Japanese signalling system

[Martijn Meerts]

For those wanting to eventually add signals to their layout (like me), I came across this rather interesting Wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_railway_signals

[Guest ___]

Good grief that is complicated.

[CaptOblivious]

Not enough detail for my liking. I'd like to see more detail about how the home signals work.

 

Here's another great reference page on Japanese signals (and DCC, and wiring Tomix and Kato signals for DCC):

http://wsim.cs.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shimizu/n-usamodel/n-jpn-signal.html

Note that the page is encoded in the somewhat unusual ISO-2022-JP char set, (as opposed to UTF-8 or Shift JIS)...you'll have to set this manually to read the page, but Google Translate figures it out automatically.

[Martijn Meerts]

The wikipedia article isn't very detailed really. After reading it a bit though, I've noticed the Japanese system is fairly close to the German system, except that the signals just look different.

 

On a side note, I think Tomix's light signals are quite ugly. The base is too big, and the LED's seem too out of scale. Their semaphores on the other hand look quite good (I believe these are quite a bit newer compared to the light signals)

[marknewton]

That's an interesting Wiki page, Martin. thanks for posting it. I found it easy enough to understand, as much of the Japanese signalling and safeworking - the operating rules - is based on the UK practice of route signalling. The railway I work for also follows UK practice, so I had no trouble reading and understanding the aspects. The terminology is also the same as what I'm used to working with, so when it comes time to signal my layout, I don't anticipate too many problems.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[The_Ghan]

Not enough detail for my liking. I'd like to see more detail about how the home signals work.

 

Here's another great reference page on Japanese signals (and DCC, and wiring Tomix and Kato signals for DCC):

http://wsim.cs.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shimizu/n-usamodel/n-jpn-signal.html

Note that the page is encoded in the somewhat unusual ISO-2022-JP char set, (as opposed to UTF-8 or Shift JIS)...you'll have to set this manually to read the page, but Google Translate figures it out automatically.

 

Resurrecting an old topic but:

 

The link above is dead.  The wiki link at the top of this thread is active, but doesn't answer my questions about signalling in subways since 1980:

 

1. How many aspects are used on Tokyo subways and what aspects are used?

 

2. What do subway signals look like?

 

3. Where are the signals located?  At driver eye level?  Down low?  etc.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[bikkuri bahn]

Ghan, Tokyo Metro uses a system called CS-ATC, which is cab signals, so there are no lineside signals.　The Tokyo Municipal Subway (Toei) Asakusa Line uses C-ATS, which uses lineside signals, a system it shares with Keikyu and Keisei (its run-through partners).  This webpage gives some idea of the signal indications:

http://takuya870625.blog43.fc2.com/blog-entry-1162.html

 

Here is a cab view, you can see the position of the signals on the Asakusa Line (Higashi Ginza to Shimbashi):

[The_Ghan]

bikkuri,

 

Thank God you're here.  That looks pretty complicated.  Some signals are on the left, others on the right, some 3 aspect although most are five aspect.  I'll have a good read of that latest link you've provided.  I note that the bottom signal on the 5-aspect configuration is bi-color.  Is this also the case with the models: Tomix and Kato?

 

Thanks for digging this up.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[KenS]

I note that the bottom signal on the 5-aspect configuration is bi-color.  Is this also the case with the models: Tomix and Kato?

 

I just caught up with this thread. Kato only makes a simple G/Y/R signal.  Tomix makes a larger variety including a pair of four-light signals (which can show G/Y-over-G/Y/R or G/Y/Y-over-Y/R) and a five-light signal that shows four aspects (G/flashing Y-over-G/Y/R).  They're usually sold out of the interesting ones (although apparently not right now). However, none of these use a bi-color LED. In that, they follow what appears to be JNR/JR practice, which uses single-color lamps (less prone to failure than multi-color signal lamps, which usually use a mechanical filter to change the color).

 

Note: I have only played with one of the four-lamp Tomix signals, but they're pretty cool to watch.  They're triggered by a wheel sensor, and only work on DC (depending on polarity to determine direction of motion), but when a train goes through in the right direction they'll cycle from most restrictive (red) up to green in 2.5-3 seconds per aspect. I think the cycle time is adaptive based on train speed or track voltage, but my experiments with that were mixed and I never spent the time to figure out how it really worked.  I wrote up some notes about the signals, and I also have some notes (culled from wikipedia and other sources) on Japanese practice.

 

What do subway signals look like?

 

I don't know much about the subway signals. The two examples on wikipedia are of in-station repeater signals with five lamps, but there's no indication if they're multi-color or not.

 

I think the left/right location was due to putting the signal on the outside of the curve so it would be visible further. You'll note that only happened where there was a solid wall between the tracks, so it couldn't be misread as a signal for the other line.

 

If you find anything out, post it.  I'd be very interested in learning more about subway signaling practice in Japan.

 

And BB, thanks for the ATS link. Good reading.