approach lit signals

Are most signals approach lit?

Most automatic signals are but not the interlocking signals.

It depends on the railroad and their policy. In the Conrail territory that I
worked from 1987 to 1997 nearly every signal whether it was a home
signal or an automatic signal was approach lighted. Sometimes home
signals would stay lit under certain circumstances but they were still
approach lit signals.
On the Florida East Coast the signals, automatic and home in this case,
are not lit until the dispatcher clears them for a train movement or calls
for a train movement then they are lit. If you are in the Florida East
Coast area and you see a lit signal with a clear indication, you are likely
to see a train before too long. I watch these signals everytime I am
anywhere near the FEC and I have my preferred areas to watch a train
go by right from the front seat of my car.
On Tri-Rail the home signals are lit all of the time and I am not too sure
about the automatics as I do not follow the operations on this line very
much. They have a lot of home signals due to frequent control points
with universal crossovers and a draw bridge close by too.
Noel Weaver

over here they are approach lit but light up even when the train is 10 miles away

We kind of discussed this already, here: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... it+signals

On Tri-Rail here in South Florida at least some of the automatic signals
are approach lighted, I saw one go dark after a train last night.
Noel Weaver

New Jersey Transit lines have approach lit signals on their interlocking and automatic signals. I know this because when I worked Hudson tower before it closed on the NEC, there was an interlocking behind the tower on the M&E line that had approach lit signals.

Interesting, never seen a absolute signal go dark other than if bulbs are burned out.

DutchRailnut wrote:Interesting, never seen a absolute signal go dark other than if bulbs are burned out.

On the Florida East Coast the absolute/home signals go out if the
dispatcher has not cleared the route. When the dispatcher clears a route
the signals all light up and display an indication until the stop indication at
the end of the cleared route.
For example, a southbound at Pompano is cleared, the home signals at
the south end of the siding displays an indication for the move, all of the
automatics between the southbound signal at Pompano and the next
southbound home signal at Wilton Manors (just north of Fort Lauderdale)
will also light up as will the home signal at Wilton Manors which will
display a stop indication. Around the same time the dispatcher will call
for the drawbridge at Fort Lauderdale and once that has occurred, the
signal at Wilton Manors will light up although the best indication will be
apporach until the brige has locked down. The Fort Lauderdale bridge is
controlled from the dispatchers office in Jacksonville and from what I have
seen, the bridge is usually locked down and signals displayed for a move
in about ten minutes after the dispatcher has called for the bridge. The
Florida East Coast is double track at this particular location and sometimes
the signals will indicate that meet is in the works.
Once the train clears the block, the signals again go out and do not light
up until the dispatcher again clears for a train.
Seeing a lit up signal with a good indication (anything except a stop)
almost always indicates that a train will be along pretty soon, usually a
good reason for me to pull off and give the train a good look at.
Noel Weaver
PS, on the former New York Central/Conrail the home signals would go
out when nothing was around too although there were a very small
number of exceptions.
NW