neilw
now that's what I call a garden railway
Posts: 284
|
Post by neilw on Mar 6, 2021 10:53:48 GMT
Sorry to ask a basic question, but something has piqued my interest. Typical (disc) shunt signals turn through 45 deg in an anticlockwise direction when they show OFF. Is this or has this been universally the case, or have some cleared in the other sense?
|
|
rincew1nd
Administrator
Junior Under-wizzard of quiz
Posts: 10,286 
|
Post by rincew1nd on Mar 6, 2021 10:57:13 GMT
I'm willing to get GWR signals went the other way.
|
|
|
|
Post by quex on Mar 6, 2021 11:19:55 GMT
Some early shunt signals - in particular on the London & North Western Railway - rotated around a vertical axis. The aspects were effectively painted on the side of a box that turned on this axis, so that one aspect was face-on to the driver and the other side-on/at 90 degrees.
|
|
Chris M
Global Moderator
Forum Quizmaster
Always happy to receive quiz ideas and pictures by email or PM
Posts: 19,761
|
Post by Chris M on Mar 6, 2021 13:52:15 GMT
In terms of mainline practice, www.railsigns.uk/sect3page2/sect3page2.html notes that similar shunt signals "a centrally pivoted arm, coloured red, inside a circular frame." introduced by the Glasgow & South Western Railway from July 1898 rotated either way. (diagrams 3.36 and 3.37). Diagram 3.49 on the same page shows a SE&CR shunt signal dating from 1920 that rotated clockwise to indicate off. Diagram 3.78 at www.railsigns.uk/sect3page4/sect3page4.html illustrates a Southern Railway floodlit shunt signal (described as "obsolescent") that rotated clockwise. |
|
|
|
Post by tjw on Mar 6, 2021 14:59:06 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by pgb on Mar 7, 2021 8:42:57 GMT
I'm willing to get GWR signals went the other way. I'm not sure they did - which I find a bit unusual! |
|
neilw
now that's what I call a garden railway
Posts: 284
|
Post by neilw on Mar 7, 2021 10:37:26 GMT
Sorry, should have clarified I meant Ones on LT/LUL
|
|
|
|
Post by billbedford on Mar 7, 2021 11:18:09 GMT
In terms of mainline practice, www.railsigns.uk/sect3page2/sect3page2.html notes that similar shunt signals "a centrally pivoted arm, coloured red, inside a circular frame." introduced by the Glasgow & South Western Railway from July 1898 rotated either way. (diagrams 3.36 and 3.37). Diagram 3.49 on the same page shows a SE&CR shunt signal dating from 1920 that rotated clockwise to indicate off. Diagram 3.78 at www.railsigns.uk/sect3page4/sect3page4.html illustrates a Southern Railway floodlit shunt signal (described as "obsolescent") that rotated clockwise. I practice ground signal would only rotate in one direction, I never heard of one that could give three different aspects. Which way they turned, I would guess, would depend on whether the normal semaphores were upper or lower quadrant. |
|
Chris M
Global Moderator
Forum Quizmaster
Always happy to receive quiz ideas and pictures by email or PM
Posts: 19,761
|
Post by Chris M on Mar 7, 2021 12:58:15 GMT
Indeed that was sloppy wording on my part, they only rotated one way. However One of them I mentioned (I can't remember which) did show three positions - horizontal, 45° and vertical.
|
|
|
|
Post by d7666 on Mar 22, 2021 9:05:43 GMT
In general, if main arms were lower quadrant then disc rotates anti clockwise so both go from - to / or upper quadrant then clockwise so both go from - to \
HOWEVER this got muddled when railways and or sites and or individual signals changed from lower to upper quadrant arms
GWR retained lower quadrant hence anti clockwise
|
|
|
|
Post by tut on Mar 23, 2021 8:33:18 GMT
d7666 has summed the situation up perfectly with regards to upper and lower quadrant. I know of no recent LU examples of upper quadrant shunt signals (i.e. clockwise rotation) although I'm not sure about the misty old days of yore. There was definitely an upper quadrant disc at Quainton Road prior to closure (dunno if it was there when Metropolitan Line trains were still to be seen mind, probably not), and there could easily have been others on lines served by Underground trains. On the National Rail network upper quadrants are certainly to be found, see for example
Edit: Stoke Mandeville had an upper quadrant disc which was in service in Metropolitan Line days.
|
|
