When exactly did ditch lights come about? I thought it was around the mid 1990’s, but I have a picture of some Algoma Central locomotives from 1985 all with ditch lights, whats up with that???
Did some railroads get them before others??
Ditch lights were required on Canadian locomotives some years before they were adopted in the U.S.
Ditch lights were first installed on CN locomotives in 1956. In the US, ditch lights were required on all locomotives by the end of 1997.
oh, the 1956 thing makes sense then since the Algoma Central is a Canadian road. When did US roads BEGIN to start using ditchlights?
ATSF tested a CN SD50F around 1988 (?) and the crews really liked the lights. I believe the first Super Fleet GP60s came with them.
What is it that makes them so desirable?
There is a picture in a recent Branchline magazine of a CPR steam loco with 2 ditch lights mounted on the smokebox door. They were pointed at an angle to illuminate around curves in the mountains. I think there’s another pic of a loco with a swivelling headlight. It was found that having the lights mounted at the side but pointing across the track gave the best results.
In British Columbia the lights were angled so they would shine further down the track on curves and crews could see hazards such as rock slides.
The pu***o make them manditory in the USA came from a female Senator in Kansas after she got 18,000 postcars following the death of three girls.
Ditch lights make it easier for drivers to notice the train is closer than one light would make it appear.
CP Selkirk 5922 had some kind of ditch lights in 1951 as mentioned by BR60103.
I think ditch light were first used on the SP on the MK rebuilt GP40-2s in the early 90s.
What locomotive was that?
Matthew
On Conrail, the only thought was improved grade Xing safety.