Basics of Railway Signalling - Absolute Block - Easy to understand!

[@lukedolman2329]

Absolutely superb. A clear explanation from someone who actually knows what they're talking about. I needed this, thank you!

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

You're very welcome! Thank you so much for your up lifting comment, it helps me know that I'm doing the right thing.

[@22pcirish]

A distant signal haas a yellow and green aspect. Take it from me an actual train driver.

[@photographerjamie]

@@22pcirish 3:59 yeah he says it right here. And he was an actual train driver as well

[@22pcirish]

@@photographerjamie It’s all a mess. A distant signal May not have a stop aspect but drivers can stop at them if they are telephone equipped in an emergency. All rather academic now we have GSMR radio.

[@22pcirish]

@@photographerjamie It’s all a mess. A distant signal May not have a stop aspect but drivers can stop at them if they are telephone equipped in an emergency. All rather academic now we have GSMR radio.

[@pohl54]

This has got to be the best explanation I've seen or heard. Thanks

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Thank you for your kind words and I'm glad you found it helpful as well as easy to understand. Thanks for watching!

[@Millsbritish4x4]

Fantastic, finally someone has approached this topic, I’ve noticed a lot of other channels have skirted around the subject of signalling with a fair amount of ambiguity. Great to finally get the clarity on this. Keep up the good work!

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Many thanks for your kind comment and support, I thought it was a subject that would've been covered by others but as you say, it's been skirted around, and for far too long. I don't in anyway intend nor have I ever intended to venture into a vast subject and have others come out tge it her side as fully fledged signalmen/women, just the basics is enough, to get your model railway looking right and operating correctly, thanks once again.

[@kvppvk]

Excellent. I know little about railways but watch these modelling videos all the time and have waited so long to see something on this subject that everyone else seems to ignore. Thank you.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

So glad you found it useful, yes there is not a lot out there on signals compared to other subjects on model railways, signalling really is an in depth subject but as the years have gone on, the system has become more simplified than it ever was in BR days, I have those regulations burned into my brain and dealt with them every day in the past so didn't all go tovwaste now I do modelling. Thanks for your comment

[@dale1552]

Fantastic video. About to stert my IST to become a Signaller. Although I was aware of Absolute block this is a really simple explanation.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Thank you, really pleased to hear that, especially a compliment from a future signaller to a former Driver, really really pleased, all the best for your course.

[@manmikey65]

Nice explanation, I worked Absolute Block on the Wherry Lines and Norwich to Ely untill they were fairly recently resignalled. You comments on foggy turns filled me with nostalgia of driving blind with extreme caution in the fog whilst searching for the pinprick of light from the signals! The modern high intensity LED signals are real game changers.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Yes I certainly don't miss the foggy days driving trains, separated the men from the boys on days like that, the signal aspects you followed showed if the guy ahead had learned the route properly or not.

[@kenfox7917]

One more thing I know now that I didn't know 20 minutes ago! Great video and clear explanation. Thanks 🙂👍🚂

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Glad yuu found it useful, every days a school day and never to old to learn, thanks for yuur uplifting comment

[@simonalexander8610]

Great knowledge and put forward in an easy to understand way

[@BernardKenny-ze7ll]

Very, very interesting and looking forward to the next.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Thank you, deciding what yo include is the hard part, I want to keep it simple and yet understandable without going into a full signalling course which is totally un necessary, short andxsweet I think

[@eddiecowler8907]

Brilliant from a retired (40 year +) signaller

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Many thanks for your response, especially from a retired signaller, shows I knew my subject and your confirmation is highly appreciated and your position very much respected Sir

[@angelasirious4541]

Excellent explanation. I'm new to UK signs, and it's very clear to me! I'm sure I'll learn more from the other videos I'll watch later and from your new posts. Thanks and regards. 👍👏👏

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

I'm very glad you found it easy to understand! I hope you find more helpful information on our channel so thanks for watching!

[@billpugh58]

3:37 A distant signal is NOT to tell a driver to stop at the next signal! It is to warn him that the next signal is either showing clear or showing stop AT THE MOMENT the driver passes the signal. That is it! Nothing else. The next signal MAY change aspect after passing the distant, unusual but entirely possible. Why can’t people understand this?

