Does CSX have certain specs for headlight placement? I was noticing that more often than not CSX locos have the headlight mounted on the nose rather than above the cab. I don't recall seeing headlights mounted on the noses of NS locos. I also noticed that it didn't make much difference whether it was GE or EMD. Thanks in advance. Dan
I don't know if there are any specs or not... I know going back to the Seaboard Coast Line days, most of the low hood locomotives had the headlight on the nose, while they had Gyralights or Pyle oscillating lights between the number boards on the cab. I do know that CSX has quite a few units that have the headlights on the cab, specifically some SD40 body rebuild units. Harold
More locos that come to mind with the headlights on the cab as opposed to low nose are GP40-2's, SD50's/60's/70's and C40-8's. The SD40-2's have either, depending on where they came from. I guess the main thing is, I don't think they have moved headlights to the nose to maintain a spec.
I'm thinking I should have asked this in the NS section. I see more variation on the other roads and none on NS. Does NS have specs on headlight placement?
Headlight placement is a moving target. I'm more familiar with BNSF practive, but prior to the merge, Headlights were often placed above the cab. This illicited many complaints, because the lights cause glare at night affecting vision. So BNSF has been moving all of them to the nose. Obviously, they don't do them all at once, so you may catch units that haven't had it done. I'm sure the other railroads have the same issues. Prior to consolidation, each railroad had a spec on where they wanted the headlights. A spec that may have even changed order to order. When they merged, the merged company had locos with all sorts of different extras and headlight placements. The question is how much they are willing to spend to unify the fleet.
There are federal regs specifying placement of ditch lights and there are different requirements depending on the placement of the main headlight. If the main headlight is mounted low (on the nose) then the ditch lights have to be farther apart to give the desired triangle effect. Placement of the headlight is at the discretion of the company at the time of the order.
