shielding free space profile

[Danny Vanstraelen]

Hi,

 

I got a question, and not a lot of railway personal outsiders know about this.

I've been an international train driver al my career.

Belgium, Germany and the Netherland, and all these countries have this.

With a little difference of form, but all do have this sign.

It's a concert bar placed in the ground, painted white, that sits a few meters before a point, mostly to be found in a stations railway bundle, where wagons and coaches are placed.

Free translated it's called a "fog beken for shielding free space profile".

This means no rolling stock may be placed beyond that beken towards the point.

It stands lose from, if there is a signal controlling opening or closing the track towards the point.

Most of the time it will be found between signal an point, but that's not a guarantee, there are exceptions.

The meaning of this simpel signal is there, because the tracks narrow down  towards the point, the space between the tracks becomes to narrow,.

If a wagon finds it self in the area beyond this signal, the passing vehicles going to the track, next to the track of the same connected  point, would collide with each other.

So my question is, is this also used in the uk, and/or does it perhaps exist in an other way or form?

If  possible, having a photo of a UK version of this signals would be great?

Please answer if you 100% sure if it exist or not.

Regards,

Danny

 

 

 

Edited September 30, 2023 by Danny Vanstraelen

[Dagworth]

In the UK it would be called a "fouling point marker". This may help with your searches...

They have existed at various times and places but are not common, where they do exist in yards they are often just a painted sleeper. We don't have them as routine like the concrete bar shown in your photo..

 

Andi  

[Danny Vanstraelen]

Thanks very much for providing the correct English word for this sign "fouling point marker"

I found a photo online, saying this was taken somewhere in the neighborhood of Sheffield:

 

So I was not far of,  that now in modern times this is also a variant white sign  with the letters FP.

 

But for my layout I want to go back in time, so If anyone has a photo of preferably  A GWR 1920's version of this, it wold be very helpful for my quest?

Of course all variations are welcome to see, but please give as much info when where what era, who was running the sene?

 

I think this question got many modelers back to work again, perfecting their layout 😉

 

Thanks and hopefully we see some more examples…

 

Edited October 1, 2023 by Danny Vanstraelen

[DCB]

To the uninitiated a "Fouling point marker," might give a very misleading indication,    I think I like the continental description better.

[Nick C]

I'm not sure what the GW used, but the Southern had small concrete blocks - as seen here (Medstead and Four Marks, Watercress line - photo copyright Dave Ryding.):

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Nick C

[Richard_A]

The depot at swansea maliphant sidings has fouling point signs/markers. 

[Geep7]

Wow, every day is a school day. Having been recently modelling Spanish railway, I knew they had fouling point markers (similar to the German concrete ones, but painted white with black stripes), but I didn't realise we had them in the UK.

 

So now something that we can prototypically place to mark our uncoupler positions....

Edited October 2, 2023 by Geep7

[Steadfast]

For completeness, anyone not familiar with painted sleepers to mark fouling points it is as simple as it sounds. Literally paint the sleeper yellow (other colours also available in some yards!) and perhaps the side of the rail too.

 

Jo

[Enfys_Rainbow]

Would these have been present during BR (Blue) days? If so, what colour would sleepers have been painting?

[C126]

On 02/10/2023 at 14:09, Nick C said:

I'm not sure what the GW used, but the Southern had small concrete blocks - as seen here (Medstead and Four Marks, Watercress line - photo copyright Dave Ryding.):

 

 

 

 

 

 

I admit freely to knowing nothing about steam-days, but were these concrete markers not used in surveying?  I was told (I wish I knew from where) they had a notch in the flat steel peg in the top, and were used for sighting for surveying/ levelling.

 

I could have been 'had' all those years ago, though... 😊  Thanks.

[Nick C]

2 minutes ago, C126 said:

 

I admit freely to knowing nothing about steam-days, but were these concrete markers not used in surveying?  I was told (I wish I knew from where) they had a notch in the flat steel peg in the top, and were used for sighting for surveying/ levelling.

 

I could have been 'had' all those years ago, though... 😊  Thanks.

Entirely possible - I've seen others buried deeper so there's only an inch or two showing rather than the foot you see there. It's also possible that this use is a preservation-era one, and in steam days crews were just expected to know where the fouling points were!