Yellow Ends...

[Deathbyteacup]

Another set of amateurish questions from me, but I'm quite curious on a few points. (no pun intended...)

1) Is it a legal requirement for trains to have yellow cab ends, or is it simply a railway regulation, or is it just something done out of choice and not nessasarily required?

2) Is there a minimum area of yellow permitted? Cause I've seen more and more liveries in the colourful age we live in with less and less yellow on the front ends (which I find strange and odd to see personally).

3) Is the shade of yellow always the same, since looking at my model trains right now they all seem a different shade, and I was watching Trainspotting on Discovery Channel once which implied they were always given a specific pigment. I think it might be my trains that are "wrong" in which case which pigment is "right" so I can correct them?

Thank you for any replies / reading my silly thread.

[swisstrains]

Hello DBT,
All your questions are answered in this document:-
http://www.rgsonline.co.uk/docushare/dsweb/Get/Rail-41171/rt2483.pdf

Scroll down to Page 9 section C and you will see that it is a railway regulation and that various shades of yellow are permitted.
The area shall be a minimum forward facing continuous area of yellow surface of 1 m² with a minimum dimension of 0.6 m when viewed, at a large distance, head on from in front of the vehicle. It shall be permissible to divide the yellow surface by elements of an end gangway if necessary. Each section of a divided yellow surface shall have a substantially uninterrupted yellow area not less than 0.4 m², with a minimum dimension of 0.6 m.
Is that clear?

[Foghut]

Wow, I never knew those visibility requirements existed under Railway Group Standards.

Thanks John

[Deathbyteacup]

Is that clear?

Uh, certainly detailed.

Thank you for the link.

[robbo]

Suprised they havnt insisted steam engines smokeboxes are painted yellow also. Then what would they call a black 5 then?

[Shed Cat]

Good question DBTC, and interesting answer. 1 sq m is a much smaller than generally used on many locomotives. Come to think of it you almost could paint the smoke box door yellow and comply with the standards

[DSY011]

Just think of a Maroon Jubilee or Coronation with a great slab of yellow across the smoke box door, or even a Blue or green A4 with a yellow across the front. I feel sick just thinking of it.

[Deathbyteacup]

I quite agree that the exception for steam should remain since it would look very wrong to see any steam loco with a yellow end. Any type of DMU/EMU/Electric/Desiel loco without a full yellow end seems as wrong to me as a steam loco would in yellow though, personally.

Interestingly though that brings me onto a point about steam locos that are certified to run on the Network Rail network, they are exempt from the yellow ends rule, but this isn't mentioned in the guidelines above?

Is it actually an exception or is it just overlooked in the case of steam?

I wouldn't want to draw this to the attention of anyone who works for the Health and Safety Exec who might want to insisit steam engines also now carry yellow front ends, mind.

[Gandalf]

I think mention of exemption for steam locos and possible other types of historical importance is mentioned on the A1 Tornado site but it is a long read through the list of progress. It is however becoming necessary for all the modern 'electronics' to be fitted including the equivalent of the aircraft 'black box'.
Hope it is not mistaken for a lump of coal.
John (G)

[Foghut]

Originally Posted by Gandalf

It is however becoming necessary for all the modern 'electronics' to be fitted including the equivalent of the aircraft 'black box'.

Indeed, and although you probably implied it, it's worth stating that it's ONLY necessary if you want to run your loco on mainline NR metals. It adds considerably to the cost, but then you do get to run at a decent linespeed for a good distance.

I expect there's a website somewhere which says what the minmum requirements for 'Classic' traction are. I'd guess that nowadays you need at least;

1/ AWS (Automatic Warning System). The old classic - but still a 'goody'.

2/ TPWS (Train Protection & Warning System). Put briefly, it will apply the Emergency Brake if a train passes a TPWS-equipped Signal at Danger, or approaches a TPWS-equipped Signal at Danger too quickly, or approaches a TPWS-equipped Permanent Speed Restriction too quickly.
(It's worth noting that not all signals have TPWS associated with them, only the ones where a conflicting move will result in a serious collision, so even though we're in the 21st Century one train can still run into the back of another one !!)

3/ OTMR (On-Train Monitor Recorder). The equivalent of a commercial aircraft Flight Data Recorder, it records Speed, Throttle, Brake, AWS Bell/Horn, and whatever else you care to put on it.

4/ I don't know if a Radio is mandatory. Either NRN (National Radio Network) or CSR (Cab Secure Radio) depending on where you are in the country. You can get portable versions of these which are little bigger than a mobile phone, so it doesn't have to be a permanent installation.

5/ Anything else ?

Foggy