As European who has built only in 0n30 logging layouts, I'm wondering about the different lamps, which the diesel locomotives can have.Ditch, Bacon, Head ...Can you tell me which function the lights have and since when they are used?Thanks!
Martin
Let's see here. Headlamps were intended to light up the track ahead of the locomotive to let the engineer see ahead. Older headlamps were built like steam engine lamps, a big incandescent bulb in front of a polished metal reflector. Later diesels carried automotive style sealed beam lamps which stayed brighter since the reflector, inside the evacuted bul glass could never tarnish.
Then there were Mars lights intended to attract the attention of motorists at grade crossings. Mars lights contained a motor to rotate the lamp assembly, producing a flashing light. Mars lights were sometimes red.
Ditch lights came in after 1960, and were required by regulation later one. Ditch lights were kept illuminated in the day. There were mounted in pairs (one on the left, one on the right) on the front of the engine. They were intended to make the locomotive more visible to motorists, rather than lighting up the track.
Bacon I never heard of.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Tha Bacon light turned on inside the loco cab to remind the crew when it was time to eat!
A beacon light was a roof mounted flashing amber light designed to make it easier for yard personell to locate locos at night.
Hornblower
Bacon? Did somebody say bacon? Now I'm hungry.
Headlights light up the tracks ahead aspreviously mentioned. Originally they were kerosene lamps and only lit at night or in poor visibility and they were not dimmed.
Just before WW1 they changed to electric arc and then incandescent lamps. The requirement to have the headlight lit during day gradually ended in the 1950's. By the 1960's virtually all rule books required a headlamp by day and night.
When electric lamps came on line they were eventually able to have bulbs that could be dimmed.
Lights were added for warning motorists, the Gyralights mentioned earlier that orbited in a figure 8 pattern. There were other lights(the red ones) that went on whent the train went in emergency to warn approaching trains on adjacent tracks. They technically aren't headlights.
Various railroads added more or less lights. Western roads in darker, more mountainous areas with longer tunnels tended to have more lights.
The Canadians started using ditchlights for better lighting at grade crossings, both for the train and the motorists.
At various times railroads have located headlights in the nose instead of at the top of the cab, the idea was that in fog, nsnow and rain, the light above the cab reflected light and made it harder for the engineer to see out.
Trains keep their headlights on bright unless they are in a yard or where there are people on the ground that might be blinded by the light and when passing another train.
A train pulling into a siding will keep its headlight on bright as long as it is fouling the main track, and dim it when it gets in the clear.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
dstarrDitch lights came in after 1960, and were required by regulation later one.
Ditch lights came in the mid 90s here in the U.S not the 60s as any period photo will attest.. I had photos of CSX and NS locomotives taken in the late 80s and early 90s without ditchlights.
A fun tidbit.
Some engineers I worked with on the Chessie would flash the headlights while we was working a mine load out. He was telling us he was leaving the cab to relieve himself usually between the lead car and the engine. Seldom would anybody use the "stink hole" in the short hood of the engine.
mmm bacon..Sounds yummy.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Seems like it was around 1970 or maybe a little earlier when some engines started to have three position headlight switches (bright, medium, dim), which was a nice feature.
When closing up behind a stopped train, a lot of enginemen would put the headlight on dim when they saw the hind end and then turn it off when they were actually stopped. That way the flagman knew they had seen the caboose and he could go back inside (much appreciated in bad weather).
Thanks guys for this nice informations.
I don't know who has stolen the "e" in the beacon light, I swear!
Is there any rule, which locos have this beacon?
Seems like every single engine is unique as far as lights go, especially railroads like Southern Pacific. Searching for a picture of the actual loco you are modeling is the best way to tell for sure which lights that unit was equipped with.
Here is the bacon rule (lol): https://youtu.be/IA0v8pCN8cQ?t=1m14s
j......
