Q: I’m curious about why trains use a Morse code signal when approaching crossings.
A: For anyone confused by that question, next time you’re waiting at a railroad crossing listen to the train’s horn. It’s a long-long-short-long signal. That corresponds with the letter Q in Morse code. What’s the connection? Probably none, but that’s not interesting, is it?
The most common of several explanations (none of which I believe) is that back in the 1800s, whenever Queen Victoria rode in a steam ship, the captain would use a horn equivalent to the Morse code Q to warn other ships to yield the right-of-way to the queen. When trains started using whistles, they adopted the signal for Q when crossing roadways. Given that America was barely past half a century since rejecting England’s authority when Queen E took the throne, didn’t have a queen of their own (to state the obvious), and at least until 1915 used a different signal, I find this explanation highly suspect.
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