Railroad Operations (signals & switches)

bmccarron,

Integrated Signals Systems.com

They have Railroad Signals and Subway Signals and track detection also for your Layout.

Good luck, John 

For 3 rail; I just use relays

There are a few posts here  in the electrical section

LINK

Dale H

Terry Christopher at Custom Signals

has a Track Configuration Library (TCL) on his web site that you
might like to review. He is not selling signals anymore but his TCL is

still on his web site. It was very helpfull for signal placement when I

was installing signals.

Joe

http://www.customsignals.com/t...ry.php#TCLselections

Joe,

Thanks, John

I'm uncertain whether there is a definitive book on the entire subject.  Enough study of the railroads in question should give you adequate knowledge of the signal type used for a specific purpose.  An old standby, the Model Railroader Cyclopedia, gives you the basics, and even some of the old Lionel literature goes into signal usage and placement.

Basically, signals on the layout indicate 2 things,  block occupancy and turnout position.  Tie your signals into your control panel and you can follow train location.  As suggested in the MRC, " Start with the simpler circuits, wire them up, make them work, then progress to harder combinations.  I'd say turnout position signalling would be the simplest.

Fortunately there's tons of info on the PRR and their use of Postion-Light Signals.  They're available in "O", another lucky break, as building your own would be complicated.  Learning what the signal aspects mean is almost like learning another language.  Best advise I can give, keep reading!

Bruce

brwebster

Great information.

Thanks, John