Passenger operated spotlights

[SprinterMan]

I have been travelling with many train companies that are new to me recently and i have noticed that mounted in the overhead luggage racks are little spotlights that can be operated by the passenger. What are your opinions of them, are they useful or just a gimmick? What stock has them? I know for a fact that all pendolinos and at least some if not all 375s/377s have them. I thought all voyagers had them but i saw a picture recently of an XC 221 interior and it appeared not to have any. What stock operating today has the miniature spotlights fitted? Thanks in advance. Sorry for such a boring question

 

[jon0844]

365s have then in first class, and the controls are on the seats so you don't have to reach up; very nice!

Of course, a lot of them don't work and I really can't see the point given the lighting is always on - and it's pretty bright on any train. Did trains EVER turn lights down at night to make a reading light a useful feature?

On planes, especially for landing and take off at night, reading lights are useful - but they seem like a total waste of time on a train.

 

[Mojo]

I was on the last train off Manchester Pic on Sunday and found them very useful whilst reading the newspaper. The lights on the train were pleasantly dim so it was useful to have on when I wanted to read and off when I wanted to relax.

I noticed that they don't have them in First class any more on FGW HSTs; but the lights are like an operating theatre anyway they're not really necessary!

 

[jon0844]

You'd rather FGW had light switches that turned the main lights off!

But, haven't they adjusted them so every other light is off? That must have made quite a big difference.

 

[Flamingo]

You'd rather FGW had light switches that turned the main lights off!

There are! And a bloody nuisance they are as well, on the late trains when the lads think it'll be a larf!

I was on an early train a few weeks ago, and the fitter handing over asked me if I wanted the lights on half or full - Told him I didn't care!

 

[BestWestern]

Those FGW MK3 lights aren't half bright, how long did they last on 'full beam' before they had to do the mod to them?!

 

[strange6]

There are! And a bloody nuisance they are as well, on the late trains when the lads think it'll be a larf!

I was on an early train a few weeks ago, and the fitter handing over asked me if I wanted the lights on half or full - Told him I didn't care!

I wish you could travel in the dark at night on 142's, 150's etc Would make the trip much more relaxing and aid the view to the outside better

 

[Flamingo]

Unfortunately, it's one of the reasons to evacuate a carriage and lock it out of use.

 

[jon0844]

You should turn the lights off whenever the train goes into a tunnel like in all the movies! And then get other members of staff to quickly move into totally different positions and carry on as normal but from a totally different part of the train.

Downside is you probably have loads of emergency glow-in-the-dark stickers and signs, and everyone lighting the place up with the phone screens!

 

[BestWestern]

It's fairly common to have a trip through the Severn Tunnel in darkness if the lighting in one end of a 158 decides it's had enough! Oddly, when I've had lighting fail at night it always seems to be an effort to persuade people that they really do need to move to another coach, so maybe a 'dark coach' might be a hit! Assuming nobody tells the 'Elf and Safety gestapo of course!

 

[strange6]

It's fairly common to have a trip through the Severn Tunnel in darkness if the lighting in one end of a 158 decides it's had enough! Oddly, when I've had lighting fail at night it always seems to be an effort to persuade people that they really do need to move to another coach, so maybe a 'dark coach' might be a hit! Assuming nobody tells the 'Elf and Safety gestapo of course!

A dark coach would be fantastic at night. Maybe the TOC's could employ usherettes who could come round with a torch and sell you choc-ices as well

 

[SS4]

It's fairly common to have a trip through the Severn Tunnel in darkness if the lighting in one end of a 158 decides it's had enough! Oddly, when I've had lighting fail at night it always seems to be an effort to persuade people that they really do need to move to another coach, so maybe a 'dark coach' might be a hit! Assuming nobody tells the 'Elf and Safety gestapo of course!

