rule 17

[Anonymous]

Does anybody know when rule 17 came into effect? I am stopping at 1910 some of my engines might still be oil lights Surely they didn't run back and turn them down did the?
thanks, Carrie Creek

[Anonymous]

They didn't turn the lights down, but they did either extinguish or cover a headlight in order to comply with Rule 17 as early as 1915, and I imagine at earlier dates. (If I'm not mistaken, standard operating rules date to the 1880s.)

I have a copy of William Nichols's "Train Operation", copyright 1916, which, according to the preface, is based on the Standard Rules of the American Railway Association as of 1915.

Headlights weren't dimmed in those days--they were extinguished or completely covered. Nichols notes in his comments on Rule 17 that a headlight only partly covered was to be treated as an entirely uncovered headlight would be, i.e., as a signal that the main line was still obstructed by the train on the siding.