How common was it for upper quadrant and lower quadrant signals to be seen close together? Different posts and tracks, but close - eg. opposite directions. I'm thinking it must have occurred at a big station like Kings Cross or Newcastle when some of the older lower quadrants were replaced. However, I can't see any mixed signals in the books that I've looked through.
I'm asking because I'm working on the signals on my "UK" NTrak module" (fictional urban/industrial, Northern England), and I realised that my arms are all upper quadrant (as intended) but two of my posts are lower quadrant. As this is for a modular layout, the arms will be glued in place, so I intend for one of these (a Home) to be "Go" and the other (a Distant) to be "Danger". The Danger signal won't be too obviously wrong (this is N!), but anyone who looks closely would notice the "Go" signal is an Upper Quadrant arm on a Lower Quadrant mounting!
Everything is painted and ready to go (doh!) so I'm not really in the mood or really have the time to order new parts and paint them.
I guess I could always play the "oh, US audiences won't notice" card
Richard-is this any help?I have Mick Nicholsons superb Semaphore Signalling book(Booklaw,got mine from MSE) and he says"There were also many examples where a new upper quadrant arm was fitted to an old but sound lower quadrant post.....it was not unknown for a bracket or bridge signal to have a mixture of arms working in both quadrants,but of course not on the same doll" To put you right in the clear he goes on to state that the ex-NER region of both the LNER and BR was "particularly keen on this practice".
A great book,full of advice that is useful for more than signals,and unlike most handbooks full of LNER prototypes as examples,a lot of ex-NER and even Hull and Barnsley!
That'll do nicely Rob! I assume the lamps/etc were moved when they were converted. My current "problem" is that the relationship of the pivot, lamp, etc don't match (I'm using MSE etch arms on Ratio posts). If I'd noticed earlier, I guess I could have modified them.
I think I'll "make do" and hope no one looks too closely
The mix of upper and lower quadrant will be more noticeable and is more likely to prompt questions, and I'll have my answer ready
They do say prototype for everything!I'm afraid there are no photos of mixed quadrant signals,prototype or model in the book,but safe to assume lamps etc all changed to match-he does say finials usually retained as well.
Thanks Morgan - definitely a prototype for everything!
I coloured my posts according to the Ratio catalogue. I didn't think my Junction posts looked quite right with white at "arm level". Looked in "LNER Constituent Signalling" - sure enough, most were white at the top!
I think the signals look good, even if they are glued in place. Choosing to use etch (MSE) arms instead of the Ratio (plastic) ones was definitely worth it.
