This surely can't be right? When going through tunnels the lights are so dim. They seem to have been given the head torch settings? DTG Matt is it possible that the light brightness can be adjusted? Please!
For me they do light up the track immediately in front of the train but I wouldn't expect them to be too bright anyway.
Agreed! Though from in the cab, you can just about see them lighting up the tunnel walls. In some tunnels it's like they aren't even switched on.
I think in the UK the lights are there purely to make the train visible to railway workers etc. Not for the purpose of the driver to be able to see the track up ahead.
The trouble is without adequate headlights, many routes are impossible to drive at night because the ambient lighting is so poor. Take BCC or Cathcart for example. If the cities were realistically lit, you wouldn't need to worry about UK style headlights. As for US headlights, well that's a whole different ballgame which DTG seem unable to play well. They managed to do it pretty well way back in SPG, then they somehow forgot how to do it. German locos are somewhere in between, I think.
So how did they drive in the old days? Like dave said, you only had marker lights to be seen. We don't need to steer, the signals are illuminated and the rest is route knowledge.
Those signs are highly reflective. A small torch is enough to make them clearly visible at night. The headlights don't need to be that bright. The saloon lighting illuminates more of the trains surroundings than the headlights do. In the UK anyway.
I surrender to your wisdom, and do agree with you all. I just thought that with the lights being more modern, I was expecting them to have been brighter?
Some freight locos have bright lights. Maintenance units generally have bright lights but the majority of UK train headlights don't do a lot.
I assume that they are more of a focused light, and the light on tunnel walls is just the spilled light caused by the lenses
Yes I know, I never said they needed to be bright (though I will admit my wording wasn't great) but the headlights act as that 'little torch' at night. The saloon lighting doesn't light up the track in front of the train though.
UK train lights have always been about being seen rather than being able to see. Safety regulations put all the emphasis on the train being visible which is why until recently the front panel of all trains in the UK had to be painted yellow. Drivers only need to be able to see signals which are lit up anyway. I have always found it a bit odd though, especially with the different day and night configurations that make very little difference. This is changing now and you will notice most Class 66 locos have recently had extensive modifications to their external lights and are generally brighter.
I don't know if they are focused or not, I doubt it. Its not like a car where the headlights need to be aimed in a certain direction (depending on country). I would imagine the point directly forward of the cab.
