Question about steam engines

[AaronR]

When steam engines are used on rail lines which are used by modern trains, how do they observe the modern signalling and warnings?

 

[Churchill012]

They have to be fitted with AWS, TPWS and OTDR before being certified to run on the mainline. That's just the start I should imagine. Everything from head/tail lights to warning stickers will be regulated.

 

[Llanigraham]

When steam engines are used on rail lines which are used by modern trains, how do they observe the modern signalling and warnings?

The same way that all drivers do: the Mk1 eyeball!
And as above.

 

[Master29]

Much like with old commercial vehicles with no indicators. The London RT bus springs to mind. Just add on the legal requirements.

 

[broadgage]

Yes, the railway has not changed that much since steam was in everyday use.
Signals are observed by the driver, and any mistake or want of attention by the driver should result in the AWS applying the brakes, just as "back in the day"

TPWS (train protection and warning system) and CSR (cab secure radio) are more recent innovations but can be and have been retrofitted to steamers.

A proper high intensity headlight is now a requirement, these are usually self contained battery operated units.
Battery tail lights may be special ones made to look like an oil lamp, but modern battery lights as used on freight trains are common.

 

[thenorthern]

As other have said AWS and Radio Electronic Token Block is a requirement for steam trains on lines that need it. I think they also have the GSM radio fitted as well.

 

[E&W Lucas]

Yes, the railway has not changed that much since steam was in everyday use.

I would say it has changed greatly; maybe not so much physically, but in the expectations. A failure to recognise this landed a certain charter company in very hot water!

 

[broadgage]

Expectations regarding stricter observance of rules have certainly changed a lot.
However the basics of observing and obeying signals has not altered much.

Colour light and semaphore signals have not changed significantly in meaning or design.
Speed restrictions are now obeyed far more strictly, but the principles and rules have not changed much.

The recent and very reprehensible actions of a charter company might have attracted less attention say 50 years ago, but would still have been wrong, still have been liable to cause a most serious accident, and would still have resulted in disciplinary action against those involved.

 

[DPWH]

Remember that they also tend to have about 4 people on the footplate rather than the 2 they would usually have in steam days. That means that the driver can concentrate on driving and not be distracted with helping the fireman if the latter is struggling with problems with the fire or injectors or whatever as the fireman has 2 mates to help him.

 

[E&W Lucas]

Remember that they also tend to have about 4 people on the footplate rather than the 2 they would usually have in steam days. That means that the driver can concentrate on driving and not be distracted with helping the fireman if the latter is struggling with problems with the fire or injectors or whatever as the fireman has 2 mates to help him.

I don't know how much driving you've done, but extra bodies cluttering up the cab are hardly a help. At best they get in the way; at worst, the presence of extra people on any footplate is clearly understood to represent a distraction issue, and there is a clear link between operational incidents and people in cabs. One of the things WC were slapped for after Wooton Basset was the presence of two "support crew" types on the footplate, when there was only supposed to have been a maximum of one.

 

[YankeeRailfan]

Yes, the railway has not changed that much since steam was in everyday use.
Signals are observed by the driver, and any mistake or want of attention by the driver should result in the AWS applying the brakes, just as "back in the day"

TPWS (train protection and warning system) and CSR (cab secure radio) are more recent innovations but can be and have been retrofitted to steamers.

A proper high intensity headlight is now a requirement, these are usually self contained battery operated units.
Battery tail lights may be special ones made to look like an oil lamp, but modern battery lights as used on freight trains are common.

What is Cab Secure Radio?

 

[MarkyT]

What is Cab Secure Radio?

CSR was the older standard cab to shore radio system, connecting trains to control centres for voice communications. It has been replaced now by its modern functional equivalent, GSM-R which has a few more bells and whistles and is based on standard cellular technology. The important feature of both these systems is that (when working correctly) they connect a train automatically to the correct controller for the section of line it is traversing using the train describer map, so normally neither signaller nor driver have to concern themselves about specific channels and base stations etc.