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While driving down from Palatka to Ocala on US 301 tonight, I was blinded by headlights where no headlights should have been, off to the RIGHT of the highway. I flashed my high beams at what I thought was an inconsiderate driver, only to be greeted by the unmistakable sound of a diesel horn answering back with an insulting toot; seems the headlights were those of a N/B CSX freight on the "S" line, which runs just west of 301 at that point! Guess I got the engineer's attention, anyway.
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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Not personally but I do remember a Trains article which mentioned cars and trains each considerately dipping their headlights on opposite sides of a twisting canyon - somewhere in the Rockies I believe.
irishchieftain Member # 1473
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What exactly was an "insulting toot"? I can't find that in either GCOR or NORAC...and if there's a railroad there, then headlights indeed ought to have been there.
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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Just meant that the engineer wasn't giving the standard long-long-short-long for a grade crossing (no grade crossing nearby), but was acknowledging me as the dumbass driver who didn't know he wasn't a car. Like Henry said above, don't believe those locomotive headlights were "dimmable." Next time I drive that road at night, I'll know better. Who knows, maybe my pickup truck's high beams were blinding him.
irishchieftain Member # 1473
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AFAIHBT, locomotive headlights have three settings, those being dim, medium and bright.
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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Well, in that case, this guy was running on "bright," and his way of telling me that he wasn't going to adjust was to sound the horn once. Gotta say that it was a real dark, moonless night, so I suppose the crew wanted maximum visibility down the track. He was probably going MAS for that stretch too, whatever that would be (60?).
irishchieftain Member # 1473
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AFAIBT also, depending upon the operating practices of the railroad, the resistors for the headlamp control can be victim of voltage overloads, and often there are headlights that are stuck on "bright".
Railroad Bob Member # 3508
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Mr. Kisor- just curious how you got that excellent head-end ride on the Zephyr(?) back in '93? Some kind of work-related trip? Pretty spectacular route; esp. the pull over the "Hill."
I remember a student trip I made on #4 between BAR and NDL back in '87 (for an AC class I was enrolled in at that time.) We put the lights to the lowest 'DIM' setting for opposing movements on the other Main. It's an odd, disconcerting feeling to be moving 90 MPH, and not be able to see your right-of-way; any debris, broken rail or bad switch points couldn't have been seen. 'Course, they do it all the time and that's just railroading. A lot of trust is put in that pale green beam, that penetrates the blackest of nights out on the Railroad...
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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And a great read it was too, Henry. For my part, I'm still compiling experiences that I can incorporate into "the great American railroad novel" that I'm (not) working on.
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