With a railroad
that was neither fully steam driven, nor electrified, areas where both
tracks with catenary and those without intermingle are bound to appear .
These are also the areas where stoppage occurs.
One moment of inattention and your E16 would stand immobilised with its
pantos in the air.
Not only the immobilised train had a problem, but the misery ranged far
longer; all traffic on both the electrified and the standard line
involved would stop, causing massive delays.
Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft
knew and appreiciated the power of the big Elloks like the E94 and what
it meant for the goods traffic. They also understood the value of the
effeciency of the highspeed units like the E18.
Subsequently DRG had to devise a way of keeping the Elloks out of harms
way. This led to the creation of a series of Fahrleitungssignale (catenary
signals) also known as the EL range.
These signals told the driver
of the Ellok when to switch his mains on and off, when to raise or lower
his pantograph(s) and especially where he could not go.
This was all done by using a series of simple signals that told the
driver what to do and where to do it. The signals came with a series of
Zuordnungspfeile (indicator arrows) that helped clarify the meaning of a
certain signal, when used in complicated track setups.
The EL1 - 6 range all applies
to catenary fed Elloks, some are applicable to 3rd rail trains as well.
Only the DR variety EL 7 applies to 3rd rail trains alone |
In our example the branch line is to remain without catenary. Thus a
signal, telling the driver of an Ellok that he only can proceed if
the point is set to Straight, is needed.
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