Nostalgia & History > Night RG Mars Light on WB SP, Elko,Nevada 1996

Another Shot from Ameture Rented Hi-8 Cam -then converted to VHS Tape, of a WB SP train on a lonely night, location is Amtrak Shack (AmShack) West bound, Elko,Nevada. My notes place this scene at about August, 1996, right about when SP was being Absorbed by the UP.

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

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I know it's picky, but just as info that's a Pyle Gyralight instead of a Mars light.  They have different patterns.  

Yes.  The Mars did a figure 8 pattern didn't it?  They appeared to do two flashes then a pause, then two flashes, etc.

Cheers, Jim

I wish I had shot some video of the SP and RG oscillating headlights. The oval pattern of the Gyralite is visible in the haze. Thanks for posting. BSB

Posted from iPhone

I still think the Mars or Gyralite lights were the best warning lights ever invented for trains.  You could tell that a train was coming for miles.  The lights didn't get lost in a background of other lights.  Even in farm country a single headlight could be confused with a stationary light at a distance.  With a Gyralight there was no question that a train was coming.  When the SPSF merger was going to happen SP started blanking out the Gyralights and installing a rotory warning light on the top of the cab.  It was dumb.  When a train was coming at you the rotory light was totally lost in the light from the headlight.

​One of the coolest things I witnessed was a SP SD9 with Gyralight in heavy fog at night.  You could see the light beam swinging around.  

Correct on the way the Mars lights appeared.   DRGW was a big user of Mars lights but also had some Gyralights.   MoPac had 20 or so SD40-2 equipped with Mars lights to meet DRGW specs for run-thru coal operations.  
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SPDRGWfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes.  The Mars did a figure 8 pattern didn't
> it?  They appeared to do two flashes then a
> pause, then two flashes, etc.
>
> Cheers, Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/19 10:44 by Rathole.

I completely agree - oscillating headlights created a sense of movement, and as you stated, were not likely to be confused with anything else.

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wingomann Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I still think the Mars or Gyralite lights were the
> best warning lights ever invented for trains. 
> You could tell that a train was coming for
> miles.  The lights didn't get lost in a
> background of other lights.  

wingomann Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I still think the Mars or Gyralite lights were the
> best warning lights ever invented for trains. 
> You could tell that a train was coming for
> miles.  The lights didn't get lost in a
> background of other lights.  Even in farm country
> a single headlight could be confused with a
> stationary light at a distance.  With a Gyralight
> there was no question that a train was coming. 
> When the SPSF merger was going to happen SP
> started blanking out the Gyralights and installing
> a rotory warning light on the top of the cab.  It
> was dumb. 

I’ll take this a step further and say that the yellow rooftop flasher was the most useless accessory ever placed on a locomotive.
Sure it might have been useful for the Yardmaster to spot engines in a yard but for grade crossing safety it had absolutely zero value. BSB

Posted from iPhone

Thanks, Jim. Nice atmospheric look at a mid 90s SP manifest, in the desert on a lonely Nevada night.
If you hadn't captured it, it would have been lost to the fogs of history. Those oscillating lights were really a good idea.
While they lasted!