The signals in Railroader, first unlocked on the Whittier to Bryson route, are of the semaphore type and are part of the earliest fixed mechanical signal type used.

One of the benefits of signals, besides making it clearer for you as an engineer whether or not a correct route is set, is also that the AI engineers send you a notification, whenever the pass a signal, allowing you an easy overview of where your trains are at.

Trains will also stop well before any switches set against them, preventing you from having to do unnecessary yard work.

Realworld counterparts

The first semaphore signal was put in place in 1842 in England and by 1870 it was the most used signal type across both the UK and US.

Semaphore signals are in the real world mostly replaced by light-only signals, often made up by LEDs, but there are still some semaphore signals in use. Around the world, signals are being taken down in an effort to make an all-digital system run by GPS and/or GSM-R. One of the largest such projects is the Danish implementation of the ERTMS-system, aiming to replace all physical signals across the national railways.

Below we'll go over the three different signals one by one, to get an understanding of what they mean.


The green signal "GO" means pretty much that - the line is clear and the switch have been set in your direction.


The red "STOP" signal is also pretty self explanatory. STOP the line isn't clear or the switch is set against your train.

STOP signals can be overrun by the train controller and the AI engineer can be allowed to pass at reduced speed (15).


The yellow signal means "proceed with caution" or just "CAUTION" and this is where it gets tricky.

When you encounter a yellow signal, it is safe to pass, but be prepared to stop. A yellow signal means that the next signal after it, is red.

More than one signal?

Some signals will have several wings/lights. The top signal indicates the main branch, the green disc on the switch. The signal below indicates the siding, the red disc on the switch.


In the example the switch is set for the main branch (straight), but the signal is only yellow/caution, not green/go. This is because the next signal is red. Had the next signal been green, so would the top signal have been here.

As an engineer, you'll also see some different signs and markerboards, these are just as important as the signals, as they often convey important safety-related information.

The signs and markers are unlocked from the start and does not need to be bought, like the semaphore signals.

Way signs



The white name signs indicate the names of stations and branch lines.

Whistle


The white W-sign indicates that the engineer must blow the whistle. These signs are most often posted a road crossings.

Here on the Appalachia railroad a warning whistle is LONG-LONG-SHORT-LONG or Tuuuuuut Tuuuuuut Tut Tuuuuuut

Speed limits


Along the way, you'll see different speed limits. These are safety related limits imposed upon you, in order to prevent derailing in tight curves.

As mentioned earlier the green light only comes on if several pieces of track is clear - if the next signal is red, you'll only get a yellow.

I've tried showing it below, where the arrow indicates the trains direction of travel:

The signals in the game are basic block signals, meaning that if you set a switch towards an occupied rail, the signal will remain red. It will only show a green light, if the line is clear.

Now turning up the difficulty a bit, with the things we've learned before, can you guess how the switch is set in the example below?


Answer: The switch is set for the siding. The top signal for the main line is red and the bottom signal for the siding is green, indicating that the switch is set for the siding and that the siding is clear and that the next signal after is also green.

Let's turn up the complexity. There are of course signals in both directions.

In the example below the train coming from the main line (left) have a green, to go onto the siding. The train coming from the right main have a red, as it have to wait for the first train to cross over.


Now you are getting the hang of it! Can you guess why everything is in the red below?


Answer: The switch is set, so that the two trains are on a collision course. The automatic block signals are literal life savers, as they stop both trains! As soon as the switch is set to the siding, the train on the left will get a green, as in the example above.

This covers the basics of the Railroader signaling guide. I hope it helped and please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions!

Guide preview image is Traced by Stannered and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license: Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Signal_Home_Semaphore_R_%26_G.svg
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

Shoutout to Conner - DorniNerd over at the Railroader discord, who game me the inspiration for this guide.

Signal drawings are my own creation.

Changelog

March 30th 2024: First edition, please comment if you spot any mistakes or have suggestions

To-do list:

Below is my own to do list, for stuff that needs fixing

• More advanced signal types
  
• Technical info about how block signals work