RailRoadFan.com

Hey everyone so I came down to Royal Oak today and happened to go by the tracks and I noticed some red signs on the railroad tracks by the Amtrak station (picture provided) what exactly do these signs mean?

Red board protecting workers ahead.
Trains must receive permission from the person in charge of the work to proceed.
No permission, stop until permission received.

It's basically the equivalent of the red octagonal "Stop" signs on roads, except if you're not at a level crossing, you need to receive permission in order to proceed.

mach69 wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 16, 2022 7:39 pm

It's basically the equivalent of the red octagonal "Stop" signs on roads, except if you're not at a level crossing, you need to receive permission in order to proceed.

Are you referring to the octagonal road signs or the railroad stop boards when noting permission to proceed? For the road signs look in state laws for when one can proceed (generally AFTER stopping when it is safe to do so). For the railroad stop boards it is as stated above - stop and stay until explicit permission is received to pass the boards. No variance as to whether or not the boards are located at a crossing.

Form B - generally preceded by a yellow/red board two miles in advance unless otherwise noted in track bulletins. Even if running on a clear signal, permission must be obtained from the employee in charge of work to proceed past the red board and into the work zone. Employee in charge will specify speed and various other things to observe while in the work zone.