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Maybe because they dont fully understand signalling and model companies never tell anyone in their instructions, if they don't know it or have never come across it, they won't know I guess. Personally I've passed a distant at caution and found the next signal clear, my understanding as a Driver was always to be prepared to stop at the next stop signal and reduced speed accordingly , on the routes I drove on, it usually meant the level crossing hadn't been opened for my passage through yet, but once around the corner, it was usually pulled off

[@ChobertonJunction]

Fantastic, that is something I have wondered about for years and now I know. Great explanation. I hope now that when I get my layout setup the signals will be correct.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

I'm glad you found it useful and practical

[@colinedwards9874]

Just Watched this, really interesting and for a total newcomer with zero Knowledge, this is fantastic

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Glad it was useful, thanks for your comment

[@beckermet_railway]

Thanks for this comprehensive tutorial. Waiting for the next course

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Glad you found it useful, I'm only going to go over things in a brief way just so people know what the signals do and why, so many layouts around with either no signals or signals in the wrong place entirely, very frustrating for me. Thanks for your comment

[@kinkisharyocoasters]

Something worth pointing out about when you have the combined stop and distant signal is that it is impossible for the distant to be clear if the stop is at danger. An analogy to this is on the Underground where main and repeater signals are superimposed; the repeater will be suppressed if there is a red light.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Yes indeed, I thought I mentioned that? The Stop signal is the section signal to the box in the rear, the Distant is from the box in advance, in anycase the distant cannot be cleared if the section signal above is at danger due to interlocking on the signal itself.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

I cannot comment about signalling on LU as I have no knowledge of anything to do with LU

[@eddherring4972]

Formby station had combined section and distant signals which were really stubby because of the road bridge and ticket office combination prior to it on the down side. There was a box at Formby and you can see the next station Freshfield from Formby and Freshfield had a box as well. I believe it was the same at Berkdale coming in the other direction, from Southport towards Liverpool. You also used to see double home signals near bridges with one above the bridge and one really low visible through the bridge but that was obviously the same signal shown at different heights.

[@robinforrest7680]

Excellent ! Thanks subscribed 👍

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Thank you, appreciated

[@stevio7777]

Thanks for that most enjoyable 👌🚂

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Glad you enjoyed it, thank you, appreciate your comment

[@davidemodelrailway]

Nice and clear understanding 👍👏👏

[@noelhass3712]

Distant signals the South Australian Railways used had red arms with fish tail end, white chevron painted on arm, reverse side was usual white with black chevron. At night red light in stop position, green when stick was "pulled off" or cleared. The rule said if signal at stop, to bring to standstill, then proceed at low speed up to home signal. By mid to late 1980s, those that were left were painted with yellow arms and lenses changed in spectacles accordingly.

[@bl7355]

Cool. I didn’t know Aus had Red distant arms until so recently. I wonder why yellow took so long to catch on 🤔

[@butikimbo9595]

BRAVO!!!...👏👏👏👏👏

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Thank you, glad you liked it

[@johnwramsay1]

Brilliant video. I just need to apply these principles to my colour light signals on my layout.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Thanks for your comment, yes those principles will apply as colour light signalling is virtually identical but comes under a different regulation, "Track Circuit Block", which is now the standard on the real railway, I will make a brief video describing it but nothing too technical, it gets messy when discussing subsiduary signals and route indication with "feathers" or theatre boxes - all will be revealed in due course

[@johnwramsay1]

Look forward to that video.

[@lms_steve6693]

That was very interesting, thank you.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

You're welcome, glad you enjoyed it

[@donteanka6196]

Great content and excellent explaination. Thank you, sir! I have a rather unrelated question, if I may. On old / steam trains as well as on (old?) signal boxes, operators seem to always use a rag when handling levers. What is the story and reason behind the rag?

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

It's to protect the polished handles and levers from perspiration (sweat) which would lead to rust forming, interiors of signal boxes were the pride and joy of signalman and staff, heaven forbid a blemish on their levers or brass plungers when the signalling inspector came to visit- they cleaned their equipment in their signal boxes meticulously. Hope that answers your question

[@donteanka6196]

@@hortoncommonmodelrailway Thank you kindly for the reply, that's very interesting indeed and I feel nowadays we need to take more pride in things like this again :-)

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

There was always a feeling of Pride in the job, in every manual levered signalbox across the network, I've never seen a dirty signalbox, other than a closed down, abandoned, no longer used one, Dawlish Warren 1985 springs to mind, and Wye 2023 is another. When I started on the railway in May 78 as a mere boy, I was sent to the box at our station to see how a signalman did his job, after a few days the signalman trusted me to pull the levers, rule one hebsaid, never touch a lever without using a duster, if I catch you doing so, you never set foot in my signalbox again - stern words never to be forgotten, over the tears I forged many many string friendships with signalman, always tooted their box as I passed (I was a Driver by then) to thank them for a safe passage through their patch, still have ex signalman friends to this day.

