Not to sound like a total idiot, but did trains run night and day back in the latter half of the 1800s like they do today ?. I have a number of train books but none of them even mention running at night. If not, then what where their head lights for ?..
Tracklayer
I believe I have read where they did but not that often, and certainly not like today. Some of the earliest trains that ran at night built a fire on a flatcar and pushed it ahead of the engine. By and large I think night running was avoided as much as possible back then. On the other hand I am no expert on this one…
You might want to post this over on the prototype info forum.
Late 1800’s they did. Once the headlight was invented ( albeit the first one was like posted a fire on a flatcar witha flatcar load of sand or dirt inbetween it and locomotive)
Railroads did a lot to change the social thinking of the day. Used to be nothing moved on Sunday. However once the railroads were going full tilt the preachers were told basicly sorry this trains going to run. Just like no one worked after sundown. Till the railroad came.
WOnder what it would be like to tie a train down on the main cause :we cant work its sunday or its after sundown!"
I saw a special that showed all the horrable wrecks they had back then do to poor communications, poor breaking and bad track and bridge work. Engineer was a dangerous job. (breakman was worse)
Tracklayer,
“Casey” Jones was killed at night in 1900 trying to make up time.
Railroading was dangerous for everyone in its early days–even passengers! Early rail was an iron strap bolted to a wooden rail–if the strap came loose, it often popped up and ended up ramming through the bottom of the wooden cars, called a “snakehead,” and much mayhem and dismemberment often accompanied such events. Colliding wooden cars often “telescoped”–one car would physically enter the other, typically with nasty results to any passengers inside the telescoped car. And if there was a fire burning in the pot-bellied wooden stove when an accident occurred, an accident was only the beginning of the danger for anyone on board.
And yes, it was done at night, from the middle 1800s on. The flatcar with a fire on it was a relic of the 1830s–by 1840 or 1850 the basic idea of a headlight (basically an oil lantern with a reflector) was worked out. Night running had advantages–less traffic, so actually less risk of accident than daytime running.
I highly recommend Richard Reinhardt’s “Workin’ on the Railroad” for some great tales of being a railroadman in the 19th Century.
Those humongous vaporizing-oil headlights really did throw a pretty powerful beam of light. Problem was (and is) that the beam is parallel to the centerline of the locomotive, not necessarily where the engineer needs to see. That’s why a lot of those old crash reports include something like, “After rounding the curve, we suddenly saw (fill in the blank)…”
Biggest danger to brakemen was the link-and-pin coupler, which mangled innumerable hands and amputated even more fingers. Very few brakemen ended their rail careers with all ten digits. (Actually saw link and pin couplers in use in 1970 - but the brakies were using long-handled hooks to handle the links. Kiso Forest Railway in central Japan.)
As I understand it, the wayfreights worked during the day, so the crewmen could see what they were doing, and businesses were open to ship and receive. After dark, the through trains would run.
For the most part, anyway.
Brad
No, I didn’t know that… Thanks Billba.
Tracklayer
What’s so idiotic about that? It’s a dam good question. A lot better than some of the crap that’s been on here lately. I didn’t know the answer, myself.