Flags for train despatching.

[30750MLF]

On a recent visit ti Oz I was surprised to see WHITE flags being used to give the "righht away" .I have since noticed a commemorative panel at Winchfield, one time end of the LSWR line, referring to the use of white flags for sending the train off. A friend recalls an old NER Rule Book which specified white flags for train despatch.

The question is why did UK railways change from white to green and when?

To complicate things I have noticed some continental railways displaying a red baton. And of course BR changed to white bats!

 

[John Webb]

White flags were originally used to indicate 'All Clear' to passing trains by the early railway policemen/signalmen working the time-interval system. A Green flag indicated that a previous train had passed a little while before (5-10mins) and a Red flag meant stop, of course. So I assume White was first adopted for train dispatching as the 'All Clear' signal from guard to driver.

The colours of Red and initially white transferred to signal lamps, but the latter was replaced by Green in the later part of the Victorian era when artificial lighting became more widespread. It was only discussion in the early 1920s that led to mechanical distant signals being painted yellow and given yellow lights as the caution signal.

But at what point trains were dispatched with Green rather than White flags in the UK, I regret I don't know, and I can't find any reference in any of my books.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Platform despatching for DOO services , with a green flag was almost certainly a modernisation / continuation of the process of the guard giving a green flag or light.

Except it was done by a platform despatcher , via a train based guard. CD /RA indicators have largely replaced this enjoyable sight.

 

[Bedpan]

I think I remember guards giving the right away with a white light when it was dark, or if they didn't, platform staff certainly passed the signal on to the driver with a white light (as opposed to holding their hand up during daylight hours).

 

[BucksBones]

I think I remember guards giving the right away with a white light when it was dark, or if they didn't, platform staff certainly passed the signal on to the driver with a white light (as opposed to holding their hand up during daylight hours).

Doesn’t this still happen? I’m sure I’ve seen it at Milton Keynes Central recently.

 

[Bedpan]

Oddly (but I should be more observant) I haven't a clue, I'll have to have a look next tile I'm out and about. I know that platform staff use those white paddles nowadays, presumably to signal to the guard (if there is one) who then gives two buzzes to the driver, so it would make sense if they used a white light at night.

 

[davetheguard]

I think I remember guards giving the right away with a white light when it was dark, or if they didn't, platform staff certainly passed the signal on to the driver with a white light (as opposed to holding their hand up during daylight hours).

A white light from the platform staff to the Guard means "station work complete". It is then down to the Guard to check that it is departure time and that any signal at the end of the platform is clear, before giving the driver the "right away" with a green light/ flag. At some locations, the Guard's green light/flag is given to the platform staff who then press a plunger that illuminates a "right away" symbol for the Driver - e.g. a lit "R.A." on the signal post or hanging from the station canopy.

 

[Bedpan]

Thanks for clarifying Dave. Yes that’s how I remember it except that on busy platforms with no plunger, platform staff would turn towards the front of the train to relay the guard’s right away signal to the driver with a raised arm in daytime or a white light at night.