[@franktuckwell196]

You would usually remind the signalman by dripping all over his floor.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

And get scowled at lol 😂 done it many times

[@Volksplane1]

Thank you!

[@jonsloftrailway]

Thanks so much for this very helpful explanation. I wonder if you could do a video explaining which signals are required at various types of junctions?

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

We hadn't planned on doing a video on such, we fear it would lead to a plethora of people quoting rules and regulations, exceptions to the rule and opening a can of worms. We don't want to get involved in lengthy debates of this and that, there's plenty of publications readily available on the subject of signalling and I suggest you keep a look out for these as well as any books showing track diagrams, which should also show signals used. At the end of the day, it's a model railway and not the real thing , and there's too many people expecting to be fully trained signalman at the end of such a video, I was a Driver, so obviously I know what signal applied to what particular stretch of line I signed for, I appreciate this may not be the answer desired, but honestly signalling is a minefield, each region had their own Divisional instructions and exceptions, it would I feel require a fully fledged signalman to produce such a video, and its something I personally don't want to take on board. Thanks for your comment, sorry I can't help further. The basic rule of thumb for semaphore signals at junctions is, a signal for a diverging route, wouid have a 2nd smaller post attached on a 90 degree gantry. The taller signal would be for the main line, if the main line goes straight ahead, then it would be to the right hand side on the gantry, if it was to the left, then the tall signal wouid be to the left, the diverging route would haveva shorter post, on the right if the route went right, or left if it went left, it there were 3 routes, then 3 signal posts wouid be atrached,, the smaller the post the more divergent the route, so it would be tall, small, smaller, or small tall small, or even tall, smaller , small. Best look at pictures to get a better idea, it's surprising what is available on Google just to get an idea.

[@jonsloftrailway]

@hortoncommonmodelrailway thanks so much, that's really helpful 😊

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

@@jonsloftrailway Really? Lol well glad it helped

[@langdontomkins001]

The shortest section I ever saw is on the Severn Valley where they have a section which is the length of the station platform and there is a box at each end . I think the double track is signaled like a double track mainline so no token needed. Distants on boxes that can't be switched out are fixed distants and can't be operated but if a box is switched out everything comes off in both directions.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Yes fixed distant are just that - fixed. The Maidstone East line was a classic example of what you are saying, at 22:00hrs the boxes at Charing, Lenham, Harrietsham were all switched out, the next controlled box being Maidstone East, and I used to hate Wednesday night turns, CM&EE wagons Ashford to Hither Green via Maidstone at 25mph . Every box was switched out but all signals pulled off until under the control of Maidstone East Panel. Thanks for your comment

[@StephPNE]

Brilliant

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Thanks

[@railwaymechanicalengineer4587]

THE DISTANT !!! When the DISTANT is at "caution" it tells the Driver ONE OR MORE of the following Stop signals is at that moment in time displaying a Danger/Stop indication. And the Driver must bring his train under control and be prepared to stop at the first or subsequent stop signals controlled by that box. When the DISTANT is "clear" this tells the Driver ALL Stop signals ahead are also Clear, irrespective of how many "stop" signals that signalbox may actually have !!! The distance between a DISTANT signal and the first stop signal (HOME signal) must be greater than the braking distance required for any particular line speed. For example on a 75mph line the distance must be greater than 0.66 mile. For a 90mph line the distance must be greater than 0.75 mile.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

I think I actually said most of that, but this is just a way of a basic explanation , just to help modellers, there's no exams here, no fear of discipline if you get it wrong, no casualties, no need to memorise the rule book or own a copy - it's a model railway of 1:76 scale not 1:1. Thanks for your comment.

