A vehicle contact limit sign is a safety sign that is installed in the center of a place where two or more tracks diverge (or meet) to set limits so that vehicles or trains can be safely detained or stopped.
There is a vehicle limit and a building limit on the track. It may be helpful to understand the vehicle contact limit sign, so let’s briefly look into it.
When manufacturing a vehicle, it is limited to a certain standard so that it does not come into contact with adjacent vehicles or railroad structures. This is the vehicle limit.
Building limits are set wider than vehicle limits for various railroad-related facilities, such as catenary lines, signals, platforms, and buildings, so that trains can operate safely.
At this time, it can be understood that the vehicle contact limit sign is a range in which the vehicle limits of both tracks do not interfere with each other.
Vehicle contact limit sign in Korea.
At first glance, they look like egg yolks and whites, right? The inside (wider side) of this sign is where the two vehicles are not making contact, and the outside (narrower side) is where they are making contact. It serves as a reminder of its limits.
In Korea, it is installed 2m from the center of both lines. There is only one type of the above form.
Vehicle contact limit signs waiting to be dispatched to their respective locations.
Vehicle contact limit sign in Thailand
The vehicle contact limit sign at Chiang Mai Station looks a little clearer.
For installation locations in other countries, vehicle contact limit signs are also installed according to the gauge and vehicle limits of that country.
Vehicle contact limit sign at Rokko Station on the Kobe Main Line of the Hankyu Electric Railway in Japan.
In the case of vehicle contact limit signs, Korea is unified as one type, but in Japan, because there are so many railroad companies, the types of signs used are diverse, and there are places where they are not installed at all.
There is no vehicle contact limit sign, and the stopping position is limited with a train stop sign (a cross-shaped sign on a white background).
The train is a Kiha 200 series diesel car.
A vehicle contact limit sign installed on the Toden Arakawa Line, the only streetcar line in Tokyo, Japan.
It is a sign that informs directly with letters rather than symbols and colors.
Vehicular contact limit sign for the narrow gauge line at TRA Chiayi Station in Taiwan.
In the case of Taiwan, I did not see the limit sign on the general narrow gauge route (1,067mm) where section trains travel. As shown in the picture above, the sign was installed only on the narrow gauge route (762mm) operated by the Alishan Forest Train.
In the photo above, tourists are getting on the forest train while it is stopped outside the vehicle contact limit sign (on the narrow side of the track). In the case above, it is a condition that other trains cannot pass on the next track. In other words, it interferes with the vehicle limit.
Perhaps the limit sign may not be used anymore… I can’t say anything because it depends on each country, each station, and each situation when operating a train, but I think it’s a good picture to explain vehicle limits.
Vehicle contact limit sign at Shifen Station in Taiwan? There is none. The white box between the tracks looks like a track circuit security device, not a sign.
Vehicle contact limit sign at Thi Cau Station in Vietnam.
In the form of a square prism, numbers are displayed only on the inside of the sign (on the wide side of the track). Presumably the numbers indicate the contact limits of lines 1 and 2, with both line numbers.