Ran across this looking for something else; add in the knowledge we have of the dangers of link-and-pin couplers, hand braking only, no hours-of-service law. . .just interesting.

http://members.kos.net/sdgagnon/grc.html

Back to the home page, which features several sections on Canadian railroading; looks worthy of some browsing time.

http://members.kos.net/sdgagnon/sitemap.html

Note that green is a caution signal, not a proceed signal.

That is pretty interesting! I was rather suprised at the amount of articles the conductor was required to have on board and all the tools the engine driver/engineer had to have.

All you have on a engine today in the tool box is a hammer, chisel, wrench, knuckle pin, couple of cotter key's, air hose, locomotive chain, on the wall a holder with fusees and on the long hood or short hood end a E and F knuckle.

And as a corollary, note that white was clear.

A problem with white lights for clear, especially when electricity came into play (with brighter, whiter light than what came from a kerosene signal lamp), was that a colored lens could break and fall out of the roundel, giving a false "clear" signal. This lead to the change of green for clear and amber or yellow for caution. Even when white was still used, it was with a "lunar" white, a sort of bluish looking light, that would not be mistaken for a clear signal--and even then, the lunar aspect was typically some sort of supplementary indication, not a primary one.

It's interesting to read some of the poetry that used to run in Railroad and Railroad Man's magazine, in which the poets wrote of a clear board, with all the lights being white.

Not to mention confusion with street lamps, house lights, auto head lamps, etc.