//------------------------------//
// Signals Crossed 
// Story: Thomas and Friends: the New Adventures 
// by The Blue EM2 
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Sir Toppham Hatt has recently started a large scale renovation programme to simplify the approaches to Knapford Station, which are cluttered and difficult to follow. As part of this process, the old semaphore signalling system is receiving a comprehensive upgrade, with older signals being removed and newer ones being installed. This means that engines must be extra careful whilst approaching junctions and sidings, as the AWS ramps are disabled during the work.

One morning, Toby was approaching from the Vicarstown end of the station. Although it was a lovely day, and Henrietta was with him, he was still worried. "I'm worried, Flash."

"Worried about what?" Flash asked.

"Knapford station," Toby replied. "The signalling system is in such a mess at the moment, I don't know which signals are active or not. And there's so many attached to the gantries that I don't know which one is for me! It's a lot more complicated than on the Wisbech and Upwell, when we only had Home and Distant signals to deal with."

"You're not the only one," admitted Flash. "And with the AWS out of action during the work, it makes it a little bit harder. But don't worry. Two pairs of eyes is better than one, and I'm sure we can figure it out."

"OK, Flash," Toby replied. "Here we go." And they soon arrived at the outskirts of the station. Here, the line increases from two to eight tracks gradually, to allow access to all the platforms. Toby came to a stop on the relief line in front of the Home signal, which had just turned red to signify another train ahead of him in the section. Elsewhere, a Home signal dropped into the Clear position, but the Distant remained up, to indicate that the next signal was a Red. Knapford uses Lower Quadrant signalling, where the signal drops to indicate it is safe to go, and raises to indicate that a train must stop. This layout confused Toby. He was used to the signal rising to tell him it was safe to go.

"Wait for our signal, and we'll be clear to go," Flash reminded him, as Murdoch rattled through on the Up line. Toby looked up at the gantries. He had been warned that some of the signals were out of action, but was relieved when the signal suddenly cleared.

No sooner had he begun to puff forward, then Gordon shot past! "That was for the main line, not the relief line!" Gordon shouted. "The Relief signal is right above your line!"

Gordon was soon clear, and two sets of signals dropped at once. "One of those must be mine," Toby said. Then Henry rattled past on a very slow goods, well within block section working; he was only doing 35 miles an hour.

"Watch the signals!" Henry called.

This went on for the rest of the morning. The signalling layout was in such a mess that Toby had no clue whether to stop or to go, and so constantly got it wrong.

"This is where AWS would really help!" said Flash, getting frustrated. He reached for the radio. "Knapford Box, this is NWR 7, do you read, over?"

"Copy NWR 7, apologies for the delay. The main line is very busy, over."

"When will the relief signal clear, over?"

"Traffic is soon through. I will radio you when you can proceed. Out."

"Thank you." Flash looked about. "I imagine we'll still be here in a few minu-"

"NWR 7, the line has cleared. You are cleared to arrive at Platform 5. Over."

Knapford Box, thank you. Out." Flash rubbed his hands together. "Finally." The signal dropped, and the pair rolled into the platform, utterly confused and exhausted.

Thomas rolled to a stop in a neighbouring platform. "These signals are such a nuisance!" he said. "We don't know whether to come or go, and we're not helped by the signals being replaced either."

"Oh well," sighed Twilight. "It could be worse. There could be no signals at all and trains have to be flagged in with detonators."

"I can never remember which signal is mine," Toby sighed. "On my branch line, we only had one signal to worry about most of the time. And shunting disk signals were almost nonexistant. Oh, it boggles my mind!"

Thomas smiled. "Remember Toby, all you need to watch is the one right above your line, and where you are going to. If you'll excuse me, I need to take some passengers to Ffarquhar! I'm going from here as the water pipe at Knapford Junction has burst again and the River Ell is off limits!" He whistled, and pulled away.

"Are you going fishing?" Flash called.

"Possibly best not to remind him of that," Toby sighed. "Is it time to go again?"





A few minutes later, the passengers boarded, and Toby set off for the signals. The gantry in front was undergoing repairs, and as Toby looked up, he noticed something odd. The signal was in a down position, but the light was red. "I know exactly what I'm doing!" he chortled, and sat there. The signal was red, and so was the distant. Toby couldn't go, even if he wanted to.

Suddenly, a loud whistle sounded behind him, and James rolled to a stop. "Hurry up!" he said. "You're making me late too!"

Rarity, on the other hand, looked concerned. "Are you sure the last signal was green?" she asked. "If Toby is in front of us, in the same section, then the last signal must have been a red!"

"Well, that man next to the level crossing said it was safe to proceed!" James replied.

"But was he referring to the level crossing or the signal?" Rarity asked.

Flash, overhearing this, got his radio. "Knapford Box, this is NWR 7, over."

"NWR 7, this is Knapford Box, how can I help you, over?"

"I am held at a red outside Knaford Station. Requesting permission to pass the red under caution, over."

"NWR 7, permission denied, we are registering a track fault on our diagram. Please hold until contacted again. Out."

"We can't go, the signal's red!" Rarity exclaimed.

But James couldn't see the aspect, only the arm. "The arm is in the down position!" he said. "Therefore, it is green."

Suddenly, there was a loud whistle, and Gordon flew past with the express.

"OK, it isn't green."

Sir Toppham Hatt came out of his office. He looked rather annoyed. "What is the cause of delays?" he asked.

NWR 7, this is Knapford Box, we have an update for you. You have permission to pass Red under Caution, but you must obey all other signals, over."

"Thank you, Knapford Box. Out."

Seconds later, the radio in James' cab buzzed.

"Yes?" Rarity asked.

"NWR 5, this is Knapford Box, can you explain why you passed a signal at danger without requesting permission from the signaller, over?"

Rarity went pale. "Oh dear."

Following this incident, it was decided to replace all of the semaphores with colour light signalling, and to reactivate the AWS to ensure trains couldn't jump red signals by mistake. New rules have also been implemented to ensure this never happens again!