Lamp Head codes on Preserved Lines

[clecklewyke]

Yesterday I asked the driver of a train on a preserved line (I better not say which, to protect the innocent) whether they would be running the train still displaying a light engine head code - i.e. a single lamp on the central lamp iron on the buffer beam, or would they move the lamp to indicate a stopping passenger code, with the lamp on the top (chimney) lamp iron before they set off.

 

He replied very dismissively "it's on the front isn't it!"

 

Either he did not know about lamp head codes on "real" railways or there is a different ruling for preserved lines.

 

Anyone know which is the case?

 

It did seem to me that if they were not following the correct rule (including that for the rear red lamp) they were just following a meaningless ritual because "that's the way it's done" - which has been the cause of many railway accidents.

 

Ian

[PhilH]

What headcode would you use on a bit of line that goes from nowhere to nowhere? On the Mid Hants we normally use London to Southampton via Alton, which is nonsense really as we only run from Alton to Alresford. Sometimes for a change I run with London to Hong Kong via Venice (just kidding) but in reality as long as you have a lamp/disc on the front and a tail lamp, whether onlight engine or train, the signalman knows the train is complete and all is well.

[LMS2968]

The standard headcodes tended to be honoured more in the breach than otherwise, at least as far as light engine movements were concerned. It was easier to place the lamp above a buffer rather than in the middle, especially if that position was to be used when the train was actually dispatched. Similarly, the tail lamp would also be over one of the buffers. It would be unusual though for a light engine to run with the lamp at the chimney, but I don't say it didn't happen.

[mcowgill]

It will be down to the rule book on each railway, probably based on the BR version but amended for local requirements.   There's almost certainly no requirement to display the 'proper' main line lamps, it's probably merely a requirement to display head and tail lamps, if the crew want to be more specific with their headcode that would be their choice unless the rulebook says otherwise.

 

Martin

[clecklewyke]

I think I agree but I would like to know if there is a rule that preserved railways should obey. If not it would be nice to get it "correct", with the train properly lamped up as a stopping passenger, if only for cosmetic reasons, or as the Waterloo-Simplon Orient Express if your railway goes that way.

 

Incidentally, why did BR continue with the rule that all trains should have a red tail lamp, even when it was continuously braked? If such a train split, there was no chance of it arriving at the next signalbox.

[Pacific231G]

 

 

Incidentally, why did BR continue with the rule that all trains should have a red tail lamp, even when it was continuously braked? If such a train split, there was no chance of it arriving at the next signalbox.

Even continuous brakes have been known to fail. The brakes might not have been properly set (that caused a disastrous accident in Paris a few years ago),a small split in a vacuum or air pipe could have resulted in it becoming frozen, or something else might be blocking the pipe as happened in the Seven King's collision on the Eastern Region in 1963.

 

On a theoretically fail-safe system such as a railway an accident, unless caused by a catastrophic failure,  tends to be the result of a chain of circumstances (sometimes known as "the ducks lining up ") Break any link in that chain and the accident doesn't happen. Even though a split  train with continuous brakes cannot in theory do anything except come to a rapid stop in reality it might not stop; the red tail lamp provides another opportunity to break the chain if its absence is noticed and acted on by any railway worker.    

[Gordon A]

My understanding through reading various books written by signal men was that a tail lamp was the indication that the train was complete when it passed them.

If no tail lamp the  train would be stopped at the next signal, with the crew contacting a box to find out why they have been stopped.

 

The tail lamp is the responsibilty of the guard unless on a light engine move.

 

Gordon A

Bristol

[The Stationmaster]

If i'd been the Driver a suitable quick riposte would have been 'That's the way we do it here, no worries about classification - we just have lamps front & rear'  Much friendlier!  and it's often amusing to see in old pictures how many 'big railway' trains were incorrectly lamped - unless of course they were lamped to local codes, such as a central lamp on the bufferplank

for a Class B train as was sometimes the case on the GWR.

 

 

It doesn't really matter, a railway can do what it likes about lamping its trains on its own lines but they ought really to have a tail lamps if they have signalboxes to indicate to the Signalmen that the train is complete.

[Fat Controller]

My understanding through reading various books written by signal men was that a tail lamp was the indication that the train was complete when it passed them.

If no tail lamp the  train would be stopped at the next signal, with the crew contacting a box to find out why they have been stopped.

 

The tail lamp is the responsibilty of the guard unless on a light engine move.

 

Gordon A

Bristol

I was told by someone working at Port Talbot Panel that they used to regularly get calls from a crossing-box on the Up side of Stormy Down bank to say that the Port Talbot- Llanwern ore trains were not displaying a tail lamp. It turned out that the trains used to pass the summit so slowly that local youths used to run behind and steal the lamps..

[Sam Moss]

At Butterley, trains tend to run either with class 1 or 2 lamps.

All passenger trains are given class 2 headcodes on the working timetables. e.g. the second service to do a Pye Bridge (Riddings) to Hammersmith service would be 2H12.

[roythebus]

The KESR rule is a white light to be displayed on the front of the train and a red lamp to the rear.

