Notes

When I took this picture, some apparently off-duty railway employee was walking past me and remarked that this was nice weather for pictures, but (and I quote) shit for working. The first part was certainly right, and somehow I fail to doubt him on the latter…

This train on the RE4 line consists of a set of double-deck coaches and a class 111 electric locomotive at the other end and is getting ready for return to Dortmund. The lights are already on correctly, but the destination sign still reads “Aachen Central Station”, which is where it’s standing right now. This station is in a curve and has a short but dark roof, which can make pictures both interesting and horrible. I think it worked out here, though.

For those who care, the signals are all so-called Ks-signals, the newest system (which is, for some reason, also used by the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen) and have been working here for, if I recall correctly, not even a year, replacing older light signals. They do not have a mast sign (the 4 does not count) but a light in the lower left corner, which marks these as Vorsignalwiederholer (distant signal repeaters): They show the aspect of a home signal, but are placed closer than standard braking distance, and their information has already been given by a previous signal. Their abundance here can be explained by the curve, since trains can’t see the exit signal of Aachen station. The yellow light means the next signal will be red (“stop” or “danger”, we’re not very creative there), which is default if no train is expected. The four finally means that from the home signal on there’s a speed limit of 40 kph (25 mph). This also comes as a digital display version, but since the speed limit is always 40 kph leaving Aachen station, no matter who you are and where you’re going, the much cheaper static solution is used here.

If you look over to the left and are truly bored, you might see that the western-most clock of platform one is not working, a situation which is going to celebrate it’s first month anniversary soon.