Are the blinking beacons on these devices supposed to be on or off during daylight hours?
Seems like I’ve seen them both ways alot lately, and I always thought they were always on…
I don’t know the actual rules but I believe they are suppossed to always be on. Maybe someone with more insight can clue us in.
Andrew
I too thought they were always on, but I have seen a few off. I do wonder why that happens sometimes.
Noah
Around here,on the BNSF,the are off during the day,and only come on at dusk.
I have never seen one on during daylight hours.
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At least some of them have a photo cell to turn them on and off as conditions require. They will go when passing under a bridge or through a tunnel. At dusk they frequently cycle on and off passing through shadows.
They come on while it’s cloudy or in a tunnel or at night and such and in the rain.
Most EOT’s are battery powered and, as we all know, batteries don’t last forever. With the two way EOT’s that are required (at least for night time operation, or operation in territory that has 1% grade for greater than 3 miles) if communication is lost between the HTD and EOT the train must reduce to 30 MPH, until communication is restored betweeh HTD and EOT. If communication is lost in territror where the grade is 2% or greater, the train must be stopped and actions taken to restore the ability of the EOT to perform its dual function…dentoe the end of the train and initiate an emergency brake application from the rear of the train when so ordered by engineer activing the proper switch on the HTD.
Within the past couple of years there are ‘air powered’ EOT’s, that have a small air powered generator to keep the battery charged while there is air pressure in the brake pipe…thus legthening battery life.
EOT on at night off during the day.
LC
They can be interesting to watch during twilight or stormy conditions. You know the weather’s bad when those EOTs start blinking!
I know alot of you won’t believe but I have seen EOTD’s that Blink on a bright sunny day,And thats no joke.
BNSFrailfan.
I beleive it is always on.
All the EOTs I’ve seen have the photo cell to turn the flashing light on at night or other times of diminshed sunlight.
I’ve noticed when stopped behind a train, the train ahead starts to move, the light will flash a few times. Also when stopped, when a train goes by on an adjacent track at track speed, the rush of air will slightly “bounce” the EOT, causing the light to flash a few times. On the cab display the EOT will briefly show as moving, so you can tell when another train is going around you even if they don’t give you a call on the radio.
Thanks EspeeFoamer!! I guess a “dirty photocell” might account for the blinkers I’ve seen on in the daytime…
On the BNSF and CP through central MN, usually off during the day and on at twilight and evening hours. Probably on a photo cell as mentioned above.
To maximize their safety enhancing features, wouldn’t they want them to be blinking anytime they are hanging on a coupler? Couldn’t it just be that due to low battery power that you can’t make out the blinking in bright sunlight? Shutting down on a stopped train after 5 minutes? What train needs more rear-end collision protection than a stopped train? These operating “rules” seem counter-intuitive to me.
Depends if you have a smart FRED or a dumb FRED. FRA is trying to phase out the non-telemetry dumb FREDs/ ETMs…
rrnut282
The EOT has only 2 perposes. first being able to send a reading to the head end of air pressure on the rear. and the other is to be able to put the train in emergency from the rear. Now the requirments set by the fra is to flash anytime visability is poor or from dusk to dawn. if the battery is dead you wont get a reading on what the air pressure is and you cant put it in emergency. but if you are comming up behind it you can see it as there is reflectors built in…
Now just because you lose communication with the device dont mean you haft to slow down. it just means there hasnt been any change for a transmission to take place. also it was stated you would want a flashing light to warn you of a train ahead. most generally you already know the train is there but at night in the dark in the middle of no where it is hard to tell the distance( for me anyways) of how far ahead the rear is when you get a blip every 3-5 sec.
Isn’t there a third purpose? I thought they also served as a marker. A lot of railroads (and the FRA, I think) define a train as “a locomotive and/or locomotive and any number of cars with a marker”. The light and reflective tape serve this purpose.
I agree with you that without a fixed reference it would be extremely difficult in the dark to judge closing distance with a blinking light that may or may not be moving also. Would it be better if they went to a steady glow when a train is stopped?