HOW TO INSTALL SPEED RESTRICTION SIGNS
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PHOTOGRAPHY: GEORGE DENT
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If you’re siting signs beside curved sections of track, check that there’s enough clearance to account for the outward ‘swing’ of longer bogie carriages.
Permanent speed restrictions have been a feature of the railways since the very earliest days of train travel. Severe curves, junctions and other challenging features of a route all demand that drivers keep their trains under close control.
In the British Railways era, a standardised style of speed restriction sign was introduced, consisting of metal digits mounted onto an iron post. Sited beside the tracks, the faces of the digits were painted yellow to aid sighting and they remained in use until fairly recently. Since privatisation, they have been phased out in favour of modern reflective ‘lollipop’-style boards.