As seen in this pic, there are two lights up top, on either side of the water tank. Did these run in unison with the main light or serve some other function? Or does anyone know, hehe. Thanks for any help.
Welcome, RCB, to TrainBoard...those lights I think you refer to are "Classification" or "Class" lights. If I remember this right, under "Timetable/Train Order" operations, their color (red,green,white) indicates to others if they are: Green - a train running on a schedule, with additional 'sections' following on the same schedule authority; Red - final "section" of a scheduled train; White - an 'Extra' train with no schedule authority, proceeding under 'Orders' from the Dispatcher. In daylight, flags of the same colors, were prominently displayed in place of these lights. Here's more (authoritative) info: http://www.trains.com/trn/default.aspx?c=a&id=200 ...hope this helps. Bob C.
Thanks for the welcome and the info! I knew about the flags... don't know why I didn't think about the lights being associated with that. Thanks again
On a regular scheduled train (no following sections) the class lights would be dark, this also applies to the last section (no following sections) of a schedule. Red would be used only if the engine was operating as a train in reverse direction, the class lights would become marker lights at the rear of train and show red to the rear, same as a caboose. There also would be a place to mount class lights/markers on the rear of the tender if necessary.