I would like a dark coach at night, would make outside more interesting. Perhaps instead of complete darkness there could be dim central lighting so enable passage down the aisle and to turn them on for stations and the approach to them. I'd imagine the H&S issue is due to a trip hazard

Back to the topic in hand I like the lights on the Pendolino either the table light for reading something in strong light or the small one for a bit of ambient light

 

[BestWestern]

A dark coach would be fantastic at night. Maybe the TOC's could employ usherettes who could come round with a torch and sell you choc-ices as well

Hey we have a plan rapidly hatching here - I could give the trolley steward my Bardic and we're away! And perhaps they could take the emergency light sticks and flog them on the trolley!

 

[jon0844]

Come on FCC and hope a 313 driver forgets to turn the lights on.. there's a nice long (well, 45 seconds or so) tunnel between Potters Bar and Hadley Wood so it gets nice and dark there.

Sadly, most drivers now seem to remember AND there's glow-in-the-dark lighting strips all along the ceiling now. Damn TOC spoiling our fun!

 

[brillopad]

You'd rather FGW had light switches that turned the main lights off!

But, haven't they adjusted them so every other light is off? That must have made quite a big difference.

There's a fullbright/halfbright switch which is not at the control panel.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Unfortunately, it's one of the reasons to evacuate a carriage and lock it out of use.

I've been through the tunnels at Truro by torchlight and the tunnels at Dawlish in complete darkness.

Wasn't there a story on QI that a Lady travelling through a tunnel in darkness should keep a pin in her mouth ?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I would like a dark coach at night, would make outside more interesting. Perhaps instead of complete darkness there could be dim central lighting so enable passage down the aisle and to turn them on for stations and the approach to them. I'd imagine the H&S issue is due to a trip hazard

Back to the topic in hand I like the lights on the Pendolino either the table light for reading something in strong light or the small one for a bit of ambient light

Buses dim their interior lighting when on the move and crank it up at stops - they also use coloured lights.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

In the old days ( up to the mid 1990s when they would leave such carriages open ) I would actively seek out and sit in any carriage which had a lighting failure because it was much more comfortable on the eyes plus, as some others mentioned above, the view out of the windows at night is quite good once your eyes have dark adapted, especially on a moonlit night.

 

[jon0844]

Some buses turn most lights off, and some have blue filtered lights (perhaps to also deter drug addicts!!) but I don't think most modern ones have the filters anymore. The new buses I use seem to have all the lights on at night, just turning the lights immediately outside the drivers cab and the doorways.

I wonder if that's to help people move about within the bus and now a safety requirement?

 

[Crossover]

I was on the last train off Manchester Pic on Sunday and found them very useful whilst reading the newspaper. The lights on the train were pleasantly dim so it was useful to have on when I wanted to read and off when I wanted to relax.

I noticed that they don't have them in First class any more on FGW HSTs; but the lights are like an operating theatre anyway they're not really necessary!

[offtopic] I think I saw the last London (by your location I'm guessing that is where you were heading) bound train leaving Manchester on Sunday - I had a long connection and eventually got the slightly delayed 2108 XC to Birmingham New St [/offtopic]
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Some buses turn most lights off, and some have blue filtered lights (perhaps to also deter drug addicts!!) but I don't think most modern ones have the filters anymore. The new buses I use seem to have all the lights on at night, just turning the lights immediately outside the drivers cab and the doorways.

My assumption has always been that the blue lights are maybe less dazzling to the driver, as the only ones that are blue seem to be the ones diagonally opposite (so front nearside as it were) the driver.

I have also been on buses where the front couple of lights in the passenger area go off when the doors close, which further reinforces my thought about the blue being less dazzling.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I've yet to see a Voayger without the lights, and with the brightness they can be quite useful, especially on dark evenings if you are wanting to read - likewise on the Pendolinos.

Had an interesting one the other week on a Class 185, sat in Coach A (in the area between the cab and FC), half the lights went off sometime just before Huddersfield (FC was the same) and didn't come back on until a bit after getting underway to Manchester. It was dark outside and it was a bit weird as it was almost like it was on emergency lighting

 

[LE Greys]

I remember once on a railtour going through a tunnel after an ETS failure. Only time I've ever been in total darkness, and I mean total.

I remember the compartments on CIGs having dimmer switches, which were very useful if you wanted to either get some sleep or have a look out of the window without opening it. Older coaches had reading lights with lampshades and little cord switches.

