How Does The Loco Pilot Know, The Next Station Is About To Come?

The train is such a means of travel through which every person would often use in their daily life to move from one place to another and the experience of which also involves a great pleasurable feeling. But have you ever wondered how the loco pilot comes to know that a station is approaching ahead so that he can control his train? So in today's article, we will discuss this topic and know how loco pilots understand that the next station is about to come. 

To understand this, first of all, you have to understand the working of different types of signals used in railways because through this loco pilots understand that a station is going to come next. As soon as a station is about to arrive, the loco pilot will first get the distant signal which is a permissible signal, permissible means that there is no red light in it. 

Attention

Here the loco pilot does not have to stop, this signal tells the position of the more restrictive signals received ahead, which normally shows double yellow. When the home signal becomes clear by the station master, then it will start showing green. Double yellow means that the signal that will be received next, which is called the inner distant signal, will fall one kilometer away, which will show single yellow.

Caution

Loco pilot starts reducing the speed of the train only after seeing "double yellow" because they have to stop at the home signal arriving two kilometers ahead from there. After the distant signal, the loco pilot will get the inner distant signal on the second number which is also a permissible signal, as it does not have a red light, and normally shows single yellow. And when the home signal becomes clear by the station master, then it starts showing green or double yellow. 

This means that the next home signal is either single yellow or single yellow with a route indicator that tells about the position of the platform.

After this, the third signal is the Home signal which is a stop signal with red, green, and yellow lights with route indicators, and the station yard starts after 180 meters from this signal. The station master controls this signal from his panel. If the home signal is red, the loco pilot has to stay there and wait till the section is cleared. If the home signal is single yellow with a route indicator, then the loco pilot has to go through the loop lines and stop at the line starter. If the home signal is single yellow, then they have to go through the mainline to the starter and stop. 

If the home signal is green then they have to take the train at its full speed without stopping. The home signal being green means that the starter and the advance starter will also be found green. In this way, seeing the signal, the loco pilot comes to know that a station is going to come ahead and whether they have to stop or not.