Trains include a variety of types of lights, for safety, illumination, and communicating train status. [1] The most universal type of light is the headlight, which is included on the front of locomotives, and frequently on the rear as well. [2] Other types of lights include classification lights, which indicate train direction and status, and ditch lights, which are a pair of lights positioned towards the bottom of a train to illuminate the tracks.
The earliest trains did not run at night, but the need for running trains at night soon became apparent. In the United States, early records of headlight usage date back to 1832: that year, Horatio Allen devised the first known locomotive headlight - though his "headlight" consisted of a burning pile of wood on a flatcar, followed by a giant reflector on a second flatcar, pushed by a locomotive. [3] While this method of illumination was impractical, other experimentation continued. One early method was to hang a number of lanterns off the front of a locomotive. [3] In 1892 Clement E. Stretton writing in The Locomotive Engine and Its Development claimed that the Stockton & Darlington Railway locomotive No.23 Wilberforce which was delivered in 1832 had a coal basket that acted as a head and tail lamp. [4]
In the later 1830s, the first proper train headlight was built by two mechanics in New York: a box made of sheet metal and incorporating a reflector. [3] Mass production of locomotive headlights was started in 1838 in that state, and by 1850 they were a common sight on trains in the United States. By the dawn of the American Civil War, nearly every locomotive in the country was equipped with a headlight. [3]
Despite experiments and advances in headlight technology in the 1800s, the very idea of using headlights on trains was for a long time controversial. As late as 1886, a railroad official in the United States was quoted as saying "On a road engine the headlight is of no earthly use to the engineer; it obstructs his vision so that he cannot see his switch lights, and I think that every thinking engineer will come to the conclusion that he would rather run in the night without a lamp, than with it, as he can see better in the dark". [5]
Early headlights were fueled by oil, though kerosene-fueled headlights were developed as well in the 1850s. The discovery of electricity soon led to experiments with using it to power locomotive lights, with the first-known example, a battery operated light, being tested in Russia in 1874. In 1883, a railroad company in France also experimented with electrical lights, but the first example to go into production was designed by an American inventor in 1897. In 1915, the United States Congress passed a law mandating every train be equipped with an electric headlight, ending all debate about their utility. [3] Twin-sealed beam headlights were also invented after the end of World War II, and they were designed in a way where two lightbulbs are installed in one headlamp. [6]
Despite the widespread use of locomotive headlights in North America, in the United Kingdom trains typically ran without true headlights at night. [5]
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Trains in the United Kingdom have separate headlights for day and night usage. These are primarily used to increase a trains visibility, with illumination of the track ahead being considered a secondary purpose. [7] [8]
Trains in the United States, by contrast, are required to have headlights that can illuminate a person at least 800 feet in front of the locomotive, as well as having regulations on the minimum strength of the lights at certain angles from the locomotive. [9]
Also known as marker lights, these are used to provide information on the type and status of a train. Traditionally, classification lights existed in three colors: white lights indicated an "extra" train (a train that is not scheduled but added due to demand), green lights were displayed on a regularly scheduled train that was being followed by additional sections (extra train(s)), and red lights indicated the rear of a train. [10]
In the 21st century, the first two types of classification lights are seldom used, but several railroad companies continue the use of red marker lights to indicate the rear of a train. This is particularly used when locomotives are pushing a train from the rear - seeing red marker lights indicates that the train is moving away from the viewer, not towards them. [10]
These lights activate when a train makes an emergency brake application. Emergency lights are usually red, and often flash. [10]
Ditch lights, also known as auxiliary lights or crossing lights, are additional lights at the front and sometimes rear of a locomotive or cab car that are positioned closer to the track than normal headlights. They are used to make trains easier to spot, for safety. [11] Many ditch lights are also designed to flash when a train sounds its horn, for additional visibility. Early versions of ditch lights were introduced on railroads in North America in the 1960s by Canadian National Railway, and by the 1970s Transport Canada made them a requirement on locomotives. [12] The United States followed suit with a December 31, 1997, deadline for all "equipment operating over public grade crossings at speeds greater than 20 mph" to be equipped with ditch lights. Limited exceptions exist for historical equipment. [12] Regulations set out the position of ditch lights, including how far apart they are from each other and their height above the rails. [13] The predecessor of the ditch lights was the Mars Light.
On remote control locomotives, a strobe light is often used to indicate the locomotive is not occupied. [14] Strobe lights are also used on normal locomotives as a means of making the train more visible. [15]
On passenger railroad cars, there are often indicator lights above each external door that illuminate when the door is open. These allow the train crew to ensure a train does not leave a station until all doors are closed. In newer trains, they also flash when the door closes. [16] [17]
The rearlights on locomotives, multiple units and railcars.
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To ensure that the rear of the failed train is always visible, all trains are required to display three red lights at their rear: two tail lamps plus the red portion of the destination roller blind. [18]
A conductor or guard is a train crew member responsible for operational and safety duties that do not involve actual operation of the train/locomotive. The conductor title is most common in North American railway operations, but the role is common worldwide under various job titles. In Commonwealth English, a conductor is also known as guard or train manager.
A railway signal is a visual display device that conveys instructions or provides warning of instructions regarding the driver's authority to proceed. The driver interprets the signal's indication and acts accordingly. Typically, a signal might inform the driver of the speed at which the train may safely proceed or it may instruct the driver to stop.
A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting; as well as in keeping a lookout for load shifting, damage to equipment and cargo, and overheating axles.