 

[Welshman]

In the old days ( up to the mid 1990s when they would leave such carriages open ) I would actively seek out and sit in any carriage which had a lighting failure because it was much more comfortable on the eyes plus, as some others mentioned above, the view out of the windows at night is quite good once your eyes have dark adapted, especially on a moonlit night.

I well remember a trip long ago from Leeds to London KX in Mk 1 stock hauled by a class 47. Fortunately, I managed to get a compartment to myself, pulled-down the corridor blinds, turned the lighting switch to "dim" and hoped no-one would come in and turn the lights on to full again!

It had just started to snow outside, and the memories of the resulting magical views from the cosy dark compartment remain with me still!

 

[sprinterguy]

I most commonly have dealings with trains with reading lights on XC and VT Voyagers (They do have them, for definite), and it seems to me that having the reading lights on or off makes no difference to the amount of illumination in what is already a sufficiently lighted carriage. I think that the lighting balance on Voyagers is just right: It offers a good level of illumination whilst still being “mellow” enough to encourage a pleasant ambience. I’ve noticed that the Crosscountry Voyagers are currently utilising half lighting, with one in every two of the centrally mounted ceiling lights switched off, which works very well. Unless of course it’s just the fact that the lighting is crap and half the bulbs have blown.

There was an interesting situation on a poorly XC Voyager, just after the widespread snow disruption in December: The engine beneath my carriage was clearly unwell, as most of the time it was completely silent and failing to turn over, except when departing stations and accelerating, when the high revs expected of it caused it to splutter into life, grumble and rattle sullenly and erratically in a metallic fashion for ten seconds, before shutting down again, at which point all the lights in the carriage would go off for a few seconds and the cycle started again! It did this in the tunnel after departing New Street, plunging the carriage into darkness a couple of times.

It was still better than in First Class on one of GCs’ Adelantes before they were given a refresh: Quite a few of the reading lights were missing, leaving only a dark hole where they were meant to be, and some of the small number remaining were hanging out of their sockets. Absolutely hopeless. I’ve since travelled on GCs’ Adelantes since they were refreshed, and I’m pleased to report that the interiors are a much pleasanter, tidier place to be now. Very smart in fact.

I like the lighting levels on the Pendolinos, which offers a pleasingly dim environment, especially in first class. It makes for a very, very relaxing ambience in first class, especially at dusk, with the table lamp lit, I find that a very satisfying travel experience. This is in stark contrast to the lighting on XCs’ HSTs, which is obnoxiously glaring: Please, turn them down to a level akin to the Voyagers! It feels either like an interrogation scenario or an alien abduction, with all those bright spotlights glaring down on you.

 

[ChrisCooper]

I've had 3 trips on trains with no lights or lights going off at night. One time was on a VXC loco hauled service from Lancaster to Birmingham. This was pretty late on in terms of the Mk2s, so many sets were having lighting problems. The coach I was in the lights decided to pack up IIRC around Preston. Knowing there was a switch in the vesibule I went and pressed it, only to have the lights flashing on and off along with the clunk of the circuit breaker going in and out. Giving it a short time to cool I tried again and this time it worked, for a bit. At that point it was still fairly light, but by Crewe it was getting dark and the lights were going off more and more, and I'd lost my seat, so ended up standing in the vestibule next to the switch, resetting it every time the lights went off for the rest of the journey. It was only a 6 coach set anyway, and the BSO was the wrong way around with the passenger section locked out of use, so moving from unlit coach to the 4 other standard coaches wasn't an option anyway. Finally on getting into Birmingham I went to get my bag from the central luggage rack and was just in the que for the doors when the lights failed again, at almost the precise moment the driver made a very abrupt stop at the station, almost causing everyone in the aisle to fall over like dominos, which would have been interesting in the dark!

Another time was on a failed Anglia Railways Norwich service which was being Thunderbirded, and presumably the 47 was not providing ETS as each carriage was loosing it's lights one by one as we headed north and the batteries failed.

