Signs at Gatwick Airport

[AberdeenBill]

Hi all,

 

I'm sure I should know this but what do the 'R' signs above the 50 mph speed limit markers mean? Any what about the 'ALL' diamonds? Note the 'check signal aspect' sign on the right. I took this photo last weekend on a trip to London and all trains were standing room only on a Saturday morning.

 

Thanks,

Bill

[phil-b259]

Hi all,

 

I'm sure I should know this but what do the 'R' signs above the 50 mph speed limit markers mean? Any what about the 'ALL' diamonds? Note the 'check signal aspect' sign on the right. I took this photo last weekend on a trip to London and all trains were standing room only on a Saturday morning.

 

Thanks,

Bill

 

They are 'reminder' signs for a speed restriction (50mph).

 

I understand they get used when a station occurs between the initial warning board (placed to give drivers time to slow from the maximum permissible line speed - which is 90mph at Gatwick on the fasts) and the start of the actual restriction as its possible that a driver could become distracted during station duties and forget about warning they received before the station stop, then hit the speed restriction going too fast.

 

They can also be used mid restriction for much the same reason (driver distracted)

 

The 'ALL' diamond signs are stopping markers for the 700 units used by Thameslink. The stooping markers can either be 'FLU' (Full Length Unit - aka a 12 car unit) or a 'RLU' (a Reduced length unit - aka an 8 car unit) or a 'ALL' (All Length units - i.e. both 8 and 12 car sets must stop with the cab at he same place).

 

For drivers signal sighting reasons due to the drivers cab position, the 700 units must stop in a slightly different spot to the Electostars (which use the '10-12' stop mark) even if they are the same number of coaches / same length

 

The 'Check signal aspect' sign is a rather old SPAD mitigation technique and these were installed to try and prompt drivers to double check the signal aspect before pulling away as there were quite a few instances where the Guard or platform staff would give the right away even though the signal was still at red.

Edited December 16, 2018 by phil-b259

[SForrest10]

Hi all,

 

I'm sure I should know this but what do the 'R' signs above the 50 mph speed limit markers mean? Any what about the 'ALL' diamonds? Note the 'check signal aspect' sign on the right. I took this photo last weekend on a trip to London and all trains were standing room only on a Saturday morning.

 

Thanks,

Bill

 

This video explains what the R means.

 

Steven