[@maltnz]

Hope your hand is getting better. Thanks for the video.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Thanks, the hand was just a sprain from working independently under the board

[@FredWilbury]

Nice

[@graemestojak4719]

Thank you a lot, very interesting coming from someone that knows what they are talking about. Would like to see more on this subject and signals for points. And again thank you

[@xanx1234]

Just a quick question, when does a signal revert back to danger, is it as the train (engine) starts to pass the signal or when the whole train has totally passed the signal .... I guess what I'm really asking is 'does the guard need to see the signal is clear'. Quiet often you can see model railways employing block signalling but the signal changes to danger the moment the engin passes the signal but it could be several seconds before the guards van has passed the signal.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

It depends on the signalman or "overlap", which is usually anything from 10 yds to 1/4 mile, a signalman instinctively knows when a train has passed his signal and replace to danger by actual sight, at night he would probably wait until the train got nearer to him before replacing g the signal, on track circuit block, as soon as the section ahead of his signal shows "occupied" by the passage of the train on his diagram he could replace the signal back whenever he chose to the guard could observe signals if he so wished via a mirror in his brake which reflected off a mirror in the roof, but these had long been removed in the 70s. I won't go into any detail in depth on this as there's no need to really, we are running g model trains and as long as we know the basics we can be assured we are doing things right, you did raise a valid point and was worthy of an answer and hope it helped - thanks for your comment

[@LUAu101]

With mechanical signals the rules stated and continue to state to this day that the signal is to be replaced to danger when the last vehicle of the train has passed it, or, if there are facing points in the route, when the last vehicle of the train is clear of those points. There are exceptions, such as where permissive working is in operation or if a train stops with a portion still on approach, but those are the general rules. In actual practice some people are terrified of putting a signal back on a train and are in no hurry to put it back right away. Others may find themselves not strictly following the letter of this law if they're busy or they feel the extensive electrical interlocking that tends to be provided today renders it unnecessary. I believe not putting the signal back until the whole of the train had passed it was indeed for the benefit of the guard, though I've not found a rule requiring them to observe the signals (though I know it was something guards would do when they could) much less to put the brake in if they saw one go back, but I believe regardless that was the general idea. With regards not putting the signal back until the train is clear of facing points that is to maintain the mechanical locking of the points to help prevent the signalman moving them under a train and causing a derailment.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

@@LUAu101 Many thanks, yes you are correct, but I try to keep it simple and fun, it's a model after all and whilst I appreciate the accuracy it isnt always necessary to probe deep, I'm an ex Driver and try to just give the people the gist of things, as you well know, signal boxes are disappearing fast, take Kings Cross today for instance, signalled from York, very hard to see all the way down to Kings Cross to see tge last part of a train pass a signal hence auto signals and track circuits

[@malcolmphillips9718]

You should have mentioned that in addition to the line speed the maximum weight of a train travelling over the portion of line is also taken into consideration in respect of the positioning of the distant from the home signal ( first stop signal ) therefore the spacing is the braking distance for the maximum weight of a train. A passenger train is usually lighter than a freight train.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

You are quite correct in what you say, however I refrained from getting too technical, this is a model railway after all in 00 and not 12" to the foot lol 😂, thanks for your comment, it is appreciated

[@malcolmphillips9718]

What about explaining where an intermediate block section exists

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Something we may include at a later date but at present there are no plans to go into any great depth as the idea is just to give a basic concept, thank you for your comment

[@steviesteve750]

Surely in 2024 we should be using a combination of GPS and track circuiting for autonomous moving block operations. If HS2 teaches us nothing else is that we need capacity on existing lines, not building extra lines!

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

I couldn't tell you, I'm not into modern technology at all, and have zero interest in HS2 or anything associated with it, todays railways don't hold my attention, when I saw how much infrastructure was destroyed of Britains Railways with the destruction of Old Oak Common, I simply detached myself from it all, what goes on now I have absolutely no idea so I cannot comment, not does it hold any place within what the video was about, - pure old school absolute block signalling, which is now vertically extinct, only a few places still use it. Thanks for your comment

[@josephturner7569]

There should be a distant on the starter for the advanced starter as it just replaces a box. If the signal is cleared within sight of the driver, the line is clear as far as the next signal not including the overlap. Often meant the signalman wants a word so watch out for a red rag. During fog or falling snow, to the signal box you go. If it's pissing down with rain, you can wait upon the train.

[@hortoncommonmodelrailway]

Thanks for your comment, yes I agree with you, I didn't go into such depth as the majority of people wanted it short and sweet and that's what I accomplished I think, my days as a Driver were enough, being as its only a model the walk to the signal box aint so far these days lol 😂

[@josephturner7569]

@@hortoncommonmodelrailway the worst I ever had it was at Garnqueen box. North of Coatbridge. Driving a 37, I managed to stop at the Home. Couldn't see the box about 100 ft away the snow was falling that hard. Came up over my knees when I got out. Stayed there about two hours.

[@LUAu101]

I think you're thinking of intermediate block signals. Advanced starters do not have their own distants.