Originally E and F type diesels had just one headlight, mounted high on the nose. Early Mars-and Gyra-Light installations often were in a second headlight located below the main one, usually in the door in the front of the engine. Pretty quickly, most railroads came to prefer having the main headlight be the lower one, with the rotating / flashing one being the upper one. (Having a second headlight was primarily done on passenger diesels.)
I'm not sure when the roof-mounted rotating beacon first began to be applied - 1950's or 1960's? By the late sixties they were pretty common, and seemed to be on most all engines in the 1970's.
In the 1970's the Canadian railroads adopted the European style three-light system, with a main headlight and two lower "ditch lights" creating a triangle of light. That system made it's way to the US in the 1990's, and basically made the rotating beacon obsolete.
It's been a long-standing rule (Rule 19, IIRC) back to steam days, that an engine waiting to be passed on a side track, or a depot, would dim it's headlight as a signal to the other train that the engine was in the clear and it was safe to pass.
wjstixIt's been a long-standing rule (Rule 19, IIRC) back to steam days, that an engine waiting to be passed on a side track, or a depot, would dim it's headlight as a signal to the other train that the engine was in the clear and it was safe to pass.
Last I looked (been a long time) that was Rule 17. Some engineers I worked with would turn off the headlights and leave the number boards on until the lead engine passed and then turn the headlights on. I doubt if they could get by with that today.
BRAKIE wjstix It's been a long-standing rule (Rule 19, IIRC) back to steam days, that an engine waiting to be passed on a side track, or a depot, would dim it's headlight as a signal to the other train that the engine was in the clear and it was safe to pass. Last I looked (been a long time) that was Rule 17. Some engineers I worked with would turn off the headlights and leave the number boards on until the lead engine passed and then turn the headlights on. I doubt if they could get by with that today.
wjstix It's been a long-standing rule (Rule 19, IIRC) back to steam days, that an engine waiting to be passed on a side track, or a depot, would dim it's headlight as a signal to the other train that the engine was in the clear and it was safe to pass.
One reason they wanted the headlight as soon as the lead engine went by (at night) was to be able to see a shifted load or a derailed car coming at you. A lot of firemen and brakemen would get out of the seat and stand in the middle of the cab when meeting a freight train for the same reason.
Incidently, the hand signal for "headlight" was to look directly at the engineman and point to the center of your forehead.
DSO17One reason they wanted the headlight as soon as the lead engine went by (at night) was to be able to see a shifted load or a derailed car coming at you. A lot of firemen and brakemen would get out of the seat and stand in the middle of the cab when meeting a freight train for the same reason.
That's what they taught me then I soon found it better not to stand during a running meet since a sudden sway or dip could cause you to lose balance then a old line fireman (on the PRR) said,Boy, stay in your seat and if you see a protruding load hit the deck because if your standing you will be thrown about at impact. As far as a derailment hit the deck if you have time if not kiss your cabin goodbye because it won't be pretty..
The head brakeman was required to dismount at a standing meet and watch the on coming train for defects.The rear brakeman would do the same but,on the opposite side of the tracks.At night he would use his Starlite..
BRAKIEBRAKIE wrote the following post yesterday: DSO17One reason they wanted the headlight as soon as the lead engine went by (at night) was to be able to see a shifted load or a derailed car coming at you. A lot of firemen and brakemen would get out of the seat and stand in the middle of the cab when meeting a freight train for the same reason. That's what they taught me then I soon found it better not to stand during a running meet since a sudden sway or dip could cause you to lose balance then a old line fireman (on the PRR) said,Boy, stay in your seat and if you see a protruding load hit the deck because if your standing you will be thrown about at impact. As far as a derailment hit the deck if you have time if not kiss your cabin goodbye because it won't be pretty..
I guess you never can tell. In one incident an engine got hit by a shifted bulldozer on a flat car. The front brakeman was standing and got hit by the window frame flying across the cab, breaking his arm. Maybe he would have been better off on the floor. Fortunately the arm healed up OK and he was able to come back to work.