Re: [cpsig] Roof Mounted Mars Lights on CP FP7,s and CP FP9's

  • From: "Roger Traviss" <rogertra@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 11:23:37 -0800

We are getting comments from people who never saw them in use and have
absolutely no idea how they worked or what they did. The light fixture
itself was fixed, but the light(s) moved in a figure 8 pattern, just like a
Mars light, and it they were angled towards the sky. The photo that was
posted yesterday showed how they were mounted and what looked like quite
well and also showed the position of the icicle breakers that were also
attached to the roof. They were not warning lights but the crew of an
oncoming train would certainly see them but they would almost certainly see
the headlights first as they were pointed directly at them.
Doug

Thanks again Doug.

However, I believe they were warning lights for people and vehicles at the line side, not other train crews, just as a Mars light was/is and not a warning for other train crews.

At night, the beams of those lights shining up into the night sky and especially if the beams were forming a figure eight or moving in any sort of pattern would draw attention to themselves long before the headlight became visible. Like strobe lights do these days, you see the strobe flashing in the night sky long before the lights of the vehicle they are attach to become visible.

Roger Traviss

Photos of the late GER: -
http://www.highspeedplus.com/~rogertra/

For more photos not in the above album and kitbashes etc..:-
http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/rogertra/Great_Eastern/


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