![Outbound_train_at_Newtonville_at_night](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Outbound_train_at_Newtonville_at_night.jpg)
Trains include a variety of types of lights, for safety, illumination, and communicating train status. The most universal type of light is the
headlight
A headlamp is a lamp (electrical component), lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage (language), usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the ...
, which is included on the front of
locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
s, and frequently on the rear as well. Other types of lights include classification lights, which indicate train direction and status, and ditch lights, which are a pair of lights positioned towards the bottom of a train to illuminate the tracks.
History
![Union_Pacific_No](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Union_Pacific_No._119_02.jpg)
The earliest trains did not run at night, but the need for running trains at night soon became apparent. In the United States, early records of headlight usage date back to 1832: that year,
Horatio Allen
Horatio Allen (May 10, 1802 – December 31, 1889) was an American civil engineer and inventor, and President of Erie Railroad in the year 1843–1844.
Biography
Born in Schenectady, New York, he graduated from Columbia University in 1823, a ...
devised the first known locomotive headlight - though his "headlight" consisted of a burning pile of wood on a
flatcar
A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK), one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry ...
, followed by a giant reflector on a second flatcar, pushed by a locomotive.
While this method of illumination was impractical, other experimentation continued. One early method was to hang a number of
lantern
A lantern is an often portable source of lighting, typically featuring a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle or a wick in oil, and often a battery-powered light in modern timesto make it easier to carry and h ...
s off the front of a locomotive.
In the later 1830s, the first proper train headlight was built by two mechanics in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
: a box made of sheet metal and incorporating a reflector.
Mass production of locomotive headlights was started in 1838 in that state, and by 1850 they were a common sight on trains in the United States. By the dawn of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, nearly every locomotive in the country was equipped with a headlight.
![NKP 765 front shot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/NKP_765_front_shot.jpg)
Despite experiments and advances in headlight technology in the 1800s, the very idea of using headlights on trains was for a long time controversial. As late as 1886, a railroad official in the United States was quoted as saying "On a road engine the headlight is of no earthly use to the engineer; it obstructs his vision so that he cannot see his switch lights, and I think that every thinking engineer will come to the conclusion that he would rather run in the night without a lamp, than with it, as he can see better in the dark".
Early headlights were fueled by oil, though
kerosene
Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
-fueled headlights were developed as well in the 1850s. The discovery of electricity soon led to experiments with using it to power locomotive lights, with the first-known example, a battery operated light, being tested in Russia in 1874. In 1883, a railroad company in France also experimented with electrical lights, but the first example to go into production was designed by an American inventor in 1897. In 1915, the United States Congress passed a law mandating every train be equipped with an electric headlight, ending all debate about their utility.
Twin-sealed beam headlights were also invented after the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and they were designed in a way where two lightbulbs are installed in one headlamp.
Despite the widespread use of locomotive headlights in North America, in the United Kingdom trains typically ran without true headlights at night.
From the earliest days of British railways, it was decided that headlamps bright enough to usefully illuminate the path ahead of a train were both unnecessary and undesirable. Railways were legally required to be fully fenced off from surrounding land and road crossing were protected by gates. Unlike the many miles of lines running through sparsely-inhabited country in North America, British railways had manned
signal boxes
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetabl ...
and stations at relatively short intervals, more comprehensive
railway signalling
Railway signalling (), also called railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormou ...
(as opposed to American practice which quickly came to rely on
Train order operation
A train order is "an order issued by or through a proper railway official to govern the movement of trains". Train order operation is the system by which trains are safely moved by train orders. It is distinguished from other forms of train opera ...
), and most public
road crossings were staffed by dedicated keepers. Thus the risk of obstructions, wildlife, trespassers or loose animals on the line was significantly reduced and there was a good chance of it being possible to signal a train to stop before any accident occurred if the line was blocked. It was not necessary to fit trains with headlamps powerful enough to allow the crew to see usefully ahead, and it was reasoned that any such lamp would be so bright as to reduce the crews'
night vision
Night vision is the ability to see in low-light conditions, either naturally with scotopic vision or through a night-vision device. Night vision requires both sufficient spectral range and sufficient intensity range. Humans have poor night vi ...
and reduce their ability to see the relatively dim oil lamps used in signals and carried by trackside staff. British trains did carry lamps on the front of the locomotive, but these were small, low-powered oil lamps only slightly larger than a standard hand-held lamp. They served only to indicate the approach and location of a train to others and were of no use to the crew on the locomotive itself. These headlamps were carried in different numbers, patterns and colours to indicate either the type of train (express passenger, stopping passenger, perishable freight, express freight and so on) or the route the train was taking. This allowed signallers to properly assign priority to trains. By the 1920s these
headcodes had been largely standardised between the different railway companies, with the arrangements using between one and three white lamps mounted in four standard positions (one at the top of the
smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is e ...
door and three along the
buffer beam
A headstock of a rail vehicle is a transverse structural member located at the extreme end of the vehicle's underframe. The headstock supports the coupling at that end of the vehicle, and may also support buffers, in which case it may also be k ...
