Western Railroad Discussion > UP Signals Julesburg CO Indication Question

In SantaFe199 Quad 4s going really fast! post on 8/10/19 photos were shown of the signals at Julesburg, CO where the westbound train was coming through.The train was on the normally westbound track and all signals facing any eastbound traffic were RED. My question is that the most right hand signal (of four signals) was showing a RED in the middle location of the three headed signal. There were four signal heads there so I am curious so to why the middle signal was the RED instead of the bottom. Any experienced UP persons can probalby answere this quickly.

Don Allender



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/19 22:15 by ATSFSuperChief.

The right track is lined up for a 'Yellow' aspect, or an 'Approach indication on the top element, and a Red indication on the bottom element.  The top signal looks red, but it has to be yellow because of its position, apparently it looks red because it is being looked at from the side?
G b

I went back and looked at the photo--every signal looks red to me, including the one mentioned.  Something odd about that signal.

4 tracks squeez to 2

I believe the upper head of the far right signal is set up to display only red, so that any indication it would give (other than "stop") would be a version of "diverging ..." There may be a crossover between the two middle tracks just beyond it, not visible due to the train being there. Still, it seems odd as one could go from that track to the next one without "diverging" (the nearest track ends there, after all). A similar situation exists at Martinez, CA for trains departing the station westbound from Track #3--a two-headed signal (showing a "diverging clear (etc.)" aspect) even though there's only one way to go. That's assuming nothing has changed since I retired three years ago. 

There is only a red lamp in the top arm of the right-most signal; it is simply placed in the middle socket of the 3-lamp signal head.  All signals more favorable than RESTRICTING displayed by this signal carry the word "DIVERGING" in their names.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/19 08:19 by GMRNE.

All signals in the photo are at STOP...

Here is the Track Diagram from the photo location, the photo was taken at CP W363, Facing eastward...

As you can see, Main 1 (second from left), has no available diverging routes, hence the single head. The South Siding/Julesburg Sub connection has only, diverging routes available (South Siding to Main 2, or xover to Main 1), hence why the top signal head can only display red...

Why the North Siding signal has multiple aspects for the top head, I have no idea...

The photo we're all talking about: https://cdn.trainorders.com/attachments/fullsize/1399000/1_UP_4444_July_31_2019a_Julesburg_CO_d71ps_5d4ed533dfc6c.jpg



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/19 07:27 by ats90mph.

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The far right signal appears to be displaying "Approach" (Yellow). The color in the photo isn't very strong but based on the color I do see, plus the position of the illuminated lens (middle one), I'm positive it's displaying "Approach".

Original thread:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,4845547

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/19 07:31 by Railbaron.

Railbaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The far right signal appears to be displaying
> "Approach" (Yellow). The color in the photo isn't
> very strong but based on the color I do see, plus
> the position of the illuminated lens (middle one),
> I'm positive it's displaying "Approach".
>


After looking again, I think you are correct...

I magnified the signal in question into individual pixels, and the upper aspect is as red as the lower one.
On such a diverging route I would not expect the upper aspect to ever display anything other than red.

If the NEXT signal down the line was for a divergance, then it is possible that this set of signals could display yellow over yellow, which means the next one could show red over yellow, hence the two heads.