Brake van and guard's van are terms used mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia and India for a railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the guard. The equivalent North American term is caboose, but a British brake van and a caboose are very different in appearance, because the former usually has only four wheels, while the latter usually has bogies. German railways employed brakeman's cabins combined into other cars.
The end of train device (ETD), sometimes referred to as an EOT, flashing rear-end device (FRED) or sense and braking unit (SBU) is an electronic device mounted on the end of freight trains in replacement of a caboose. They are divided into three categories: "dumb" units, which only provide a visible indication of the rear of the train with a flashing red taillight; "average intelligence" units with a brake pipe pressure gauge; and "smart" units, which send back data to the crew in the locomotive via radio-based telemetry. They originated in North America, and are also used elsewhere in the world, where they may include complete End of Train Air System (ETAS) or Sense and Brake Unit (SBU) devices.
Bicycle lighting is illumination attached to bicycles whose purpose above all is, along with reflectors, to improve the visibility of the bicycle and its rider to other road users under circumstances of poor ambient illumination. A secondary purpose is to illuminate reflective materials such as cat's eyes and traffic signs. A third purpose may be to illuminate the roadway so that the rider can see the way ahead. Serving the latter purposes require much more luminous flux and thus more power.
A train whistle or air whistle is an audible signaling device on a steam or gas locomotive, used to warn that the train is approaching, and to communicate with rail workers. Modern diesel and electric locomotives primarily use a powerful air horn instead of a whistle as an audible warning device. However, the word whistle continues to be used by railroaders in referring to such signaling practices as "whistling off".
A daytime running lamp is an automotive lighting and bicycle lighting device on the front of a road going motor vehicle or bicycle. It is automatically switched on when the vehicle's handbrake has been pulled down, when the vehicle is in gear, or when the engine is started, emitting white, yellow, or amber light. Their intended use is not to help the driver see the road or their surroundings, but to help other road users identify an active vehicle.
A motor vehicle has lighting and signaling devices mounted to or integrated into its front, rear, sides, and, in some cases, top. Various devices have the dual function of illuminating the road ahead for the driver, and making the vehicle visible to others, with indications to them of turning, slowing or stopping, etc., with lights also indicating the size of some large vehicles.
Emergency vehicle lighting, also known as simply emergency lighting or emergency lights, is a type of vehicle lighting used to visually announce a vehicle's presence to other road users. A sub-type of emergency vehicle equipment, emergency vehicle lighting is generally used by emergency vehicles and other authorized vehicles in a variety of colors.
A wig-wag is a device for flashing an automobile's headlamps, in its simplest form, so only one of the two headlights operates at a time, with the two flashing at a preset rate. In its traditional form a wig-wag emits the right and left headlamps alternately, with each lamp lit for around half a second at a time. In the United Kingdom, the wig-wag is only seen on the road on emergency vehicles. The 'standard' wig-wag is often used within a cycle of other illumination patterns, such as swiftly alternating the left and right headlights, alternating the left and right headlights slowly, or flashing both headlights together, and using a mixture of high- and low-/dipped-beams.
Emergency vehicle equipment is any equipment fitted to, or carried by, an emergency vehicle, other than the equipment that a standard non-emergency vehicle is fitted with.
This article contains a list of terms, jargon, and slang used to varying degrees by railfans and railroad employees in the United States and Canada. Although not exhaustive, many of the entries in this list appear from time to time in specialist, rail-related publications. Inclusion of a term in this list does not necessarily imply its universal adoption by all railfans and railroad employees, and there may be significant regional variation in usage.
The Sandersville Railroad was originally operated from Tennille, Georgia, to Sandersville, Georgia and chartered in 1893 as a subsidiary of the Central of Georgia Railroad.
The long hood of a hood unit-style diesel locomotive is, as the name implies, the longer of the two hoods on a locomotive, particularly American-type freight locomotives.
Landing lights are lights, mounted on aircraft, that illuminate the terrain and runway ahead during takeoff and landing, as well as being used as a collision avoidance measure against other aircraft and bird strikes. Landing lights must be activated when the aircraft is under 10,000 feet in altitude.
North American railroad signals generally fall into the category of multi-headed electrically lit units displaying speed-based or weak route signaling. Signals may be of the searchlight, color light, position light, or color position light types, each displaying a variety of aspects which inform the locomotive operator of track conditions so that they may keep their train under control and able to stop short of any obstruction or dangerous condition.
In the United Kingdom, lighting-up time is a legally-enforced period from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise, during which all motor vehicles on unlit public roads must use their headlights.
Swiss railway signalling describes the railway signalling systems used in Switzerland by the different railway companies. There are two main types of signal, used up to 160 km/h, above which speed cab signalling is required.
On 26 December 1962, two trains collided near Coppenhall Junction, United Kingdom, killing 18 people and injuring 34. On that evening, cold weather and snow in and around Crewe had caused points to become frozen and trains were being detained at signals. About midway between Winsford and Crewe, the 13:30 Glasgow Central to London Euston Mid-Day Scot, hauled by an English Electric type 4 diesel, D215, with 13 coaches and 500 passengers, was stopped at a signal but the driver found the telephone to Coppenhall Junction, the next signal box ahead, out of order. Seeing the next signal ahead he decided to proceed down towards it and use the telephone there, but too fast. In the darkness he failed to notice the 16:45 express from Liverpool Lime Street to Birmingham New Street, hauled by an electric locomotive with eight coaches with 300 passengers, standing on the line ahead and collided with it at about 20 mph (32 km/h).