 

The other purpose of the tail lamp if the train DOES split is to show any assisting train where the back bit of the train is! So if the front bit goes past the signalbox with no tail lamp, it cannot proceed without a tail lamp beyond that point as it is then a complete train!

[Bulleidnutter]

This isn't on a preserved railway but shows precedent for showing both headcode and tail lamp on one end. 

http://www.semgonline.com/coach/pics/kh_maun602.jpg

[PhilH]

This isn't on a preserved railway but shows precedent for showing both headcode and tail lamp on one end. 

http://www.semgonline.com/coach/pics/kh_maun602.jpg

 

That applies when you're not sure if you're coming or going.

[Boris]

Referring to the OP its more likely the driver was actually meaning "sod off and stop being a smartarse" rather than an anything goes philosophy, some people just don't react well to being caught out by a member of the public as evidenced by his less than friendly manner.  A similar incident occurred on another railway on one of the end of steam commemoration event where a train ran on a short working without a headlamp but someone had chalked a reporting number on the smokebox.  Nobody noticed until one photter started jumping up and down at the terminus, the response from the driver being "ahh, its got the headcode chalked on the smokebox, we don't need a lamp" and the photter nodded sagely before wandering off apparently satisfied whilst the driver produced a lamp and the fireman nearly wet himself laughing.

 

No, I'm not implying anyone is a smartarse.

[standardblue]

Another reason for not displaying a 'correct' lamp code may be that the engine may not have a full suite of brackets. This is common on industrial engines.

 

(And where industrials have been 'retro-fitted' with a full set, I've encountered brackets which won't take a lamp due to incorrect bracket dimensions!) 

[phil-b259]

As far as my local line is concerned the rule book the rule (no. 119) governing "Engine Headcodes" to give it its proper title includes the following:-

 

"All engines must display the headcode appropriate to the train and engine unless specific instructions have been given to the contrary"

 

"Where lamp brackets permit codes will be displayed by discs by day and white lights at night or during fog or falling snow........."

 

"Drivers must ensure that the correct headcode is displayed before the commencement of each journey"

 

Then follows 8 illustrated headcode options to chose from although the one most often seen is supposed to be only used for pre 1923 engines without the extra lamp brackets, features crossed* discs / lamps and is described as the "Brighton and East Grinstead via Lewes" code.

 

*in practice all white is used 99% of the time.

 

Another point worth remembering is on the Southern, headcode discs frequently not only indicated the class of train, but also where it was heading to in the same vein as the two character headcodes fitted to EMUs Southern based locos were therefore fitted with 6 brackets in total compared to the four used by everybody else.

[PhilH]

As far as my local line is concerned the rule book the rule (no. 119) governing "Engine Headcodes" to give it its proper title includes the following:-

 

"All engines must display the headcode appropriate to the train and engine unless specific instructions have been given to the contrary"

 

"Where lamp brackets permit codes will be displayed by discs by day and white lights at night or during fog or falling snow........."

 

"Drivers must ensure that the correct headcode is displayed before the commencement of each journey"

 

Then follows 8 illustrated headcode options to chose from although the one most often seen is supposed to be only used for pre 1923 engines without the extra lamp brackets, features crossed* discs / lamps and is described as the "Brighton and East Grinstead via Lewes" code.

 

*in practice all white is used 99% of the time.

 

Another point worth remembering is on the Southern, headcode discs frequently not only indicated the class of train, but also where it was heading to in the same vein as the two character headcodes fitted to EMUs Southern based locos were therefore fitted with 6 brackets in total compared to the four used by everybody else.

...but as I said in my earlier post what is the correct headcode for a line going from nowhere to somewhere in between?

[PatB]

I've always been under the impression that the tail lamp has a secondary function as the very last line of defence against a rear collision in the event of a following train overrunning signals. Something of a forlorn hope, but one more chance to break the chain of events leading to an accident.

[Herr Dienstleiter]

Similarly, the SKLR  rule book requires a white light at the front unless replaced by a headboard and a red to the rear. In industrial days the Bowater locos ran with a single white electric lamp: it was not a headcode, it was so they could see their way across the marshes. The main headboard referred to these days is that the line has the privilige of bearing the borough arms when a train is conveying the mayor or his deputy - the only use of the arms permitted other than by the Borough Council itself.

 

Returning to the OP we should all be wary of treating BR practice as somehow 'correct' - it is only the usuage of one particular company and now that company no longer exists has only antiquarian interest.

 

In model terms one things that has so far entirely defeated me is that my little Austrian engines should show two white lights (ie switch on their electric headlamps) but that those lights must not be shown in station limits!! I suppose that the clever people with DCC could do it but it is beyond me!

[Reorte]

As far as my ignorant self understands it there are two jobs being performed here - one marking the front and back of the train, the other indicating useful information about that train. I can see the former being a complete necessity but the latter entirely down to whatever is appropriate and useful for a given railway, so any particular preserved line doing whatever it wants in terms of head codes isn't "wrong" unless it's claiming to recreate a (small part of) a certain service or is inappropriate for its own rules.