I'll wade back in.
First of all, they did NOT equip the 34 FPs with gyralights, although they did
equip them with the brackets and plug-ins so the gyralight could be installed
at the shop when they were sset up to lead The Canadian. An authoritative
source has assured me the gyralight was not normally used on the Dominion, even
though it would often carry a Skyline dome. From time to time it appears the
gyralight was not removed at the end of a run so occasionally an FP would show
up on some other train with it still installed, but not necessarily operating.
The use of the gyralight on the Toronto-Sudbury section of The Canadian
definitely had nothing to do with icicles hanging from tunnels. Because their
regular use was restricted to The Canadian, the only reasonable conclusion is
that they were an advertising gimmick.
The case for the RDCs is rather different and may have had safety in mind.
There could well have been an advertising component here too, drawing attention
to the sleek new equipment. The removable lights for the RDCs would have made
them more visible at grade crossings. It may have helped but drivers were
probably as dumb then as they are now. I was told that during the brief period
VIA used RDCs for the Montreal-Sudbury connection for the Canadian the grade
crossing collision rate on the Chalk River and North Bay Subs more than
doubled. Certainly one factor in cancelling the Calgary-Edmonton service was
the number of grade crossing accidents. Even if people are looking, the 85
feet of a Dayliner may not register in their minds as an actual train. It may
not be as long, but it's just as wide and often a lot faster than a freight.
John
--- In cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Doug Cummings" <DougCummings@...> wrote:
The argument was the gyrolights were to make the train more visible. If that
was the case then why did they not use the gyrolights on all trains. The
fact remains they didn't, they only equipped the 34 FP's with this equipment
so the only trains that had the gyrolights were those trains that had an FP
leading. For the most part a significant number of the FP's were working
the Canadian at any given time, and many of the others would be on the
Dominion, leaving relatively few of them for assignments on other trains.
The only additional lights that were ever applied system wide were the ditch
lights. They had been adopted by CN earlier (it was CN who started using
ditch lights back in the 1920's or thereabouts), and eventually they were
also mandated in the U.S. as well. As Joe Smuin said earlier, ditch lights
did make a huge difference.
The icicle problem only existed in certain parts of the country, the
mountains of B.C. being one of the better examples. But, and this point has
been made several times before, they did not have dome cars until 1955 and
they only ran on certain routes.
These points have all been made before, so why is there a need to keep
repeating them over and over again?
Doug
At 13:27 11/29/2010, you wrote:
...snipped..used on other trains?
It is your opinion that they are warning lights and a p.r. stunt. You
say this is likely correct as it is the simplest explanation. Is it?
That is not what I was told, and I was given that explanation by
railroaders, engine service employees of the CPR. And again I make the
case and ask the question that if they were warning light why were they not
Doug
The corollary argument is that if they were used for spotting icicles why
where they not used on other trains? If it was a safety issue as you
suggest then would it not be logical to apply them to all other units
running through the Rockies west of Calgary?
-
Bruce Wilson
Barrie, Ontario
Life Member NMRA Member Gauge 0 Guild
Member Scale 7 Group Member 7mm NGA
Member Bird Studies Canada Member Ontario Field
Ornithologists
Member Ontario Bird Banding Association
