So in diesels up till about 1975 (essentially, from F units and FA's up to SD40-2s and C-425s or so)Are front and rear numberboards controlled separately, or does one switch in the cab activate all numberboards?Same question for class lights. Do front and rear turn on from the same switch or are they separate?
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
Most (if not all) the engineman control lighting panels I've looked at have a separate switch for front and rear number lights; front and rear classification lights, walkway lights and engine room lights.
Some Alcos had individual lamps (except on the PRR) for each color of class light so a separate switch would select those, EMD used a lever-moundted device to place colored "roundels" in front of the single lamp, accessed from inside of the nose on E and F units or with a small lever outside on hood units.
You can access many locomotive operators manuals here:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/manual/manual.html
Most of these manuals will show how the lighting switches are arranged.
Good Luck, Ed
Gosh, actual factual information! Thanks!
Displaying the class lights on the model may be fun but it's rarely done in a prototypically correct manner. If the class lights are needed, they would always be supplemented by a pair of flags, either white or green to match the lights. In the smaller scales realistic yet removable flags are nearly impossible to achieve.
Just a pet soapbox of mine!
John
I've seen numerous photos from the 70s and 80s of extra trains with class lights but no flags. I've also seen flags without the lights lit. A bit of wire and a bit of brass makes a workable flag in HO scale, I know a number of peope who use them.
Also, flags do nothing at night.
cx500 If the class lights are needed, they would always be supplemented by a pair of flags
That would depend on the operating rules of the specific railroad. Many of the rulebooks I have read specify "flags by-day; lamps by-night" and others the lamps supplement the flags at night.
NYC_Class_30 by Edmund, on Flickr
NYC_Class_31 by Edmund, on Flickr
See "Note to rule 20 and 21" at page bottom. New York Central, 1937.
The NKP actually fitted some of their Berkshires with sheet-metal "flags". On some railroads, depending on the operating rules, every train is an extra but displaying flags or lights has been dispensed with in later years.
I happened to catch the Champion back in 1972 leaving St. Petersburg displaying flags for a section following!
Dec_2015_0014 by Edmund, on Flickr
Dec_2015_0021 by Edmund, on Flickr
The 1967 edition of the "Consolidate Code of Operating Rules" says, on page 33,
"CLASSIFICATION LIGHTS
20. All sections except the last must display two green lights on the front of the engine.
21. Unless otherwise provided, extra trains must display two white lights on the front of the engine."
And in the 1986 General Code, the successor to the CCOR, the use of class lights or flags isn't mentioned at all, and the section on train orders no longer lists a form of train order for sections. I suspect the requirement of class lights for extras was dropped because of radios. The 1986 GCOR is the last edition authorizing the use of train orders, and it also lists DTC and TWC.
Bayfield Transfer Railway ............... Also, flags do nothing at night.
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cx500 Bayfield Transfer Railway ............... Also, flags do nothing at night. Very true, yet the converse is also somewhat true. The class lights on a bright sunny day are not going to be particularly obvious, especially when the train is passing at speed. That could be disastrous for a scheduled train running in sections. Canadian operating rules required whistle signals to be exchanged between trains when carrying green to make sure. Assuming that "Extra" freight was the scheduled freight you had to clear for was not going to result in a happy outcome either.
American rules did too. If the signal wasn't answered by the train(s) being met or passed, the train displaying signals for a following section was supposed to stop and ascertain the cause.
Jeff