. The lamps themselves were painted white to serve the same purpose by day, although some companies replaced the lamps with solid white discs for greater clarity. Diesel and electric locomotives introduced by
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
initially retained the discs and four low-powered white lamps. This system of headcodes was abolished in 1960, with trains instead displaying a four-digit
train reporting number
A train reporting number in Great Britain identifies a particular train service. It consists of:
* A single-digit number, indicating the class (type) of train, followed by
* A letter, indicating the destination area, followed by
* A two-digi ...
on a large roller-blind screen mounted on the nose which was back-lit at night. This still provided no effective forward illumination. The reporting numbers were themselves withdrawn from 1976, with rolling stock being modified to show two low-powered white marker lamps which also served to indicate the presence of the train rather than throw light forward. Some locomotives and
diesel multiple units
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
working on remote lines in Scotland were fitted with single car-type headlamps alongside the two marker lamps to improve visibility at level crossings and to provide better visibility of wildlife and potential rockfalls on the track as local signal boxes and stations were closed. From the early 1980s - starting with the
British Rail Class 58
The British Rail Class 58 is a class of Co-Co diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight. The narrow body with cabs at either end led to them being given the nickname "Bone" by rail enthusiasts.
Their design represented a major departure fro ...
locomotive and the
Sprinter and
Pacer multiple units - a single high-intensity headlight was fitted to new stock which, for the first time in standard British railway practice, served to illuminate the rails ahead of a train at night. Older stock was quickly retrofitted with similar headlamps, although the twin low-power marker lamps remained a requirement.
Types
Train headlights
The headlights on
locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
s,
multiple unit
A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contr ...
s and
railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...
Classification lights
Also known as marker lights, these are used to provide information on the type and status of a train. Traditionally, classification lights existed in three colors: white lights indicated an "extra" train (a train that is not scheduled but added due to demand), green lights were displayed on a regularly scheduled train that was being followed by additional sections (extra train(s)), and red lights indicated the rear of a train.
In the 21st century, the first two types of classification lights are seldom used, but several railroad companies continue the use of red marker lights to indicate the rear of a train. This is particularly used when locomotives are pushing a train from the rear - seeing red marker lights indicates that the train is moving away from the viewer, not towards them.
Emergency lights
These lights activate when a train makes an
emergency brake application. Emergency lights are usually red, and often flash.
Ditch lights
Ditch lights, also known as auxiliary lights or crossing lights, are additional lights at the front and sometimes rear of a locomotive or
cab car
A control car, cab car (North America), control trailer, or driving trailer (UK and Ireland) is a non-powered rail vehicle from which a train can be operated. As dedicated vehicles or regular passenger cars, they have one or two driver compartm ...
that are positioned closer to the track than normal headlights. They are used to make trains easier to spot, for safety.
Many ditch lights are also designed to flash when a train sounds its horn, for additional visibility. Early versions of ditch lights were introduced on railroads in North America in the 1960s by
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
, and by the 1970s
Transport Canada
Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...
made them a requirement on locomotives.
The United States followed suit with a December 31, 1997, deadline for all "equipment operating over public grade crossings at speeds greater than 20 mph" to be equipped with ditch lights. Limited exceptions exist for historical equipment.
Regulations set out the position of ditch lights, including how far apart they are from each other and their height above the rails. The predecessor of the ditch lights was the
Mars Light
Mars Lights are signal-safety lights used in the United States and built by Mars Signal Light Company for railroad locomotives and firefighting apparatus. Mars Lights used a variety of means to cause the light to oscillate vertically, horizontall ...
.
Strobe lights
On
remote control locomotive
A remote control locomotive (also called an RCL) is a railway locomotive that can be operated with a remote control. It differs from a conventional locomotive in that a remote control system has been installed in one or more locomotives within the ...
s, a
strobe light
A strobe light or stroboscopic lamp, commonly called a strobe, is a device used to produce regular flashes of light. It is one of a number of devices that can be used as a stroboscope. The word originated from the Ancient Greek ('), meaning ...
is often used to indicate the locomotive is not occupied. Strobe lights are also used on normal locomotives as a means of making the train more visible.
Door indicator lights
On
passenger railroad cars
A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...
, there are often indicator lights above each external door that illuminate when the door is open. These allow the train crew to ensure a train does not leave a station until all doors are closed. In newer trains, they also flash when the door closes.
Train rearlights
The rearlights on
locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
s,
multiple unit
A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contr ...
s and
railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...
End-of-train device
See also
* ''
''
*
Headlamp
A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...
References
{{Reflist
Locomotive parts
Railway safety