Ditch lites on GPs...

[tunnel88]

I know BNSF has recently put ditch lights on the long hood end of some SD9s(i've seen em) but just the other day i spotted a GP39 with a fresh pair on the long end hood that hadn't been painted yet. Anyone know if this is a new trend? I know UP did this quite a while back on their SWs and yard GPs, but i hadn't seen this before on the BNSF till just very recent...

[Mankind]

I've noticed the same thing on Santa Fe GP7/9U's assigned to the locals in the Orange County area here in SoCal. Must be a recent thing, since I've only noticed it in the past few months. I guess they're following UP's lead in having ditch lights on both ends of units assigned to locals, in case only one unit is available, and they have to make part of their run long-hood first.

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Have A Nice Day!

[Maxwell Plant]

Last week, I spotted a CN/IC train heading to Peoria, IL. with the lead loco running long hood first, it had the ditch lights on the back porch too. I found that strange but I guess it's becoming a trend everywhere. Makes sence to me...

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Brent Tidaback, Member #234
BNSF Railfan-to-the Max and a N-Scaler to boot!
"Ship it on the Route of The Roadrunners!"
The Aransas Odessa & Western, a division of the BNSF

[Gats]

I think Mankind touched on the reason for the rear mount ditchlights.
My thinking is these are local service units used on jobs that would probably require only one loco to service the branch or local switch job.
This being the case, ditchlights are, IIRC, Ferderally mandated for the front of all locomotives, or in this case the rear running forward. It could be a little disruptive to service if they find no loco available with rear ditchlights, so I imagine all Geeps will be fitted as a matter of course.

Gary.

[Craig Martyn]

As Mankind was saying, the local through Fullerton, CA had the two GP9U's on it a couple of weeks ago (not sure what is on there right now) and they had front and back ditch lights. It does make sence.

FYI: I was in Fullerton this morning and got to see BNSF C44-9W #4449!! That's the one they used for help on some steam trips! Now if I could see #4426 again (for some reason I like that BNSF loco more than any other).

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Craig Martyn

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[Alan]

Is it neccessary for locomotives that are only used for switching in yards to have ditch lights, or just for road use?

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Alan

The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale!

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[tunnel88]

I think it's required if the unit will cross level crossings above a certain speed...

[LCSO_927]

We had a discussion about this in another forum, I think that any kind of warning lights (such as Mars lights) can take the place of ditch lights. And I've been under the impression that any unit used at the head of a consist had to have ditch lights. I never considered that speed might have something to do with it. It could also be anything that leads a train outside of yard limits. Some short lines are so short their whole mainline is within yard limits. The weird thing about those rules is that it's legal to make a reversing movement without any lights on the front of the train, as long as someone is up front (usually on a caboose) looking for obstacles on the track and relaying signals to the engineer.

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Mike Smith lcso_927@hotmail.com
Eugene, Oregon

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[tunnel88]

I'll dig something up real quick...


Okay, here's the rule- d) Effective December 31, 1997, each lead locomotive operated at a speed greater than 20 miles per hour over one or more public highway- rail crossings shall be equipped with operative auxiliary lights, in addition to the headlight required by paragraph (a) or (b) of this section. A locomotive equipped on March 6, 1996 with auxiliary lights in conformance with Sec. 229.133 shall be deemed to conform to this section until March 6, 2000. All locomotives in compliance with Sec. 229.133(c) shall be deemed to conform to this section. Auxiliary lights shall be composed as follows: and this is from http://trainweb.com/gyra/dc_lts.htm ...

[Alan]

Thanks for the explanations fellas. I will fit ditch lights on all the road engines on my model railroad, even though I don't have any grade crossings! http://www.trainboard.com/biggrin.gif

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Alan

The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale!

www.ac-models.com (http://www.ac-models.com)
Andersley Western Railroad (http://www.trainweb.org/andersleywestern/)
Alan's American Gallery (http://galleryusarail_tehcaj.homestead.com)