Hi Doug,
Yes, I know the icicle breakers were on the roof of the passenger FP7a's and
FP9a's for the protection of the dome. I did not know the prime purpose of
the Mars lights on the roof but it makes sense they were there to spot
icicles as well. I do have memories of riding both the Canadian and the
Dominion as a child in the 1950's and 1960's on our annual trek from Sudbury
to Montreal, and distinctly remember sitting in the Skyline dome car and
watching the circular pattern of both of those roof mounted Mars lights. No
tunnels between Sudbury and Montreal though.
But back to the Mars lights on these locomotives. If we assume the 14XX
series of FP7a's and FP9a's were the assigned passenger power, when I look
at photos of these 14XX locomotives in their as delivered "block" paint
scheme, some have the Mars lights atop the unit while others do not. All
have the icicle breakers though. In photos, if an A-A pair, the lead
locomotive has them, the trailing does not. That was what led to my
question regarding them possibly being removable. Obviously, an A-A pair
could be turned on a turntable so that the lead unit on the westbound trip
remains the lead unit on the eastbound trip. Or, if removable, the Mars
light could be moved from one unit to another.
Seeing they are on the roof of the FP's, it wouldn't be as easy as
transferring the front door light of the RDC, as I know they are, in fact,
removable.
I am simply puzzled that I can see the Mars light on some FP passenger units
and not others.
Mike
On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 12:28 PM, Doug Cummings <DougCummings@xxxxxxx>wrote:
I believe they were only on the passenger A units and the prime purpose was
to spot icicles and other things that could possibly strike the domes
further back in the train. They also put icicle breakers on the roof of
these same locomotives. For freight service they put icicle breakers on the
roof of a small group of box cars and ran them behind the locomotives in
the
mountains. They served the same purpose but it was to protect automobiles
being carried on the top level of bi and tri level auto cars. In those days
the bi and tri level auto cars were not enclosed like they are today.
Doug
Subject: [cpsig] Roof Mounted Mars Lights on CP FP7,s and CP FP9's
I have a question regarding the dual light mounted on the roof, basically
between the icycle breakers, of CP FP7's and FP9's. I have looked at many
photographs of these units and sometimes they are present, other times not.
Were they removable, and thus usually only on the lead diesel unit?
Mike
