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Offline Bogenschütze  
#1 Posted : 05 February 2021 09:56:53(UTC)
Bogenschütze

United Kingdom   
Joined: 10/09/2019(UTC)
Posts: 141
Location: England, Chichester
For some time now I've been puzzled by some of the trackside signs one sees on German railways. In particular the upper case "F" (black on white with a black border) often seen on small cabins or on cabinets at the side of the tracks. Also, in addition to their geographical name on the front, signal towers seem to have at each end a small rectangular sign with the first letter of their name in upper case followed by either an "f" or an "n" in lower case (again, black on white with a black border.)

I am just starting to decorate and detail my first layout and answers to the above would be good to know. For example, I'm proposing that the signal tower serving my fictional location of "Salzbach" will need at each end a sign "Sf". Unfortunately, as I don't know the significance of the letter "f", I don't know whether that is appropriate.

Can any members familiar with German practice advise me please?
Marklin - "The train set I never had as a child."
Keith Bowman
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Offline H0  
#2 Posted : 05 February 2021 11:15:23(UTC)
H0


Joined: 16/02/2004(UTC)
Posts: 15,254
Location: DE-NW
Hi!
The large "F" indicates phone booths that can be used to communicate with the scheduler if the signal is red for a long time.

Signal towers marked with "f" are operated by a scheduler while those with "n" or "s" just execute orders given by a scheduler.

So you can use "Sf" or "Ssf" for the south end and "Sn" for the north end of your station.

See here under "Stellwerksbezeichnungen" (German):
http://www.stellwerke.de/liste/seite3_a.html
Regards
Tom
---
"In all of the gauges, we particularly emphasize a high level of quality, the best possible fidelity to the prototype, and absolute precision. You will see that in all of our products." (from Märklin New Items Brochure 2015, page 1) ROFLBTCUTS
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Offline jvuye  
#3 Posted : 05 February 2021 11:38:30(UTC)
jvuye

Belgium   
Joined: 01/03/2008(UTC)
Posts: 2,881
Location: South Western France
Originally Posted by: Bogenschütze Go to Quoted Post
For some time now I've been puzzled by some of the trackside signs one sees on German railways. In particular the upper case "F" (black on white with a black border) often seen on small cabins or on cabinets at the side of the tracks. ....
Can any members familiar with German practice advise me please?


I see you have your answer already .
Why the letter "F" you asked?
Telephone in German is "Fernsprecher"
Simple.
But today they have "Funk" (same initial!! Cool ) , i.e "Radio", but in fact if I am correct, I think it basically makes use of the public mobile telephone network , just separate private call numbers.
Cheers
Jacques



Jacques Vuye aka Dr.Eisenbahn
Once a vandal, learned to be better and had great success!
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Offline Bogenschütze  
#4 Posted : 06 February 2021 09:10:39(UTC)
Bogenschütze

United Kingdom   
Joined: 10/09/2019(UTC)
Posts: 141
Location: England, Chichester
Thanks so much, Tom and Jacques. The above info is exactly what I needed.

Regards, Keith
Marklin - "The train set I never had as a child."
Keith Bowman
Offline Gregor  
#5 Posted : 06 February 2021 11:10:40(UTC)
Gregor

Netherlands   
Joined: 17/04/2003(UTC)
Posts: 996
Location: Netherlands
Hi,

On Drehscheibe you will find some authentic German instructions for these.

Distance to rail centerline should be 3.5 meters, which is 4 cm in H0.

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I decided to follow the Austrian rules, probably offending a rule to keep the line of sight to the dwarf signal free from obstructions...

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Best regards,
Gregor
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Offline xxup  
#6 Posted : 06 February 2021 12:55:19(UTC)
xxup

Australia   
Joined: 15/03/2003(UTC)
Posts: 9,458
Location: Australia
I am glad that this is clear. Some scumbag, who shall remain nameless, had some of these on his layout and told me that the F stood for Furzhaus! He then expanded on the explanation to include the comment that it is an emergency track side toilet for train drivers. Not being a German speaker, I believed him.. Sigh! Blushing

Adrian
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Australia flag by abFlags.com
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Offline analogmike  
#7 Posted : 06 February 2021 13:28:37(UTC)
analogmike

United States   
Joined: 02/08/2014(UTC)
Posts: 737
Location: NEW JERSEY, USA
Originally Posted by: xxup Go to Quoted Post
I am glad that this is clear. Some scumbag, who shall remain nameless, had some of these on his layout and told me that the F stood for Furzhaus! He then expanded on the explanation to include the comment that it is an emergency track side toilet for train drivers. Not being a German speaker, I believed him.. Sigh! Blushing



A long time ago, I met a retired British rail Fireman. He had worked during the steam era. He told me that they used the coal shovel and into the boiler it went! Puff, Puff, Puff.
Mikey
I love the smell of smoke fluid in the morning .
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Offline Gregor  
#8 Posted : 06 February 2021 15:38:00(UTC)
Gregor

Netherlands   
Joined: 17/04/2003(UTC)
Posts: 996
Location: Netherlands
Originally Posted by: analogmike Go to Quoted Post
He told me that they used the coal shovel and into the boiler it went! Puff, Puff, Puff.

Maybe Seuthe can develop some appropriate smoke oil for that scenario...
Offline analogmike  
#9 Posted : 08 February 2021 14:34:08(UTC)
analogmike

United States   
Joined: 02/08/2014(UTC)
Posts: 737
Location: NEW JERSEY, USA
BigGrin BigGrin BigGrin
Yes, that would be very prototypical. I wonder if Preiser makes any figures of "Lokfurer Squatting?
Mikey
I love the smell of smoke fluid in the morning .
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