Class Lights on steam engines & cabooses ?

Hello

This thread explain the function of the class lights very good,
but did these lantern (beside the headlights of an steam engine and at the edge of the caboose's roof) had have the same function as class lights ?

I ask, because every picture of an steam engine i found shows just white class lights; white = "extra train" !?!
Or did they placed colored lenses in front of these lanterns?

And why did the lantern of the caboose had lences in it that facing also forward and sideward ? (not just reverse)

picture (large!) of the white class lights on an steam engine

picture of a caboose with lanterns

Greets

For the cabooses, lenses were displayed in all 3 directions....

this is my take on it. It is not to be cited.... I can only figure these assumptions, from imagining the old days....

I figure that the front-facing and side-facing lenses were present, so that people that needed to know the information from the ground, could view them. I do know that if it displayed green, the people could read this 'green' light, and wouldn't do anything until the second section followed through. This was very important, as switchmen would wait for a train to pass, before aligning a switch for a siding (or yard, or ...). How would the switchmen know that there was a second section, as it was never noted on the timetable (trains followed timetables). The rear facing lense would typically display red, which is the same as today's EOT's.... RED means STOP! Also, end of train. In any case, it was a emergency display -- imagine coming around a bend, and seeing a red pin-sized light... you knew that was a train stopped ahead because you knew that it wasn't a signal, after being trained over this territory.....

.Taurus. wrote:And why did the lantern of the caboose had lences in it that facing also forward and sideward ? (not just reverse)

taking a wild guess here...
So that they could be used on either end, OR side, of the caboose? Think about it.
Not to mention to mark the rear of the train as it sat in a siding to meet opposing trains. Think about that. You're passing an opposing train and you don't see ANY markers....

The markers on the hind end had to be turned, when clear of the main track. Red was used on the main, but some lines used either green or yellow lenses on the side. In the clear, green or yellow would show.

On steam locos The class lights were white and green and sometimes red.The white was extra. If there was more than one section of a regular
timetable train all sections except the last carried green.Red would be
used to indicate the rear of a train if the loco was shoving a train .
On a caboose they were called markers, marked the end of a train.
They normally showed red ,or green on the B&O,to the rear and yellow to the side and front.If in the clear on a siding yellow to the rear.There were other combinations on two or more tracks. LEW

As far as 3-way caboose markers:

Red was shown to the rear to mark it as end-of-train to those on the ground or on another train.

To the side, amber was usually shown to mark end-of-train to the side, like rear side marker lights on a highway truck.

To the front, green was shown to signify end-of-train from forward of the caboose, especially when working yards or adjacent tracks. Some railroads used amber or red for this purpose, all to show end-of-train from whatever angle. Some used amber showing forward as it was brighter to see from the head end.

Light color rules did vary from railroad to railroad, so exceptions can be found.

As noted above rules varied from one railroad to another. That said, I'm not aware of any roads which displayed green to the front, yellow (amber) to the side and red to the rear on caboose markers. Rules I've seen are red to the rear, and either green or amber to the front and side. When in a siding to allow another train to pass, the markers were usually turned, or in some cases taken inside. I seem to recall one rulebook which had more involved rules requiring turning ONE marker but not the other depending on which track the train was on. And there are numerous stories of a train roaring into town and the engineer wiping the clock as they bore down on a caboose and impending doom - only to find the caboose was safely in the siding but the crew forgot to turn the markers.

At any rate, the green showed on caboose markers had nothing to do with a following section, that applied to the engine only.