Any body find sort of weird?

I've had the same observation/question when watching old movies.  Finally, after nearly 74 years, I've chalked it up to 'progress' in the Safety category.

As absurd it seems nowadays to have a speeding train headed by a locomotive without its headlight on, imagine what folks in the 1920-1930's would've thought sitting in their Model A at a grade crossing seeing an approaching train with a current head-end lighting display....bright headlight(s), flashing ditch lights, maybe even a gyralight or Mars light?   

All that and a blaring multi-horned call that has the folks in the trackside cemetery even sitting up!!   (The young lovers.....not the dead, silly!!)

Running with a headlight on in the daylight would have seemed very weird to them. 

It seems hard to nail down exactly when a headlights on in daytime rule was implemented.  From what I've been able to determine,  the consensus is in the early/mid '50's when the "quite" (relative to a steam locomotive) diesels took charge of the majority of mainline trains in order to increase their visibility, particularly at grade crossings.

I don't think there was a hard and fast date set by the FRA, but determined by the individual railroads.

I could be wrong...

Rusty

Most of us also grew up in the era before all (or most) automobiles ran with marker lights or where the only choices were "automatic" and "on."  Locomotives also didn't provide electricity for the entire train, only the loco its self.

The B&O had implemented "day-night" headlights for all movements by 1953, as did many other railroads in the post WWII-era.
I have seen a reference to the ICC mandating the practice by 1959.

Great reply every one.Well that clears things up.

seaboardm2 posted:

I like trains steam and diesel locomotives.The one thing I find odd about steam.Is they used to run them with out the headlight on.I just does not seem right to me.I watched an old newreel about the seaboard railroad.And there were some steam locomotives pulling freight.Could not tell what type they where but the head light was off.I know some model you can turn off the headlight and still run the train.So any operate your steam locomotive with out the headlight?

Why should one think of it as weird when so many people still, just as they did back then,  drive their cars in the daylight without their headlights on?
Get hit by either one and you are a statistic!

Yes, safety is the answer.

I would assume that lighting oil lamps in the early days would have seemed a waste of oil and labor for cleaning and maintaining them.  I'll bet the cost of powerful electric lamps would be in the equations of later years.   Besides, I can imagine my railroading grandfather thinking that leaving a light on in the middle of the day was just plain crazy.