In a recent post I used the term "Hard Yellow" to differentiate from a "Flashing Yellow" signal. I try to make my posts somewhat readable for someone that might be interested by not fully aware of railroad terminology or the rules involved.

I have worked in signal territory before, and you really have to learn and remember where signals are that apply to the track you are on. I can remember where four main tracks came around a curve and suddenly you were faced with a double red dwarf. The geniuses that designed the system were to cheap/stupid to put in a signal bridge, and the four dwarf signals were to the LEFT of the track they governed due to visibility issues of the right hand curve. There was another single dwarf not that far away that was to the right of the main and between an industrial spur that only governed trains leaving the industrial spur to enter the main through a hand throw switch. Daytons Bluff and the surrounding area was a nightmare. There were signals all over the place at the clearance points of a multi track wye and numerous crossovers instead of lined up across from each other. You really had to be careful that the signal you were looking at applied to your track. On the main next to the yard there was a dwarf signal out in the weeds that applied to the main - no reason why it wasn't a high signal, and I swear there was a pile of ties in front of it.

One late afternoon a friend of mine and I went to the east end of the yard in Elko, Nevada to see what was going on. He had been a conductor before also, but never in signaled territory. He looked down the SP and commented there was a yellow signal so there must be one in the block soon to come by us. I started laughing, because I remembered there wasn't a signal there and the yellow color wasn't quite right. So yes, I have seen a "soft yellow" signal, aka a street light. He happened to call last night, and like a good friend I reminded him of it.