A strange one was on an MML 170. I was sitting on the single seat at the back of the DM next to the disabled toilet as we pulled out of Derby. We must have got to rougly where the signal box is when there was a clunk behind me and the lights went off, leaving the coach in total darkness. A couple of seconds passed and there was another clunk and the lights came on. Everyone had gone quiet when the lights went off, and then carried on as normal when they came back on. It was not long after September 11th 2001 and it did creep me out a bit, especially as there were a group of asian men on the train.


When it comes to buses, all buses I know have all the interior lights on at night. In most cases there will be switches so half the lights can be on (often offside and nearside) and for double deckers upper and lower decks will also be seperate. Destination blind lights are often on one of the interior light circuits. This is the same for modern buses and open platform buses. On buses with platform doors, the platform light will be automatic and will turn on when the doors are open and off when they close. For OPO buses the cab lights will be the same, and will also have a manual on (like car interior lights). Depending on the lighting layout the nearside front light will often be blue tinted to prevent glare, or might be automatic too. The only time I've been on buses that have differed was on Jersey, where half of the interior lights were automatic and went off when the doors closed, so the buses travelled around with dimmer lights.

Coaches are different, usually the main lights will be off when on the move, with reading lights provided and dim lighting is the aisle (for getting to the toilet etc). The driver will usually turn the lights on approaching stops so people can see to get their stuff ready. This includes both touring coaches and the likes of National Express.

 

[moonrakerz]

I remember some years ago that every one had to vacate a coach on a Glasgow-Edinburgh train as it was deemed "unsafe" to go through a tunnel (Falkirk ?) without lighting. To me it seemed to be much more of a hazard to move all the passengers down a train travelling at high speed than to leave them where they were !

 

[bengley]

Coming out of Marylebone a few weeks ago the driver forgot to turn the lights on, so the trip all the way to Harrow was in complete darkness, especially the tunnel section! It's great fun and makes it so much easier to see outside.

 

[ChrisCooper]

I remember some years ago that every one had to vacate a coach on a Glasgow-Edinburgh train as it was deemed "unsafe" to go through a tunnel (Falkirk ?) without lighting. To me it seemed to be much more of a hazard to move all the passengers down a train travelling at high speed than to leave them where they were !

I can't see the point of that for a short distance through a tunnel. Sounds a bit OTT. People hardly drop dead or hurt themselves as soon as it goes dark, and it's not like people would be moving around much, not in the short space of time to pass through a tunnel. The only risk is if something went wrong and the train was stopped or needed evacuating in the tunnel, but in many cases the effect would be to loose the lighting anyway (hence why emergency lighting is often provided, incase the main lighting fails, and that would still be available).

 

[Flamingo]

Unfortunately, the rule book does not differentiate between the tunnel length.

However, if moving around on board when the train is in motion is that much of a risk, then maybe trips to the buffet should be banned!

 

[SprinterMan]

I was on a FGW HST from plymouth that had no lights in one carriage as far as totnes, when either the lights were turned on or fixed, just before it got dark. I actually felt a bit nervous in the darkened carriage and moved to a lit carriage. When i went to find the buffet it was then I found out the lights were now on.

A bit off-topic but voyagers and javelins seem to have control pannels in their seats that look like the radios in aircraft seats but do not appear to do anything. WHat is their purpose/function or are they just a redundant part of the seat?

 

[Hydro]

You used to be able to plug headphones into the socket when Virgin had the XC job, and listen to a selection of pre-recorded "radio" shows, similar to an aircraft.

Javelins don't have these, are you sure? I cannot recall these sockets on 395's.

 

[SprinterMan]

You used to be able to plug headphones into the socket when Virgin had the XC job, and listen to a selection of pre-recorded "radio" shows, similar to an aircraft.

Javelins don't have these, are you sure? I cannot recall these sockets on 395's.

It might not have been a javelin, I used alot of different trains that day. Is there anything else with the sockets fitted?

Why did Virgin discontinue the radio services on WC services or was it only ever XC?

 

[ainsworth74]

390s have them fitted as do 180s (don't work either as far as I know). I believe they stopped as demand was low and it was a hassle to keep maintained and functioning as well as the cost for the rights to broadcast content (hence why there normally wasn't much on).