Perhaps handrail "ends"is not a great term, but none the less - judging from 1000s of images of modern North American "hood" locomotives the handrail sections along the end steps are painted in a bright safety color like white or yellow (even when the rest of the locomotive handrailing isn't painted). OK, a reasonable idea, and I seem to recall reading this was mandated in the 1970s (I may be completely wrong here). I have also seen images of locomotives from the 1960s with such safety handrail colors applied.
So, the obivous questions I have:Is this safety color painting of handrails by the end steps mandated, and if so starting when?When did railroads start to apply such paint, and when did they do so in significant numbers (as opposed to one-off experimental schemes)?What colors work besides white and yellow - orange? Silver?
Thanks
I did a photo study of D&RGW hood units based on 1970's photo's in books I have. Basically most if not all diesels hand rails were unpainted in the 1976 or earlier photo's. In 1978, it appears, all D&RGW diesels had the ends painted white, so between 76 and 78, they were painted.
Interestingly and consistant with this, Rio Grande's 3rd order of SD40T-2's were delivered new with silver painted end rails. White seemed to become the standard, but there may have been some experiementing during the 1976-1978 time frame. I do not know if there was an FRA mandate at this time which RR's were complying with.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
riogrande5761I did a photo study of D&RGW hood units based on 1970's photo's in books I have. Basically most if not all diesels hand rails were unpainted at that time. In 1978, it appears, all D&RGW diesels had the ends painted white, so between 76 and 78, they were painted.Interestingly and consistant with this, Rio Grande's 3rd order of SD40T-2's were delivered new with silver painted end rails. White seemed to become the standard, but there may have been some experiementing during the 1976-1978 time frame. I do not know if there was an FRA mandate at this time which RR's were complying with.
Handrail verticals and step edges changed to yellow, to comply with an FRA ruling that the vertical handholds on all locomotives used at any time in switching service, and built after March 1977, must be painted with contrasting color.
White paint adopted for handrail verticals and step edges on switchinglocomotives, including all NW2s, SW7s, SW9s, and TR5s, and on those GP20s,GP30s, GP35s, and SD24s that were assigned to switch service
Finding that FRA mandate is proving a bit more like nailing jello, but I did find this thread in a Yahoo Group - When did painting safety yellow endrails start on B&M diesels?
I believe that nails the FRA side of things. However, that's only part of the story. Many RRs put a variety of requirements to paint handrails in a contrasting color long before FRA. So if you're modeling a prototype, check with pics from the era you model of locos and cabooses.
Then there is the D&RGW narrowgauge, where handrails and other engine and rolling stock paint detailing sometimes varied according to which division did the painting. You kinda have to go by a pic if doing some of these.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Going by the pictures is usually a good idea! This will tell the specific stories depending on the RR.
I'm wondering about this, I've seen SP&S Alco RS units with white striping on the hand railings.
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
The C&O,PRR,NYC,B&O and N&W had painted handrails back in the 60s...Some steam locomotives had painted handrails as well.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
It sounds like RR's who painted hand rails prior to approx 1977 may have just had a company policy and were being pro-active. Of course, if there was a mandate in 1977, this would be visible in photo's from that date onward.
I noticed that Athearn offered their RTR HO D&RGW SD40T-2's from road number series 5374-5385. Those were delivered in 1977 and "as delivered" photo's confirm, they had silver hand rails on the ends. Nice touch! They were later repainted white as become the standard for all D&RGW end hand rails.
Well, the FRA mandate part is not really nailed down at all yet - I'd like to view a summary of it (or the actual wording even) to see if it states 'Contrasting' as opposed to requiring specific colors (like yellow or white).I sort of "proto-lance" model a prototype class I and a free-lance short line, and it'd be interesting to see if color choices for the short line would be limited to white or yellow, or could they be silver or orange even (while staying with current prototype practice).
The historical portion of my question is just more of a "hey, when did they start doing that?" inquiry more than anything else.
The B&M was painting those areas of the handrails yellow in the 1950s this was with the Maroon minuteman paint .When they went to McGinnis blue (late 1950s) they were painted white.
Ron High
riogrande5761It sounds like RR's who painted hand rails prior to approx 1977 may have just had a company policy and were being pro-active. Of course, if there was a mandate in 1977, this would be visible in photo's from that date onward.
Jim,It was mandated by safety since the switchmen could not see unpainted handrails at night even with their starbrites since these are pointed toward the ground except when giving a hand signal..
It could have been a union/company safety agreement.
I'm a bit too tired to look it up right now, but I believe the requirement is a contrasting color. Think about it. Yellow handrails on a yellow locomotive - wouldn't be very contrasting, would they? Even white handrails on a bright yellow locomotive could blend in when it's very dark. I would say white, yellow, orange, silver, red are safe choices for a free-lance line, as long as they contrast enough for a switchman to be able to see them in the dark.
I would not be surprised if there was a requirement that the paint must be durable enough to withstand wear and tear of crew boarding and dismounting on a frequent basis.
