Train Tuesdays
[Cross-posted from my Virginia wildlife site]
Southern Railway Whistle Sign
Pictured above is a Southern Railway whistle sign along the Warrenton Branch Greenway. The two dashes, a dot, and a dash on the sign indicate to the engineer to blow the locomotive’s whistle (or horn) as a warning to the public. These signs are placed where the railroad approaches road crossings. Although the whistle pattern (2 long blasts, a short blast, and a long blast) is widely used, most other railroads used a simple W on their whistle signs. Norfolk Southern (successor to the Southern Railway) is now using W signs in places along former Southern trackage although there are still plenty of the old signs still in existence.