Headlights on at rear of train

One Sunday, a few years ago, my mom and I boarded the then 2:32p local from Penn. Just a normal ride home, I thought.

2:32 rolls around, doors close, and guess where we move. Backwards. So the conductor forgot to flip the seats, I inferred at first. However, about 20 ft. later, we halt. About a minute passes, and we start forwards, in the right direction. There was something weird about this train. Once outside the tunnel, there was only one ticket collector in sight. However, she looked like a short teenager, and the blue "overcoat" she had on didn't look "official". No announcements were made from there all the way to Metuchen, unless if the PA in our car was broken (which I highly doubt), and the method of how the engineer handled the train seemed to fit the skills of a mere amateur. Yes, I know a great majority of NJT workers are dedicated and see his/her job as meaningful, but this "crew" didn't fit that description.

Needless to say, as we got off at Metuchen and saw the train pull out, the headlights in the rear were left on along with the taillamps. Hmm. Did someone actually start the train the wrong way at Penn, and forget to turn the headlights off while fixing the error?

I hope this isn't too hard to answer.

I've seen a few trains in my time where the lights on the rear were left on from the previous trip. I have also seen a few times the train not having its headlights on while running.

About the reversing bit, sometimes when the engineer starts the train, the train will roll back a bit. But 20 feet sounds like a deliberate move to me. Maybe they had to reverse so as to clear a switch for another train? I don't know, just taking stabs in the dark.

And yes, there are a few really, really young crewmembers on NJT. Over this past summer, I saw this really cute girl assistant conductor working on the 9-car Gladstone MidTown Direct. Needless to say, riding the 9-car Gladstone MidTown Direct became a highlight of any day. "One way or round trip?"

Don't blame the engineer for shobby driving. It may well be the train itself (braking problems, etc. ad nauseum) or could be an engineer in training. Most engineers are up to the task though and take real pride in what they do.

Some crewmembers unfortunately do not. The anouncement thing is one example of this.

Every once and a while I'll see the dinky running with the rear headlight on.

I recently had an engineer who was heavy on the breaks with an Arrow set. I haven't heard the air breaks releasing air while moving at a decent speed since the rebuilds. The dyanamics were working (I could hear the annoying grid on the roof) but I could feel the breaks apply and hear the air release. I forgot about how bad those brake shoes smell, I never got use to that.

Has anyone one been on a packed NEC weekday morning train with a crew of straight from the class TC's. Talk about throughing people into the fire. I remember them actually punching the seat checks (well I was standing) for Newark instead of the tear.

Yes, I remember the smell of the brake shoes quite well. I was a kid in around kindergarten and I rode the Arrow IIs and IIIs on the Gladstone and back then, you really smelt them! To this day, I can still remember that smell quite distinctly. The Arrows had a distinctive smell to them.

F40 wrote:
...along with the taillamps. Hmm.

On the railroad, the red light or lights on the rear of the train are called markers.

Its pretty common for a train to be running and have the trailing unit (cab car or locomotive) running with its marker lights as well as ditch lights on.

F40 wrote:One Sunday, a few years ago, my mom and I boarded the then 2:32p local from Penn. Just a normal ride home, I thought.

2:32 rolls around, doors close, and guess where we move. Backwards. So the conductor forgot to flip the seats, I inferred at first. However, about 20 ft. later, we halt. About a minute passes, and we start forwards, in the right direction. There was something weird about this train. Once outside the tunnel, there was only one ticket collector in sight. However, she looked like a short teenager, and the blue "overcoat" she had on didn't look "official". No announcements were made from there all the way to Metuchen, unless if the PA in our car was broken (which I highly doubt), and the method of how the engineer handled the train seemed to fit the skills of a mere amateur. Yes, I know a great majority of NJT workers are dedicated and see his/her job as meaningful, but this "crew" didn't fit that description.

