Position of red in C&O signals

The latest Railfan & Railroad has a story on the replacement of traditional C&O color-light signals. The C&O signals in the photos have red in the top position on the top arm and in the bottom position on the bottom arm; i.e., the top arm has R/Y/G and the bottom arm has G/Y/R. I assume this came about because at the time they were installed the head of the C&O signal department decided that's how it was going to be, and he saw that it was good. At this late date, does anyone remember, or know, what the reason was for this arrangement? I don't recall seeing it on any other railroad.

ExCon90 wrote:The latest Railfan & Railroad has a story on the replacement of traditional C&O color-light signals.

June issue, to be exact! It's written by Chase Gunnoe, and he explains how he has been trying to photograph the last of these signals before they are gone for good. Let me know what you think!

http://carstensbookstore.com/june2011.html

-otto-
R&R

Read it.......very enjoyable article! He did a super job with excellent info!

Charlie

Otto and Charlie,
Finished it last night. Very good article, and very interesting, but apart from his introductory remark about their being unique, there's no mention of whether there was a particular reason for having red in two places depending on whether it's on the top or bottom arm. The signals were installed so early (pre-World War II?) there's probably no one left alive who was around at the time and knew.

The light pattern on each head was designed to make sure that there would be sufficient separation of aspects on each head to allow the best possible visibility. Under the C&O signal rules, there would always be at least one dark bulb (space) between the aspects on each head. Granted there are examples of early (pre-1960's) three head signals that could give an aspect with red over red minus a space on the bottom two heads, but those aspects were ruled only by the light on the top head (clear, approach, stop).

If there's anything else I can answer about the C&O signals, please let me know.

Loyd L.

Loyd L.,
Thanks for the reply. There's a reason for everything, isn't there? I can see that with the greens adjacent, unless they ever wanted a green-over-green aspect, there would automatically be at least one dark space in between any two lights.

wmmanager wrote:Under the C&O signal rules, there would always be at least one dark bulb (space) between the aspects on each head.

Were there formal written C & O Signal Rules for the design of their signal systems, that included the above? This might also specify what aspects are allowed to be displayed when the signals ahead are displaying certain aspects, what the minimum length of a block must be in advance of a signal that can display Stop, what must be done if that rule has to be violated, etc. I asked a similar question on the PRR Signals Yahoo Group, and so far, the answer is that PRR signal designers and engineers had to learn this type of knowledge "on the job", without a formal written manual.

JimBoylan wrote:Were there formal written C & O Signal Rules for the design of their signal systems, that included the above? This might also specify what aspects are allowed to be displayed when the signals ahead are displaying certain aspects, what the minimum length of a block must be in advance of a signal that can display Stop, what must be done if that rule has to be violated, etc. I asked a similar question on the PRR Signals Yahoo Group, and so far, the answer is that PRR signal designers and engineers had to learn this type of knowledge "on the job", without a formal written manual.

Yes, there were. There are several documents in the archives of the C&O Historical Society regarding signalling from the 1940's - 1970's, and CSX printed at least one small blue binder book in the early 1990's for the signalling department.

Loyd L.