Western Railroad Discussion > Switch stand target colors?

What governs the colors used on swotchstands...there are various combinations of red, yellow, white, green and probably some others.  I looked through my old SP rule book and could not find anything mentioning switch stands except for spring switches. This is more a historical question, but the current rules (if any) would be of interest as well. 

JBWX

All depends on the railroad.   

one pair of colors is used on switch attached to the mainline, the other pair for switches on other tracks. Red on the mainline, Yellow on other tracks indicates a diverging move, green indicates a straight away move...what consitutes diverging and straight is not always obvious and when that is the case it has been decided by one means or another that this is diverging...and that is straight and the targets applied accordingly....however....never, never, never use the tartgets to confirm your movements....you MUST observe the switch points themselves and be governed accordingly. Switches that have a habit of being run through often have their targets removed....you can figure why. 

My MofW SP Rulebook includes a drawing "Plate 20" which is Common Standard 1090 titled "COLOR INDICATIONS OF TARGETS AND  LENSES OF SWITCH STANDS"
There are several small drawings of how this plays out for crossovers, tracks leading to main tracks, etc.
Pretty much as summarized above: red for anything connected to the main track and yellow for others.

Like all signalling, its up to the railroad what that want to use.

On the Erie  it was white for  the preferred move and red for the diverging move.   There were also high and low switchstands.   Theorettically high switch stands on hand throws connecting to the main, and low switchstands for others, but by the 1960's, it was pretty indiscriminate.

My old SP switch stand that is here, is lined with the track (not visible) for straight thru movement, and a red diamond for the "diverging" move

Thanks for the responses.  What started all this was a picture of the DRGW Durango yard back in the 1960's, and one of the leads had red targets while the rest were yellow.  The lead with the red targets was the track that the RGS once used, via trackage rights, to enter the yard.  So my guess was that at one time it was designated a main track.  In my railroading days I never paid much attention, since as noted above we were taught to look at the points, not the switch stand, which is probably why it is in the MOW rules but not the Operating rules. 

JBWX

General rule of thumb, the more "restrictive" the color, the more "restrictive" the route.

Away from a controlled mainline... If the switch target has green (or white/or unmarked) one way, and yellow (or red) the other, typically the green/white/unmarked route would be a less restrictive "industrial/switching lead" route, meaning longer, or higher max speed (based on timetable), and/or less chance of a derail, bumper or other obstruction near by. A yellow or red aspect being displayed is more of a heads up that you're entering a more restricted (possibly dead end) yard/industrial/spur track. Operating at Restricted Speed would still typically apply, putting the responsibility of safe operation on the experience of the crew at that location.

Other common scenarios (typically signaled mainline) omit the green or white target, only displaying the yellow or red when the switch is open to the more restrictive route. There are enough other highly visible markers passing by the road crew on a controlled main at any given moment. They don't really need to be visibly reminded that the route ahead of them is lined for their route rather than NOT. Signal indication or verbal notification would become the far superior option for alerting a speeding crew on a mainline to a possible change in their intended path.

Lastly, the less (or more) restrictive route of the switch does not necessarily correspond with the straight or diverging route. Plenty of switches out there have the curved or diverging route marked as the preferred or normal (green/white/unmarked) route of that particular switch. It all depends on the specific territory and railroad standards.

~ Mr. MRL



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/24 19:38 by MrMRL.

I own the original D&RGW stand from the Cliff (Pinecliff) house track, it has a green diamond and a yellow circle. The green diamond was aligned to the siding, and the yellow circle signaled the house track. 

I believe that matches the D&RGW MOW drawings. UP didn't like it, so now it protects my front porch!

Rick Bacon
Windsor, CO