Brad
EMD - Every Model Different
ALCO - Always Leaking Coolant and Oil
CSX - Coal Spilling eXperts
twcenterprises I would not be surprised if there was a requirement that the paint must be durable enough to withstand wear and tear of crew boarding and dismounting on a frequent basis. Brad
Brad,Unless things changed there are no such requirements in fact one of the most overlooked weathering items is the the worn handrails by the steps-Poly S old silver should do the trick of giving the railings a well worn look.
Looking for "THE DATE" when it started will probably be looking for something that doesn't exist.
Railroads may have painted handrails a contrasting color back in the early 1900's. One also has to understand that if it is a FRA rule, that means they had hearings about it years before it was implemented, the FRA would have issued a finding, then the rule would have been issued with a compliance date months or years from that. If the ruling took effect in 1977, the railroads would have known its coming in 1976 or earlier and could have started complying anytime. There might be an "end' date, but a start date will be very hard to determine.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
I know the New York Central had diesels back in the 1950's that had yellow railings and grabs. However, not all of them did. From photos, it appears switchers and road switchers had them early on, in fact some mid-fifties engines appear to have had yellow railings and grabs when first put in service. However road engines like E units, F units, FA / PA engines etc. appear to have not gotten yellow grabs etc. until they were repainted into the 1960's 'cigar band' scheme.
CFR 231.30 e(1)(iv)
(a) General requirements. (1) Except for steam locomotives equipped as provided in § 231.16 of this part, all locomotives used in switching service built after March 31, 1977, must be equipped as provided in this section.
e) Vertical handholds. Each switching step must be provided with two (2) vertical handholds or handrails, one on each side of the switching step stairway.
(1) On locomotives built after March 31, 1977, each vertical handhold must—
(iv) Be painted in a contrasting color to a height of at least forty-eight (48) inches above the safety tread surface of the switching step; and
(2) On locomotives built before April 1, 1977, each vertical handhold must—
Hello All
I think I found the official FRA ruling, seems to be 41 FR 37783 (Sept. 8, 1976),This regulation covers a lot of things besides painting the handrail edges AND the edges of non-illuminated corner steps, in contrasting colors, including- Specficiation of size and material standards for hand-holds- Banning pilot foot plates on switching locomotives- Required uncoupling levers that could be accessed from the corner steps
Anyway, the regulations in question:(e) Vertical handholds. Each switching step must be provided with two (2) vertical handholds or handrails, one on each side of the switching step stairway.(1) On locomotives built after March 31, 1977, each vertical handhold must—<snip size, location, and material regulations>(iv) Be painted in a contrasting color to a height of at least forty-eight (48) inches above the safety tread surface of the switching step; andThe regulations for locomotives built before April 1, 1977 are similiar, differ basically in the sepecification of handrail fasteners, but not in the safety paint specs.This site lists many FRA regulations concerning safety applicances, including the one I mentioned above. The site adds a caveat that regulations may have changed, but this seems a good start...
ETA: And I see that dhuseman posted the same information as I did, about 10 minutes before I did in a thread that's been open for 2 days now.Is this required by Internet law, the correct answers will show up in a thread a few minutes apart? It certainly seems to happen in a lot of forums I visit.Also, I did mention way back that the B&M had yellow handrails edges back in the 1950s (posted a link to it then), and other have mentioned railroads like the PRR and NYC having such back then too, so seems like it may have gotted started on a notable scale in the 1950s - possibly from safety studies done on Navy ships and Army/Air Force bases in the Korean war - an injured solider/sailor can certainly degrade his unit's effectiveness, so the military would want to limit such injuries to keep fighting effectiveness up - then guys getting out of the military apply concepts in their civilian fields.
chutton01 ETA: And I see that dhuseman posted the same information as I did, about 10 minutes before I did in a thread that's been open for 2 days now.Is this required by Internet law, the correct answers will show up in a thread a few minutes apart? It certainly seems to happen in a lot of forums I visit.
ETA: And I see that dhuseman posted the same information as I did, about 10 minutes before I did in a thread that's been open for 2 days now.Is this required by Internet law, the correct answers will show up in a thread a few minutes apart? It certainly seems to happen in a lot of forums I visit.
The sad part is it took me about 10-15 minutes to find the answer on the internet, and it took 2 days for the OP to get the answer to the Federal regs question.
An interesting aspect is that in the CFR that addresses painting requirements for "switching engines". The section on road engines does not include the same requirements. Since most road enginees could also be used as switching engines, they would be covered by this requirement.
dehusmanThe sad part is it took me about 10-15 minutes to find the answer on the internet, and it took 2 days for the OP to get the answer to the Federal regs question.
I do know somebody was asking about pilot foot boards and when they were outlawed - well, now we know the period and the regulation.
I became interested in the hand rails because of era modeling on the D&RGW. I had some good books with lots of 1970's photo's and that narrowed the time frame down easily enough - 1977 is about right.
Since D&RGW diesels all had plows since the late 1960's, foot boards were only an issue for switchers. The swichers I have are SW1000 - Athearn offered their RTR version with spark arrestors and IIRC foot boards on two of the models.
Fortunately for D&RGW modelers, most of their road diesels looked the same throughout the 70's and 80's... the handrails was one of the few visible changes. Some SD40T-2's got the PTC cabinet between 1985 and 87.