Home
»
Trains Magazine
»
Forums
»
General Discussion
»
New story on the Northridge Metrolink crash.

Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
I will defer to Dave’s information for the current rules, which are not available to me.  However, I do have an older rulebook that covers signal aspects, and it addresses the same issues we are discussing here, and it concurs with Dave’s information. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> Flashing yellow restricts your speed up to the next signal.  The rule says to reduce to a certain definition of reduced or restricted speed, and then says to approach the next signal at that speed or to not pass that signal at more than the restricted speed.  So the rules about flashing yellow specifically stay in effect up to the next signal.  In this wreck, the next signal was solid yellow. <o:p></o:p> The meaning of solid yellow in my rulebook is: <o:p></o:p> Proceed prepared to stop at next signal.  Train exceeding 30 miles per hour must immediately reduce to that speed. <o:p></o:p> Now it might be easy to assume that this would apply up to the next signal, but it does not say that.  If you do assume it applies up to the next signal even if that signal is clear, then why not assume that it applies to the signal after that?  Why not assume that it applies forever?  The rule simply does not say how long one must stay at 30 mph.   <o:p></o:p> However the meaning of a green signal is: Proceed on main route.  It is like any other green signal, which would authorize full track speed and thus, cancel any speed restriction imposed by a previous signal.  So, after passing a solid yellow, you see the next signal to be green from say a distance of ½ mile, the observation of that green signal ahead cancels the effect of the previous solid yellow.   So the yellow signal does not say how long it stays in effect.  But a green signal simply overrides it.  But say you were to assume that the yellow signal stays in effect all the way up to the next signal even if that signal shows green.  Well then you would have to not only maintain restricted speed up to that green signal, but you would also have to stop for that green signal.    This is because if you were say 50 feet from that green signal, running at 30 mph, and it suddenly changed to red, which can always happen, then you would run past that red signal.  And if you ran past it, you would be in violation of the previous yellow signal, which required that you be prepared to stop at the next signal.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag