Links to our	Req. 1a	- Req. 1c	- Req. 1d	- Req. 2a	- Req. 2b	- Req. 3a	- Req. 3b	- Req. 3c	- Req. 4
Study Guides	Req. 5a	- Req. 5b	- Req. 5f	- Req. 6	- Req. 7a	- Req. 7b	- Req. 7c	- Req. 7d	- Req. 8

Railroading Merit Badge

Requirement 7a Study Guide

Explain how railroad signals operate and show two basic signal types using color and configuration.

This requirement is looking at the signals that control the trains, not the crossing gates at a street railroad crossing. The types of signals include;

• Semaphore Signals
• Searchlight (Target) Signals
• Tri-Light Signals

The colors of the signal lights have very specific meanings;

• Red means Stop!
• Trains should NEVER pass a red signal.
• yellow means Operate at Restricted Speed.
• This can mean different speeds at different railroads, but it often means 10 MPH or less.
• green means Clear to Proceed.

Notice that the green signal does NOT mean Go!, but rather it means You can go,

There are currently 120 active merit badges that can be earned by Boy Scouts today, and scouts can find information about all of these on the Internet at the Merit Badge Research Center (MBRC) website, including the Railroading merit badge requirements. The MBRC has worksheets for most of the current merit badges.