For Engineers - Headlight Placement

So there's an ad for the Kato EMD SD40-2 loco model in the August 2006 RMC. The ad text says...

In the late 1980s the Santa Fe started a program of lowering the headlights of locomotives from the traditional location found between the number boards near the top of the cab to a position in the nose of the unit in an effort to reduce eye strain of its engineers.

Which seems reasonable.

Alas, the next sentence in the ad states the Santa Fe and Burlington Northern railroads merged into the BNSF in 1955

I would have to wonder if the dirrecne gos by weather and visablity factors. Becouse a train travels with high beams on all the time on a cab roof you would have more of a flash back affect if in real thick fog or while traveling in thick snow fall. the light would be harder to fix in bad weather compared to a nose light. Compare it to a nose light the refection of light is lower makeing less of a strain on peoples eyes with less light being reflected back in near white out condtions in the fog or in bad snow fall. That and the light is easyer to clean off and fix if it should blow out.

I think the headlights look better on the top of the cab. Unless your the SP and put them all over the place. The only headlight that should be in the nose of a locomotive should be a gyralite.....

How about BC Rail units they look like they got 3 sets of head lights with the lights being on the cab roof the nose and near the porch.

The ones near the porch are called "ditch lights"

overseer wrote:How about BC Rail units they look like they got 3 sets of head lights with the lights being on the cab roof the nose and near the porch.

BCR units have the headlight on the nose. Below the head lights are the ditch lights, and below the ditch lights are the cornering lights, they shine around corners while the ditch lights shine in the ditches.

I am looking, and I see the dual ditch lights, but don't see the roof lights.....



Photo courtesy of "Fallen Flags" website

GOLDEN-ARM wrote:I am looking, and I see the dual ditch lights, but don't see the roof lights.....

Photo courtesy of "Fallen Flags" website

See my post above.

ENR3870 wrote:

GOLDEN-ARM wrote:I am looking, and I see the dual ditch lights, but don't see the roof lights.....

Photo courtesy of "Fallen Flags" website

See my post above.

Ment to say some of there 2ed hand units had lights mounted on the cabs C30-7's and some of there GE 4 Axle units had all them lights mounted on them and still retained there Cab mounted Head Lights. As well as there RS-18CAT's which had a hood mounted head light with the bell mounted next to it on the cab.

Those nose mounted headlites, might be an "agreement" issue, required under contract. If BC added a nose light, without blanking the cab lite, that might account, for the double headlites, you are mentioning. These are different, of course, from the class lights, also up there on the top of the cab face, either side of the number boards.........