The current semaphore signals were introduced in Germany in 1924, in order to unify the rail signals of all German rail companies from that time. There are distant or approach signals and main signals. Since trains have a much longer braking distance than cars, the distant signals are placed well before the main signals, giving a "preview" of their indication (the meaning). Semaphore signals have three aspects (the visual appearance) at most; main signals with one arm can indicate "Stop" (Hp0) and "Clear" (Hp1). Signals with two arms can also show "Slow" (Hp2), i. e. in front of switches. The distant signals work similar, their indication means "expect ...".
Apart from distant and main signals, this package also contains a tightening device for the wires that run from the signal box to the signal, a control signal that indicates if the railway crossing gates are closed, three signs that indicate a distant signal, and several signals that indicate closed tracks. All props are rendered in HD; also included is a special update file that will exchange the old props on existing lots with the new models, avoiding the need to edit the old lots.
More information about rail signals can be found here:
- http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formsignal (in German, covering German semaphore signals mostly)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_semaphore_signal (about British and American semaphore signals)
- http://stellwerke.de/signal/deutsch/index.html (in German, detailed explanation of signals)
Nardo69 has written a comprehensive tutorial at SC4Devotion how to use those signals:
This prop pack contains a total number of more than 100 different semaphore signals, both distant signals and main signals. The props are intended for usage on rail lots and mods for SimCity 4. The pack only serves as a dependency, there are no lot or similar included. If you like to see those props in your game, you will have to install corresponding lots, or create your own.
In the Lot Editor, all signals are listed with the prefix "SFBT_Bahn_...", so they are neatly grouped for easier finding. Most of the props are available as orthogonal and diagonal version, both as centered prop ("zentriert nullpunkt") and rendered with an offset of 16 m ("+16", "-16"), which are intended to be used "besides" the actual lot , that can be placed next to the tracks.
Installation: Copy/extract the SFBT parent folder into your plugins folder. If you extracted the _Documents folders too, you don't need to keep it in your Plugins, but it is recommended to move it to a safe location for later use.
Uninstallation: For uninstalling the files, simply delete the files from the plugins folder.