Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 79, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 June 1909 — Electric Headlight on Monon May Be Abandoned Soon. [ARTICLE]

Electric Headlight on Monon May Be Abandoned Soon.

The electric headlight which the Monon has been using on some of its engines may be abandoned because it is too powerful. Among other reasons given is that it is too bright for the switch lights to be seen. The railroad commission gave a hearing on this question Tuesday, and it was attended by more than twen-ty-five engineers and as many more railroad men of various employment. Every man heard was a practical railroad employe and gave valuable information to the commission to aid it in determining the proper kind of headlight to be used upon locomotives. Under an act passed by the last legislature it is the duty of the commission to determine the most suitable headlight and order its use. The engineers and firemen all testified to the fact that the oil light was sufficient, and that they preferred it to an electric or gas headlight. It was stated that the electric light was too powerful. M. R. Lacy, of Fort Wayne, one of the engineers who testified, stated that it was not possible to see ahead with an electric headlight from the windows of the engine cab. In order to see at all, he said, it was necessary to get down off the seat to the step of the cab, so as to look "under the light.’’ He stated that an engineer was not always looking ahead, and that the light was of little service except to people as warning of the approach of the train. Even with an electric headlight, he said, the object seen on the track would be too close for the engine to be stopped. Engineers, he said, trusted to track men that the condition of the right of way be safe.