For railways to operate safely, just like roads trackside signs instruct loco crew on what the speed limit is & where to sound their whistles/horns. Adding speed limits & whistle boards to your layout line sides adds further realism in instructing where to drive faster/ slower, or if you're using DCC sound where to sound the horn or whistle. But where does one place model railway speed signs & whistle signs on a layout?
Railway Whistle Signs
Whistle boards are positioned in locations of such where an advance warning is needed to alert members of the public, as well as railway staff of an approaching train. As a guide, locations include the approach to a level crossing or foot crossing, before a tunnel, cutting, or curved section. The example in the photo above shows a sound whistle sign on the approach to a tunnel. At some stations, non-stop trains may be instructed to sound their horn on approach. Also on work sites with track workers, there will be a temporary sound horn on approach.
Even though trains now have two-tone horns, the whistle boards still apply to the drivers to sound their horns The older style whistle boards can still be found in some places on the UK network, though the more common one is the modern road style. The two photos below show the two examples.
Older-style Whistle Boards
Newer Modern Style Whistle Boards
Railway Speed Limit Signs
Like the roads you drive on in the car, railways also have speed limits & speed restrictions for various reasons, but mainly due to the geometry (curvature) of the track. Other reasons for speed restrictions include limiting speed of certain trains over various track sections, bridges, tunnels, through & on the approach to train stations, rail yards & depots, industrial locations.
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Older style of Speed Limit Sign - Painted white
The cutout figure-type speed sign from around 1938 onwards installed by the LNER but later used across the whole network, were originally painted white, but around 1963, BR painted them yellow to improve visibility in snow. These can still be found on the UK railway network.
An older style of Speed Limit Sign - Painted yellow ( 1963 onwards)
Today's railway features the more modern road-style speed limit sign across the network, one of the common ones amongst others being a circular sign with a red border. As seen in the image below to the left of the signal
The positions for the speed limit signs on the layout depending on your track layout & what type of traffic you are running. A good place to start is at the entrance to a rail yard or rail depot, there you would have a very slow speed limit. On a mainline like a long straight a higher or high-speed limit sign would be placed at the start of the straight. Where the track starts to go into a curve depending on how tight the curve is, a lower speed limit sign would be positioned at this point. Upon leaving a curve onto a faster section, then a speed limit sign for that next section would be positioned.
At junctions & crossovers, speed limit signs are positioned on the approach to give advance warning & again at the junction/crossover.
Stations need speed limits positioned on their approaches, for the through lines for fast trains & as well as for the stopping trains.
Some structures such as bridges, viaducts & tunnels have lower permanent speed restrictions put in place by the engineers. The speed limit signs again will be positioned on the approaches & exits of said structures.
Adding speed and whistle signs to your model railway layout:
If you're looking for a quick and easy weekend project to add a little detail and realism to your model railway layout, adding a few speed restriction & whistle signs is great fun. We offer a selection of kits for both types of signs and they all just take a few minutes to assemble.
OO Gauge Signs
- S017-OO Pre-Cut Modern Lineside Signs
- LX130-OO Railway Speed Restriction Signs
- LX131-OO Whistle/Sound Whistle Signs
N Gauge Signs
- S017-N Pre-Cut Modern Lineside Signs
- LX130-N Railway Speed Restriction Signs
- LX131-N Whistle/Sound Whistle Signs
O Gauge Signs
Quick Reference - Sign Positioning | |
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| Speed Restriction Sign Locations | Whistle Sign Locations |
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Many thanks.This is a very useful piece of information.Are there any guidelines that you can give regarding speeds that you would commonly associate with certain types of location on a model railway layout? e.g. rail yards/depots,viaducts,approaching a station,mainline straight section,types of curve etc.
Not a bad account in all fairness, the old railway rules used to specify sounding the train horn before entering a tunnel as well as mid way through and before exiting a tunnel the new rule states to only sound the horn when leaving a tunnel if you spot track workers etc. Near a tunnel exit, but no longer needed when entering or mid way through, saying that it still mentions sounding the horn if you think you need to. The rules on speeds over pointwork are no more than 15 MPH over facing points unless otherwise indicated by the use of a speed sign with an arrow below it to indicate the max speed over that point and usually 5 MPH in sidings and sheds, sounding horn as you enter a shed and before any movement is started in a siding or shed, so those of you with these noisy DCC things can knock yourselves out by sounding your horns etc. Whistle boards on approach at crossings are supposed to allow 20 seconds running time between the whistle board and the crossing at line speed good luck with working that one out to scale lol. All in all a very good blog I enjoyed it so thanks for doing it