The wrong side of the tracks

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

Shoz Meyl from JHB running on the wrong side on an orange signal, crossing up ahead. The line further down towards Bellville must have been closed for maintenance, hopefully not an accident.

[Marc Russell]

Or maybe because of where you are standing the train had to go around you!!!
Nice pics

[John Ashworth]

I'm trying to understand why that signal is yellow. It seems to me it ought to be red to protect the crossover ahead, where the train is crossing from the right hand track to the left hand one. Or am I missing something? Also, if it is yellow, then one of the route direction indicators should be lit.

[Steve Appleton]

I agree with you, John. The direction indicator on that signal could be non-op, like the one on the Hercules yard exit signal (been out for at least a month now). That doesn't explain the yellow signal though. However, I see from the direction indicator that there is at least one turn out to the left available. Perhaps that turn-out's points are located before the cross-over's turn-in points. And, perhaps that turn-out was set to the left, hence the yellow light.
So, my explanation is: turn-out on the left track is located before the cross-over turn-in and is set to the left, giving the yellow light, with the direction indicator non-operational.
Unfortuntely, given the extreme telephoto foreshortening, it is impossible to see from the picture where the turn-out is in relation to the turn-in. In fact there may actually be slip-points there with the first slip set to the left. But, in the latter circumstance, the signal should be red, protecting the turning-in train.
Stefan, you might be able to check the track configuration for us.

[John Ashworth]

Steve, that makes sense - that there is a turn-out to the left before the crossover which the train is actually using, that the points are set to the left, and that the route direction indicator is non-operational (or at least some of its globes are not working and those that are working are hidden behind the catenary post). Flank protection would thus have been provided.

[Steve Appleton]

I put up another possible explanation. From Google Earth, this looks like De Grendel station. It would appear that the tracks to the left of the left-hand platform have been lifted, so this is now simply a double track line. In which case, there would be no turn-out to the left and the direction indicators would have become redundant, but not removed. I think this signal is actually red, but appears orange due to one or more circumstances: yellowed lens, light absorption by the haze, poor colour rendition by the camera sensor/optics. In fact it appears orange in the picture, whereas the yellow light is distinctly yellow, even verging on white on most signals I have seen.

[John Ashworth]

That was another possibility that crossed my mind, Steve - that it was actually a red aspect that appeared yellow in the photo. Interesting.

[Steve Appleton]

Only problem with the red looks orange theory is that the vertical location of the "red" light appears to be incorrect. Green should be the top lens, below it, yellow and below that, red. If the signal has a double yellow aspect, then the second yellow lens would normally be below the red. On this signal, the red (if that is what it is) is in the second location from the top, where the yellow should be. Perhaps this is a stop signal without a warning aspect, though I would doubt it. It certainly would have had a yellow warning aspect if it reads over a turn-out.

[John Ashworth]

Yellow or double yellow would indeed be the correct aspect for turning out over low speed points.

[Steve Appleton]

This post http://www.friendsoftherail.com/phpBB2/ ... 146&t=3327 shows a stop signal at Hercules displaying a red aspect. The red lens is indeed second from the top, so perhaps I had the lens order wrong.
But here at http://www.friendsoftherail.com/phpBB2/ ... 146&t=3272 the yellow lens is clearly the second from the top. The signal also exhibits a direction indicator with several failed globes.

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

Maybe my terminology was incorrect. The orange signal and the arm showing the crossover. (I am not sure what you call it) was on the right hand side of the track. The train is blocking out the signal. The red signal you can see is for the left hand track and is situated before the cross over.

[John Ashworth]

Thanks, Stefan. So it is a red aspect, even though it looks a bit yellow in the photo. That explains everything.

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

Hopefully this photo will explain.

[Steve Appleton]

All is revealed! Nothing wrong at all. The lines are clearly bi-directionally signalled, so running on the righthand line would be perfectly OK and safe. The righthand signal would have been at "caution" (yellow) to warn the driver to slow for the cross-over points. The signal for the left line was at "danger" (red) as flank protection for the train crossing over. The non-stop Slosh Meyl train was run on the righthand line possibly because of trackwork on the left line or, more likely, to "overtake" another train, probably a Metro that was making stops at all the stations en-route. Crossover to the left would likely have been necessary at some point to allow for on-coming north-bound trains.
I see there is indeed a turn-out to the left beyond the signal, just after the cross-over, hence the direction indicator on the lefthand signal, which is unlit because it is at danger.