clear there - where the dummy has an associated 'proper' signal any route indicator also applies to the dummy (well, I can't remember any that didn't). The changeover in the Southampton area I remember well - we only had two regular turns there in our link (Northam Yard, which closed, and stone to Toton) so, despite getting all the notices, one trip St. Denny's had rucks of semaphore, next trip.. all gone - rather disconcerting! I seem to recall the infamous tunnel bulge happened at about the same time too, just to make it interesting.

Cheers Richard

There are places where the subsidiary signal has separate route indicators from the main signal. I remember at the time of the Southampton re-signalling was complete some contractors recovering cable choppered through the main signalling power supply 650V bringing Southampton to a halt. Interesting when BR fixed the bulge in the tunnel they did not have to close the tunnel, single line working. Where as Network Rail need to completely close the tunnel to re-gauge for 9'6'' container trains.

Chris

They were rare, but fixed stop arms were occasionally used. The one I remember near Swansea was at a double line junction, and protected the junction from wrong line movements on one of the converging routes. Freight trains regularly reversed direction at this point, with locos front and rear.

David