Blue flags

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John Ashworth
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Blue flags

Post by John Ashworth »

I had a query on another forum the other day about blue flags. Apparently in some countries a blue flag is used to indicate that someone is working under a wagon. Anyone know any more details about use of blue flags? We don't use them in South Africa or Kenya.
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Fidel Naidoo
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Re: Blue flags

Post by Fidel Naidoo »

I don't know anything about a blue flag, but it sounds like a terrestrial version of the 'diver down' flag that would be shown from a boat.
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Philip Martin
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Re: Blue flags

Post by Philip Martin »

John- In my experience on the PRR and successors, a blue flag is attached to a rail to protect cars that aren't to be coupled to or moved. It can only be removed by the person who put it there. Blue lights at night.
Here's a picture of blue flags at an engine terminal at the east end of the PRR's freight operation, near New York City, in 1954. The photo is from railpictures.net.
You can read rule 26 in the Penn Central 1968 rule book, page 21, on multimodalways.org. http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/rail ... 8-1968.pdf
The practice is probably common to all class 1 North American railroads.
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Aidan McCarthy
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Re: Blue flags

Post by Aidan McCarthy »

In SA red boards are used for this purpose
Aidan McCarthy

See more of my railway photos at http://mccarthyam.rrpicturearchives.net/
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Philip Martin
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Re: Blue flags

Post by Philip Martin »

Philip Martin wrote: The practice is probably common to all class 1 North American railroads.
I just tried to find it in the NORAC rules, (used by a number of roads in the eastern US,) and couldn't find it.
(Nice Garratt photo, Aidan.)
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Philip Martin
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Post by Philip Martin »

Rule 26 is three paragraphs long in the PC rule book linked to above (in multimodalways.) I just looked it up in one of my old Conrail rule books, and it's four and a half pages long there, covering all situations where blue flag protection might be needed.
I googled rule 26 on a portion of the Union Pacific railroad and a group of other roads using that rule book, and it is about three paragraphs long there too.
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Philip Martin
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Re: Blue flags

Post by Philip Martin »

I heard a dispatcher on NJ Transit tell a foreman he was giving him blue flag protection today. So I guess it is in the NORAC book of rules somewhere. NJT is one of the roads on NORAC rules.
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