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I was once given a web address to a fellows site that had the best primer for signals I have ever read. It cleared up many things for me. Let me give a thumbnail overview of signals. <br /> <br />There are different kinds of signals; block, interlocking, etc. but they all give information to the engineer about how much track ahead of him is clear. A green indicates something to the effect of two clear blocks of track ahead; a yellow indicates one clear block and red indicates stop for no clear blocks. A second head indicates conditions on a diverging route. If an engineer is approaching a switch from the points end, he will see two signal heads. The upper head indicates conditions on the primary track, and the second signal head indicates conditions on the diverging route. With multiple heads, and multiple colors, there are many combinations of signal indications. One slogan from the website I mentioned: "If a signal is not all red, it is not red at all." If any of the heads shows something other than a red or stop indication, then the engineer has a clear route to proceed. But that doesn't mean this is the route he wanted to take. The many different signal head types and semiphors <sp?> are just different ways to get the stop/slow/proceed information to the engineer. As anyone who knows will tell you, this is a woefully brief description of signals. I will search through my stuff and see if I can get the web address for you. Good Luck - Ed
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