Some of you might be interested in this trivia if you model early steam
In 1915 there are 67,869 locomotive headlights in use. 42,213 are oil. 2,904 are acetylene. 22,120 are electric arc. 632 are incandescent.
Rich
Rich
Does it break down the oil healights to what oil they were using? The electric arc lights must have been real bright for the time.
Pete
All I have heard about oil lights is they used coal oil (kerosene).
Acetylene headlights used water dripping on Carbide to produce Acetylene gas. It was stored in a tank under the running board of the loco. Initially, some locos had a acetylene gas generator behind the Fireman’s position. Passenger cars used acetylene for lighting also. Could be dangerous under certain conditions.
The electric arc are, Carbon Arc, a very bright light. Some railroads had engineers turn off the arc light when meeting an oncoming loco, entering a yard or station. Sometimes the crew of the locomotive using the arc lamp could be temporarily blinded by their own light in fog, maybe snow, etc.
The light could temporarily blind people. Some headlights had a 16 watt incandescent lamp which the engineer would turn on. Around 1900 or so, incandescent filaments where not strong enough to handle locomotive vibrations for powering a whole headlight but were being improved.
For model railroading, this is really a non issue.
Rich
Rule 17 specified when headlights were to be dimmed or extinguished, and didn’t differentiate between types.
What many people don’t realize is that those oil headlamps weren’t simple wick-burners. They had vaporizing burners, and could illuminate obstacles at a range of several hundred yards.
The very earliest headlight was a bonfire on a sand bed, carried on a flatcar pushed by the locomotive…
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I find one of my challenges is to find out when a specific prototype was upgraded. I model early SP but during a recent trip to NJ, I had discussions with some experts on Ontario & Western steam on the NYC West Shore Division. It seems that in both cases headlight upgrades could be made on a locomotive class over a 10 to 20 year period and that modeling a specific locomotive in a specific time period depended a lot on how many accurately dated photographs are available not only, with regard to headlights but also with regard to other appliances such has water injection systems, valve gear, cylinders, and even number boards. I just love historical research and rivet counting trivia. Peter Smith, Memphis.
I have found a lot of data in Google books concerning the 1900 era I model just because I am curious. Found a lot in regular Google and Scroogle searches.
Very interesting info concerning car lighting, heating, air brakes, firing steam locomotives, etc.
http://books.google.com/books?id=fKZIAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA6-PA1&dq=electric+headlight#PRA6-PA19,M1
Rich