Needless to say, as we got off at Metuchen and saw the train pull out, the headlights in the rear were left on along with the taillamps. Hmm. Did someone actually start the train the wrong way at Penn, and forget to turn the headlights off while fixing the error?

I hope this isn't too hard to answer.

This and some of the other comments on here lead me to believe that
some of the people participating on this topic pretend that they know
more than the people who work for NJT and were trained to do a job.
I would bet that in no other occupation on earth are there people on the
outside who "think that they know more than the actual people who work
at that occupation".
There could be any number of reasons for the conditions that have been
indicated on here. Ninety Nine per cent of you have no idea what they
might be, you are only thinking and I do not think that you really know
what you are thinking about.
When I was running commuter trains, I got crap from people occasionally
for one thing or another and I will not go into the gory details here, it is
not necessary.
You people wonder why an engineer or conductor give you a dirty look or
might even yell at you for something, stupid comments like appear on
here at times do not help at all.
Finally, I strongly suggest that the powers to be lock this one up before it
becomes really strong.
Noel Weaver

Mr. Weaver:

I didn't see any carping or insults thrown around on this thread. No one was suggesting that they know more than the professionals. All of the posters have great respect for the trainmen and women on NJT, as can be seen from their posts both on this thread and others.

Why the strong reaction?

F40 wrote:2:32 rolls around, doors close, and guess where we move. Backwards. So the conductor forgot to flip the seats, I inferred at first. However, about 20 ft. later, we halt. About a minute passes, and we start forwards, in the right direction.
I hope this isn't too hard to answer.

Although this is normally performed before passengers get on the train, and certainly before departure, the backward/forward motion could very likely have been a cab signal or brake test.

My guess would be that on the hind end of the train, the marker lights weren't on. If the marker lights aren't on, the engineer won't get his "door closed" lights. Its not uncommon with the state of the crap NJT runs that the doors are actually closed, but the lights arne't on. So the engineer probably tried to draw for power anyway, couldn't, and rolled backwards a few feet. At that point, he probably said over the PA, to the rear brake (which was probably working, just not in your car) to go on the hind end, and check the marker lights. I say the PA was working, because most rearbrakes wouldn't think of doing that, and the engineer more than likely would have told them that over the PA.

So the rearbrake went into the cab car or the motor, whichever was on the hind end, and turned on the marker lights. In doing so, he probably forgot to check to see if the headlight was off, and it was left on from teh eastbound trip, OR the headlight wouldn't shut off, ive had that happen a few times.

It is perfectly acceptable for the rear headlight to be on dim if the marker lights or some red marker on the hind end of the train is not working. However, if this were to occur on a passenger train, the engineer will loose his door lights without the markers being on, so he would need to know this, so he could put the doors in bypass, and the train could move.

Jtgshu wrote:It is perfectly acceptable for the rear headlight to be on dim if the marker lights or some red marker on the hind end of the train is not working. However, if this were to occur on a passenger train, the engineer will loose his door lights without the markers being on, so he would need to know this, so he could put the doors in bypass, and the train could move.

Really. Didn't know that the marker lights affect the door lights in the cab. Interesting. Thanks Jt, I learned something today!

Yes, I learned something too. Thanks Jt.

How many marker lights must be on to be considered "regulatory"? I've seen a few trains with one of them burnt out. But there won't be a time when two are burnt? Do they use regular incandescents for these?

Noel Weaver:

I was not blaming the NJT crew nor assuming in my right mind that there was something wrong in what they did. I do believe a majority of the crew are dedicated on the job, and I am not debunking that assertion. Furthermore, it is not wrong to post an oddity in train service, as it not only feeds the curious mind but also it leaves something for me to pick up from those who do quality work on NJT and are posters of this forum.

Most of our equipment these days has two markers, although the Arrows and Comet Is also have a center bullseye marker. All the markers should be operational when a train leaves its initial terminal.

Initial terminal is one of those RR terms coined by the mechanical department so they can avoid making a repair, thus more recliner time.