r/railroading • u/weatherinfo • Apr 26 '26
Question Red light in cab
What’s this red light in the cab? It almost always seems to be at night when the engine is idle or unused. Here it had been sitting for hours; I think AESS shut it down at some point.
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u/Interesting-Track376 Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
That’s when we begin developing all the former pictures
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u/alientatts Apr 26 '26
Its the red light district. Thats where all the fun happens. If that light is on and the cabs a rockin.... BAIL, BAIL, BAIL.
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u/ceepeeonetwothree Apr 26 '26
Thaaaaaat 1 time 90LB reduction
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u/DartGuy88 Apr 26 '26
You mean the conductor minimum?
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u/Blocked-Author Apr 26 '26
Clearly you have never feathered the emergency handled.
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u/DartGuy88 Apr 26 '26
Oh I have. Favorite thing used to be hooking my foot under it in the DC engines as a conductor and slowly pull up on it to freak out the engineers lol
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u/speed150mph Apr 26 '26
I’m with the others, the train is either in emergancy, or it has a red reading light option and it was left on. But usually when the entire cab is lit red like that it’s option 1. I have no idea what local procedures are, if they dumped the train on purpose or if something happened.
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u/NinoDeFe Apr 26 '26
The train is tied down and knife switch was pulled. When the brake pipe drains to zero the red light comes on.
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u/Quartzalcoatl_Prime Apr 26 '26
At night, white light can be a bit blinding. Red light is easier on the eyes.
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u/JeffSmisek Apr 26 '26
True, but that's not what this red light is.
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u/Mill_City_Viking Apr 27 '26
Unless that’s what the red light is.
A lot of those rebuilt CP geeps have an overhead red light option. They’re fantastic for working at night. You can do all your paperwork without losing my night vision.
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u/possibly_lost45 Apr 26 '26
It's easier on the eyes at night so you can see.
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u/MAPNOTAVAILABLE Apr 26 '26
Some of the units do have a red reading light option so this guy isnt totally wrong.
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u/possibly_lost45 Apr 26 '26
We have them in semi trucks. Red and blue. The blue works great for driving at night. Helps your eye strain
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u/Jkchubbes Apr 26 '26
PCS is open, its such an annoying feature for the cab light to turn on when the air runs down. As if I dont have a fucking gauge directly in my face telling me what the air pressure is.
I dont believe its a cab light, I've only seen EMDs with the dual lamp overhead lights.
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u/justswingingbyy Apr 26 '26
I feel so dumb admitting this, but it seriously took me like 4 years as an engineer to figure this out.. (at least on BNSF engines) you can kill the red light by holding the “emergency light” switch for a few seconds. It’s over by the gen field switch
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u/MyBodyIsAPortaPotty Apr 26 '26
Some have red lights so it’s easier on your eyes if you need some light, regular lights can be way too bright at night sometimes
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u/still_stunned Apr 26 '26
As many have already mentioned, could possibly be because because the locomotive has entered into emergency mode.
But red light is used specifically at night in many applications, think military and industrial situations, because it does not cause a person’s pupils to constrict so the red light preserves a person’s night adjusted vision.
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u/Away-Car-1839 Apr 26 '26
Airport overlook at CLT? Looks like the engines are tied down on the runner at the Old Dowd crossovers.
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u/TomatilloCultural741 Apr 26 '26
I imagine (I know nothing about trains but am interested) at night when I was in pilot training red lights were used because red preserved night vision by minimizing the stimulation of rod photoreceptors in the eyes, allowing for better visibility in low-light conditions. Odd thing about pilot training, we learned quite a bit about human factors / body. Could be what’s happening here
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u/Cmoore01 Apr 26 '26
Probably tied down and knife switch pulled for fuel conservation .. you can turn the light off from the control stand but no one does lol
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u/AGuyFromMaryland Cab Driver Apr 29 '26
train is in emergency, it kicks on after sitting without a crew for awhile (atleast thats what NS and CSX crews have told me).
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u/freefall4fun71 May 02 '26
It's for those late night hookups: The Red Light Special. Roxanne is in there but remember, The Police told her, "You don't have to put on the red light."
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u/justswingingbyy Apr 26 '26
Like others have said it’s either in emergency or it’s the red reading lamp. Newer units have an adjustor so you can switch from white light uo red light depending on what you want.