QUOTE (John Webb @ 28 Apr 2006, 09:49)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Interesting comment that on cab lights. Would there have been general lighting on in a cab in the night-time? Or would they have relied on lit instruments and perhaps a small desk light for reading schedules to avoid blinding the driver to signal lights outside the cab? Any former drivers out there who can tell us?
Regards,
John Webb
Cab lights esp. Locos. and DMUs etc were operated by means of 1 of 2 Cab Light switches.
Generally speaking, whilst driving during the hours of darkness, the Cab Lights would be OFF, more or less for the reasons you have given. ie. you couldn't see a bl**dy thing outside the Cab, with the Cab Lights on.
The only times I would have the Cab Lights on was when someone was climbing in and out of the Cab, or when I was making a brew whilst stuck in a loop or a yard!
Yes you are right, the Driver's Desk Lights were illuminated, by means of an On/Off switch on the Driver's Desk. Some Locos had Dimmers too. This was generally ample enough for reading the instruments at night, in most cases.
Exceptions to this in my experience were Class 26s/27s and Class 84s for some reason. In the event that you couldn't see the gauges, you used your Bardic Lamp (White Aspect) and placed it on the Desk pointing at an angle towards the gauges, but this was a nuisance, because it was difficult to get the Bardic to stay in the right spot for any length of time, because of the vibration! In addition the noise was a real pain esp. on a 25 or a 47 which had metal Desks, as opposed to fibre glass.
I think generally speaking, the stuff from the mid-1980s onwards was better. eg. Class 150s onwards.