Why did SP remove their diesel lights in the 80's

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

One detail I really like about SP locomotives is the lighting arrangement at the front and rear of their diesels. This included the mars light and regular headlights in the nose and the same lighting in the rear. Why did SP remove the mars light in the nose and rear during the mid 80’s.

Thanks and take care,

2

I think your best bet for a reliable answer is the Southern Pacific’s Historical Society.
Joe Fugate, who is one of our resident experts on nearly everything on these forums just happens to model the SP in the 1980s. He probably has the answer. Now that you’ve asked it, you have me curious, too. Please let us know what you find out.

Cheers

3

You might have better luck posting this in the Trains.com forum, on the Railroads Forum. YOu have a lot of guys who are more into the real thing and the history. Probably have more folks with the knowledge of prototypical facts than here…
Good luck,

Best Regards
John k

4

It cost money to use those extra lights and I have heard that if the gyra-light’s (I think that is the correct name) mechanism that moved the lights around went out, the FRA mandated that the locomotive be bad ordered until fixed because a moving part did not work. Of course maintaining that mechanism also cost money. SP figured the extra lights cost more than they were worth.

5

I’ve seen photos.

SP locos of the 1970s, especially some of the switchers, could light up a stadium!

With the features of DCC, it would really be neat to see more SP modelers that model the SP units of the 70s and 80s equip their units with all lights functioning.

6

The light groups were removed during the ill-fated SP/Santa Fe merger. The Santa Fe was evidentally going to have controlling interest, and used roof-top strobes intead of the mars lights that SP used, so the SP light groups were removed, blank plates were riveted over the openings, and strobes were mounted on the cab roofs. Simultaneously, 100 locomotives were repainted in the Kodachrome SPSF or SFSP colors before the ICC disallowed the merger and the two roads remained separate.