Q about caboose lights

[MilwRoader_Steve]

Seems to be a new fad thing about lighting Cabeese. My question is about Prototype ops:

Would a caboose in operation on the rails, either short haul or long haul, have any interior lights on? Wouldn't the conductor rather keep it dark so he could view the train from the cupola?

Steve J

PS, if not the right forum for this type of question, kindly move it where appropriate. Thanks.

 

[Smudge617]

I never thought about that, bet Willie knows tho'

 

[bnsf971]

The lights would be on for the conductor to do his paperwork, the cupola or bay window, where the rear-end brakeman would be, would not have lights.

 

[santafewillie]

Like Terry posted, lights on in the caboose for paperwork, cooking, eating, going to the toilet or playing cards with fellow riders. Lights off in the cupola, I'm not sure how lights affect the bay windows since I have never been in a bay window caboose.

 

[DeltaGlider]

Yeah, the perpetual poker game . . .

 

[cv_acr]

Note that many older cabooses didn't have any fixed lights in them, so lighting would just be a kerosene lamp on the table.

Agree that you would not have one up in the cupola. Just in the main part of the caboose where the stove and table are.

More modern cabooses with electric lighting I am not 100% sure if they would have lights in the cupola either.

 

[Twinboystrains]

The last bay window caboose I was in only had a kerosene lamp by the desk. With the lamp on low, I’m sure you could see enough to get around without tripping over something. Growing up, we had a kerosene lamp. My grandfather knew how to trim the wick so that you could turn down the lamp and have a burning candle be brighter. No smoke either.

 

[dave1905]

Depends, some do have lights in the cupola, some don't. Some have electric lights in the main area, some don't. Depends on the age and how it's equipped.

The lights in the cupola would be so they could read orders, timetables, etc in the cupola. When the crew was in the cupola (and they weren't 100% of the time) if they needed to read something at night, they would turn on the light read it, then turn the light off.

 

[CGW121]

Well a light for the conductors desk but you would not see it from the outsi

Mike

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

Interesting. So am I correct in summarizing the consensus that underway lights in a caboose is not prototypical?

Of course, not that much else is on MY railroad!

 

[Espeefan]

If you're working in HO scale it'll be tough to tell the difference. Correct car lighting would be pretty dim in HO scale, not like some of the cars that look like there are bare arc lights in them! O scale would be more visible, and more practical to do. I have two HO cabeese with lighted interiors. An Athearn Genesis, and a Tangent. I seldom use either feature. If I were going to light a caboose, I'd light the markers. People will see those.

 

[logandsawman]

The last bay window caboose I was in only had a kerosene lamp by the desk. With the lamp on low, I’m sure you could see enough to get around without tripping over something. Growing up, we had a kerosene lamp. My grandfather knew how to trim the wick so that you could turn down the lamp and have a burning candle be brighter. No smoke either.

I am a great grandpa so qualified to agree here.

Trimming the wick is very easy, just a matter of sliding off the chimney, raising the unlit wick with the little knob, and cutting with a scissors, straight across removing most of the charred portion. You can trim it differently to affect the shape of the flame.

We usually cleaned the chimney daily. This is as easy as crumbling up some newspaper, I like to dampen it a bit, and that easily wipes away the accumulated soot. Usually we cleaned the chimney daily. Has something to do with the quality of kerosene.

A little off topic.

Dave LASM