Rear tender marker lights

[Anonymous]

Here's a good question for some of you prototype experts.

I am modeling the late steam era in HO and am installing classification, head and backup lights on my locos. However, some have housings for other rear lighting at the top rear corners of the tenders.

Seems to me when I was young, back in the '50s some of these lights were red on both sides and some were red on fireman's side and green on engineer side.

Does anyone remember these lights? If so were some red and some green or is my memory playing tricks on me?

I am modeling the Santa Fe, UP and WP and a private John Deere road.

[mikebonellisr]

Sorry I can't help,...It's something I would like to find out myself.Each RR may be different
so I'm going to try the NYC historical site.

[john lea]

The lights that were on the tender, left and right side, engineers & fireman's side were called indicater lights, some called them marker lights. Indicating wheather or not it was the first ,second or what ever section of that scheduled train it was. White or clear was an extra train, green ment that another section, or train with the same number was following. Not the same engine number, but section number. Red ment that it was the rear of the train. Defination of train is: engine with or without cars. Those same inticators were on the front of the engine also, and if it had a caboose it was on the rear of the caboose. I haven't delt with this for a long while but I believe this is close to correct. Hope this has helped a bit.
Now if you are planning to put markers in your engs. or cabs. try one bulb and use a fiber optic tube to your marker using red and or green reflector lenses in the marker itself.

[Anonymous]

john lea
Thanks for the info. Have found some info and mostly relates to engines running without other cars or caboose. I have decided to use red and green led's with fiber optics running to the housings.

As a side note: I have found that after running the fiber optics thru the hole, and then heating them (very carefully) with the tip of a soldering iron to "mushroom" the end makes an excellent lens appearance when they are pushed back into the housing..

[dehusman]

Actually the lights on the tender had absolutely nothing to do with whether or not there were any sections. The lights on the front corners of the engines did that, they were called classification lights. The lights on the tender were called marker lights. They indicated the end of the train.

They typically displayed red to the rear and green to the sides and front (some roads used yellow instead of green) When the train was in the clear of the main track they would display green to the rear. If they were running against the current of traffic they would show red on one side and green on the side next to the track with the current of traffic in which they were headed.

If the engine was pulling a train, the markers on the tender would be extinguished and the marker lights on the caboose would be used, displaying the same indications. So the only time an engine would have the marker lights on the tender lit was if it was a helper on the rear of the train, or an engine running by itself.

The class lights on the front of the engine were either unlit, white, green or red.
If the train was a "regular" train, it was operating as a train listed in the timetable, or was the last section of a regular train, the class lights would be unlit. If the train was a section (other than the last section) then it would display green signals. If it was an extra train (a train not listed in the timetable) then it would display white signals. If it was running backwards then it might display red to the front (rear). If ther were 3 sections of a scheduled train (a train listed in the timetable) then the first and second sections would display green signals and the third and last section would display no class lights (unlit).

Dave H.

[mikebonellisr]

Dave
Big help....Thanks
I would asume they were controled by the fireman or brakeman who changed the markers/class. lights by hand?

[MidlandPacific]

Some railroads were quite informal about it; I know there's a picture somewhere of Rio Grande Southern #20 with a pair of red lanterns tied to the rear of her tender, presumably to satisfy the requirement that a train show a pair of red markers when not "in the clear." I don't know whether they switched the globes when taking a siding before a meet, though.

[dehusman]

Remember the tender lights would ONLY be displayed if the engine was a rear end helper or running lite. If it had a train, the tender markers would NOT be lit.

I have also seen a pair of yellow caboose markers on the tender beams of a RDG northern used as a helper.

Dave H.

[john lea]

Glad I could help. So that fiber optics thing worked for you! That's great, now you can apply it to many and vared tasks. Talk to you later. john