Section 15: Whistle Boards

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A whistle board instructs the driver to sound the train's whistle or horn. Early whistle boards generally had the word "Whistle" written in full [15.1]. A variant of this existed at the north end of Polhill Tunnel where the board read "Whistle for at least ¼ mile" [15.2].

[15.1] Whistle Board (North British Railway).	[15.2] Whistle Board at north end of Polhill Tunnel.

The Great Western Railway had boards lettered "SW", signifying "Sound Whistle" [15.3], while signs bearing just a letter "W" became increasingly common on other companies' lines [15.4 & 15.5].

[15.3] Whistle Board (GWR).	[15.4] Whistle Board.	[15.5] Whistle Board.

British Rail introduced a standard form of whistle board which was circular and had a grey or blue border [15.6].

[15.6] Whistle Board.

At Glasgow Central from 1971, and at Lanark, special illuminated whistle signs were provided. These could be switched on when trains were stabled in the sidings and it was necessary to warn staff about the line. The signs displayed either a horn symbol [15.7] or the words "Sound Horn" [15.8]. The last examples, at Glasgow Central, were removed in 2007.

[15.7] Illuminated Whistle Sign (Scottish Region).	[15.8] Illuminated Whistle Sign (Scottish Region).

New experimental whistle boards were introduced at certain user-worked level crossings on the Scottish Region from 1993 [15.9]. Where this sign is provided, the driver must sound the two-tone horn continuously until the train is about 50 yards from the crossing.

[15.9] 'Continuous' Whistle Board (Scottish Region).

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