Car Lights

I was hoping someone could tell me what the lights mean on the side of each car?

I have seen a green which seems to be alone and a red which is in a set of 4. One of the lights goes out when the doors are closed and they the other lights go off randomly before the train moves.

The green light means that the air brakes are in use (it goes out when they are released).

The red light means that the side doors are unlocked and open. It goes out when the doors are closed and locked.

A white light indicates that the hand brake is in use. You will see this in yards and terminals.

A yellow is a visual signal to the crew that someone pressed the crew notification switch in that particular car. This light flashes on and off until it is reset.

There is a blue light but I don't know what it would signify since I have never seen it in use.

Someone may feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the four lights (when I was younger at least, about 10 years ago) used to be used to display the route of the train.

Doesn't a Blue Light on most RRs mean that the car is being worked on by techs, usually in the yard (I think this is the case for the M-7s and other MNR/LIRR cars).

I thought that PATH operates or shares trackage with the NEC. If that is the case, could the blue lights be a requirement for when the cars are being worked on, and they took it one step farther and put the lights on the sides of the cars as well?

andy wrote:Doesn't a Blue Light on most RRs mean that the car is being worked on by techs, usually in the yard (I think this is the case for the M-7s and other MNR/LIRR cars).

I thought that PATH operates or shares trackage with the NEC. If that is the case, could the blue lights be a requirement for when the cars are being worked on, and they took it one step farther and put the lights on the sides of the cars as well?

I thought blue meant handbrake, at least on NJT. PATH doesn't run on any NEC trackage, but there is a connection to my knowledge.

ryanov wrote:Someone may feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the four lights (when I was younger at least, about 10 years ago) used to be used to display the route of the train.

You are correct but those are on the front of the train not the side:

Red = Newark-WTC
Yellow = Journal Square - 33rd St
Blue = Hoboken -33rd St
Green = Hoboken - WTC
Yellow over Green = Journal Sq via Hoboken (or 33rd St via Hoboken)

Allan wrote:

ryanov wrote:Someone may feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the four lights (when I was younger at least, about 10 years ago) used to be used to display the route of the train.

Yellow over Green = Journal Sq via Hoboken (or 33rd St via Hoboken)

Correction for you... Yellow and Blue (blue on the left, yellow on the right) is the via Hoboken route color. I was on it last night.

http://www.panynj.gov/path/images/PATH_MAP2.gif

...and I was referring to the lights on the side, not on the front. The front lights are still used for that today. To my knowledge, when I was younger ('course I was a kid, and I'm not TOO sure of my memory), I believe the side lights were used for that as well.