Correct signal position

In general, railroad color light signals are the reverse of typical US traffic signals.  Green on top. then yellow and red on the bottom.  I'm sure you will find exceptions by individual railroads.

There are two yellows.  Do they just go in the middle or is one under the green and one under the red?

I would love to know how the Lionel 153 signal was originally manufactured. I have seem some with green on top and others with red on top. What is original? Adding to the confusion, here are photos from the 1952 and 1953 catalog. It looks like Lionel couldn't make up their minds.

I had a couple of Lionel signals and it seems almost random how they were set up since they were all the same vintage. Operationally, they should be green high. I rearranged the ones that were operationally wrong, then later gave them away  and went for scale sized signals.

IIRC, the plasticville signal bridge signals, are modeled after Lackawanna prototype, which has 2 heads per signal, with 2 lights per head.  from top to bottom the lenses are red, yellow, green, yellow.   In the DL&W sustem, if u are wondering, can display either a single light on either head, or 2 lights, one on each head.  The possible signal displays are

single red light--stop

single yellow light-- approach

single green light--clear

red over green..clear medium

yellow over green...medium clear

red over yellow...restricting  (or approach medium, i cant remember)

most signals can display any color in any head. this is how they come up with all the indications needed. google NORAC signals and you can see all the combinations. on the prototype all the signal heads must be illuminated or you cannot proceed as it is considered a improperly displayed signal. example is green over red = clear the red lite on the bottom is just a place Holder so you know the signal is working.  model signals rarely come close to the prototype as they are different on most roads and very complicated. best I have seen are some with tori color LED lamps that can replicate this.  luckily we can do what ever makes us happy and looks cool on our own little railroads.

@Beth Marshall-The Public Delivery Track posted:

IIRC, the plasticville signal bridge signals, are modeled after Lackawanna prototype, which has 2 heads per signal, with 2 lights per head.  from top to bottom the lenses are red, yellow, green, yellow.   In the DL&W sustem, if u are wondering, can display either a single light on either head, or 2 lights, one on each head.  The possible signal displays are

single red light--stop

single yellow light-- approach

single green light--clear

red over green..clear medium

yellow over green...medium clear

red over yellow...restricting  (or approach medium, i cant remember)

Thanks Beth. I always wondered what prototype those were based on and how the lights were arranged.

OOps...I was close, but wrong.  Its, red, yellow, yellow, green.  The aspects are the same as i said, but the lackawanna names are the 2 light indications (at least in 1925) was different.  I was using Erie-lackawanna names for the aspects)  Here is a page from a Lackawanna 1925 rulebook...   beth

The Lackawanna was one of the few roads that placed the red aspect in the top position; most "dropped" to red. 

SIGNAL PRIMER

There is no “standard” position for the red, yellow and green signal heads. It depends on what aspect that signal is supposed to display.

CLEAR ASPECT = Green on top.

MEDIUM CLEAR ASPECT = Red on top.

APPROACH MEDIUM - Yellow on top

Click on this SIGNAL PRIMER link for more details.

As long as we're talking color positions and meaning, the newer scale lionel mainline block signal has 3 lights. Green on top, two reds below. When the block is occupied, both red lights are on. I'm not aware of why this is so. Most 3 aspect signals I've seen are green, yellow and red. Can anyone enlighten me?

Terry

Using the word “Lionel” in the same sentence with “scale” or “prototype” is an exercise in futility. Lionel makes “toy train” accessories that don’t bear much resemblance to the real thing.

Rich,

Well, compared to the measurements of the 153, Lionel's mainline block target signal gives the structural appearance of attempting something close to scale/prototype. Given that attempt, I was just curious about the two red light arrangement. Why not a simpler two aspect green/red combo that would be prototype unless this two red arrangement did represent something in the real world that I didn't know about. Guess that was the "toy" aspect.

Terry