Handheld 'S' Car Stop Marker

[jnjkerbin]

At Tonbridge Platform 1, when the Redhill and Strood services are to share the platform, a member of platform staff will signal the arrival from Redhill to stop in the correct position using a handheld 'S' Car Stop marker - the same size and shape as a dispatch bat, but with a white-on-blue 'S', like a car stop marker.

Is this a standard signal, or something peculiar to Tonbridge? I can't recall ever seeing one used elsewhere.

 

[ComUtoR]

I've seen it used elsewhere so its not specific to Tonbridge.

 

[Ashley Hill]

In the past I’ve seen this done by the platform staff just holding out their arm. Drivers having understood it meaning “stop here”.

 

[ARIC]

At Manchester Victoria they hold out their dispatch bat

 

[Undiscovered]

Two of the stations I sign and they use hand lamps and hand signals to call trains down
The smaller station has the clip handle to turn the hand lamp into a shunting lamp.

 

[i4n]

I've seen that in use at Dover as well.

As I understand it, it is a handheld version of the "S" stopping location board so in the case I saw it in use, they stopped a train coming in from the Folkestone direction earlier than it would normally have stopped (at the 4 carriage marker) so that another train coming from the Canterbury direction could also get into the platform and they then joined them together.

 

[ComUtoR]

It's worth noting that the Driver may completely ignore it and drive past.