I just picked up an Atlas Trainman D&H RS-36 and I am very pleased with it. I want to add some detail - including drilling out and lighting the classification lights. My question is this - I understand that class lights might be lit in green, red or white depending on the train’s situation - what is not clear to me is whether the front and rear lights would be on simultaneously and potentially illuminated in different colors (say forward green/rear red for instance) -If in a consist, would the lead engine display forward lights, no rear lights and the trailing engine no rear lights and forward lights on (assuming back-to-back lash up) What would be the most common combination(s). I have searched the available photos online and i can’t find even one picture that shows the class lights lit on any D&H RS-36’s…
FYI -I have a Digitrax DH165AO decoder that I plan to use in this model, so I am trying to figure the best way use the available lighting functions.
Thanks for any and all input.
General class light info:
Class lights are either dark (not lit), white or green. They would be used on the lead end of the lead locomotive (the rest of the engines and trailing end would be dark).
A dark lite means that the train is a regular train (operating on a timetable schedule).
A green lite means the train is a leading section of a regular train, any section other than the trailing section (operating on a timetable schedule).
A white lite means the train is running as an extra (not on a timetable schedule).
The red light is technically not a “classification light”. It is a “marker light” and is used on the trailing end when the engine is on the rear of the train (trailing end of engines running light or a pusher).
So if the engine isn’t on a train, (in the service tracks or just in a yard) the lights wouldn’t be lit. If the engine is on a regular train the lights wouldn’t be lit. The only time the green light would be lit would be if it was a leading section, while not rare, would not be very frequent. In later years, some railroads stopped using class lights alltogether because all their freights were extras and only passenger trains were first class trains. So there really wasn’t a need for them. Don’t know if the D&H did that.
Thank you - this is exactly what I needed to know.