Hi Guys Can anyone give me a brief explanation of the Caltrain signals? I know the basics but what does a flashing yellow mean? If you’re chasing a yellow, what speed should you be going? Ect ect Thanks in advance
hey jamie, In order to simplify the process, flashing yellow means you need to prepare for a reduction in speed. Solid yellow prepare to a stop. I usually pass a double yellow aiming to be at 50mph on the next signal, after that I reduce to 30mph and 20mph approaching the red. I think it's a safe way to not overrun reds. Usually this signals will come in different orders like yellow over red or red over green, etc. So there's no way to understand better than reading the entire thing on the route's manual.
As a very general guide, if you see a green anywhere in the stack, you're good to go. If you see a solid yellow, slow down and prepare to stop at the next signal. In that case, you don't want to be doing more than about 30mph or you won't have time to stop once you've seen that the signal is at danger. There is a lot more detail, as Vinnie mentioned, but this is the TL;DR for new players.
Thanks guys, really helpful, I can understand the British signals but the American ones seem to be very complicated looking