Greetings - I wondering if someone might have some knowledge on the short-lived Great Lakes Aerotrain (GLA) There were five headlights on the front end: The outside two were the main headlights, with a cluster of three towards the center - clear-red-clear - on what appears to be a gyro-mechanism. There's a photo in Jerry Pinkepank's book "New York Central Power In Color - Vol. 1" (pg. 34) that shows the GLA running with just the outside headlights operating and another photo where both outside headlights are on - i.e. the ones on either side of the center red headlight. The former appears to be on two-track main and the latter having just exited a yard. What I'm curious about is whether the Central utilized the gyro-mechanism on the center three headlights for their 6-month trial of the GLA in '56? If they did, when would they have used it? At grade-crossings, or running below a certain speed? Would the clear headlights and red headlight have been used exclusively of one another? I'd like to wire up and program my Con-Cor HO-scale model of the Aerotrain to reflect how the prototype would have operated it. Thanks for any help you might be able to offer me. Thanks,
For anyone interested: I was able to confirm from a short clip on the New York Central Odyssey Volume 1 DVD that the Great Lakes Aerotrain did run with Mars lights (Part 1: 34:33-34:38). I also discovered that the rear observation car had a rear flashing taillight (Part 1: 33:20-33:22). The video also confirmed that all four clear headlights were used on occasion. I have yet, however, found any footage that shows the use of the center red headlight, which comes on when my Con Cor version reverses direction. FWIW...
