Mars Light
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Mars Lights are signal-safety lights used in the United States and built by Mars Signal Light Company for railroad locomotives. Mars Lights used a variety of different means to cause the light to oscillate vertically, horizontally, or both, with the idea that it would catch the attention of motorists and pedestrians crossing the tracks. Whether they fully succeeded or not is unknown, but the lights were a prominent piece of railroad equipment for many years.
Mars lights were originally developed by Jerry Kennelly, a Chicago firefighter who realized that the need for oscillating lamps would benefit not just fire departments, but also the railroads. He performed an operational test with the C&NW railroad in 1936, and Mars Lights began appearing on locomotives in the 1940s.
There were quite a few different models of Mars Lights, which used a variety of methods to oscillate the beam. Sometimes the actual bulb and assembly were moved, other times a reflector behind the light was rotated. The beam was usually rotated in a figure-8 pattern, providing a good source for the company slogan, "The Light from Mars". The beams also came in a variety of shapes and even colors, some locomotives having the famous red and white lights.
Many railroads used Mars lights on a variety of locomotives, including both steam and diesel. Mars lights are no longer in use, having been replaced by ditch lights.
[edit] References
Grant V.W. Roth (November 1990) Mainline Modeler "Mars Lights; Their Development"
