Steam Era Headsignals
| Train headsignals were originally established by the
Railway Clearing House and were based on the position of lamps on the front of
trains, usually denoting class of train but also used to denote route,
especially so by the southern companies. Over the years local variations were
introduced by the individual railways which evolved into those we see in use
today. The codes depicted on these pages, used by the Southern Railway and its
constituents, were displayed by discs during daylight hours and lamps during
darkness. In modern times the lamps are white but other colours were used
during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Further details on this is
supplied on the appropriate page.
In the following pages are set out "snapshots" of the headsignals in use at varying times (at present only those for the LB&SCR, L&SWR and SR are shown). |
photograph by Colin Duff The classic Southern disc used to represent the daytime head signals. This one was photographed on 30777 Sir Lamiel whilst at the York Railfest 2004. |
| Access the headsignals by clicking the relevant link below: |
| LB&SCR | L&SWR from 1905 | Hopefully
SE&CR Coming soon! |
Southern Rly from 1934 |
| L&SWR from 1921 | Southern Rly from 1936 | ||
| Southern Rly from 1944 |
Return to Headcodes index page.
This page was last updated 18 June 2007
