How come conrail was really the only Class 1 freight road to use these?
And why do some units on NS and CSX still have them complete with red lenses, then others with simple covers, and others fully welded up and what-not?
They were to be used as the rear marker when moving light or as a helper. The law allows a headlight on dim as a rear marker, but after a SEPTA wreck where there was some confusion about a headlight on dim being used as a rear marker, SEPTA, Amtrak and Conrail all decided that a red marker would be better. I don’t remember if this was a gov’t mandate or just RR action in advance of a potential mandate.
NS has been removing them. CSX has not been as agressive in removing them. I’m not sure what they do for a rear marker in those instances when a locomotive needs one.
I suspect (Don can confirm this, I think) that the situation is like that SP faced with GyraLites. If NS were to ‘keep’ the special lighting, they would be required to maintain it in full working order, follow all special operating rules, etc. –
Not sure if leaving the red glass lenses in place, but removing the lighting equipment behind them qualifies as a solution (SP plated their lights over, and NS is clearly doing that with some of the units, perhaps ‘finalizing’ the removal only when units are shopped or painted?)
I can see additional issues if they leave the lights – they might be required to install the red lights on every NS engine that runs on the affected mileage (SEPTA?), or on ex-Conrail trackage; now that PRR has been folded into the parent company, might even have to apply the lights to ALL NS power…
Easier to plate 'em off. Pity…
Off-topic question: oltmannd - what is the train in the picture you attach to your posts? Don’t think I’ve ever seen it before. Also, is the automobile in the background a 1965 Ford Galaxie 500? Just curious, thanks.
My dad had a 65 Ford Custom or Custom 500 that he bought new. He loved that car. The Custom and Galaxie looked very much alike. It was a good car.
Isn’t that an aerotrain?
The train in that picture is a United Aircraft (now General Dynamics) TurboTrain. It was not notably successful, though, since Amtrak didn’t copy them and only used the UAs for a while NYC( GCT at first then,penn sta)-Boston(south station). Then they were tried out on a long commuter run, Washington DC-Cumberland MD, where there just wasn’t the business to justify the train. CN got four sets for Montreal-Toronto runs, but they were just as troublesome as the US/DOT/ Later Amtrak sets. CN sold off the two surplus sets to Amtrak, but one set did something the UAs were famous for, it caught fire when a fuel line ruptured! The rest went to VIA, which ran them on the Meridian Rapido, until 1983. They were retired, unloved and unmourned by all but railfans! Amtrak gave up on the UAs and tried French RTG turbos in the mid west, where they drew mixed reviews. They were rebuilt with Rohr-style noses, which led to their being nicknamed “humpbacks”. They are are all scrapped, to my knowledge. Rohr built some trainsets in 1974-5, for the Empire corridor, where they did OK when they were within six months of their last overhaul! They were last rebuilt in 2003-4, two trains worth, but Amtrak and Albany are at loggerheads about the future of rail passenger service in the New York Soviet Socialist Republic! The NYSSR wants to kill Amtrak in the NYSSR, with Metro-North “service” running to Albany, the rest? Fuhgetaboutit![B)][xx(] OK, back to the topic here! BOTH NS and CSX are removing the red built-in marker lights, since NS and CSX hang markers on helper units when they are on the rear. When CSX runs a local job with units on each end, the “ditch lights” along with the marker, (if any) suffice, meeting FRA end of train marker regulations. Whew!