steam locomotives with 'eyes'

[worldrailboy]

not sure if subject line was the best one I could think of but anyway read on...

I remembered seeing an english captioned photo a long time ago re one JR steam locomotive with two deflectors-mounted headlights looking like eyes and that it was something to do with snowy condition visibility.  but then of course I forgot where I had seen the photo and so soon started to forget about it for good..that is till while looking at the links given for actual C11 photos I came across this
http://tsuzuki.photoland-aris.com/japan/9600/9600-6.jpg

is there any actual explanations for the two lights instead of the usual single smokestack one?

[westfalen]

Two headlights seems to be a standard feature of steam locos assigned to the snowy regions of Hokkaido and Tohoku, usually a second headlight mounted beside the normal one but occasionally like your photo. Why one method and not the other I'll leave to someone else.

JR Hokkaido excursion engine C11 207 has two lights, I can't find the disc with my photos at the moment but here's some video.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/odmNkqaXbtg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/odmNkqaXbtg</a>

[worldrailboy]

with knowing the region I had to look it up both non-trains and trains

and mm I found the other style you were mentioning about
http://www.japaneserailwaysociety.com/jrs/members/snzk/c622.jpg

I guess it would had been an interesting challenge for someone to modify a standard 9600 from the single smokestack headlight to suspended-by-its-own-wire-legs grain lights mounted near both deflector wings if they were nitpicky about modelling that particular route

[bikkuri bahn]

Steam locomotives in Hokkaido and Tohoku were typically fitted with the standard headlight and a sealed beam headlight, both mounted high as low mounted lights are useless in winter blizzard conditions.  The 9600 with the twin mount headlight is on the Iwanai Line, a branch line that connects with the Hakodate Main Line at Kozawa, between Otaru and Kutchan.  I suppose the extra lumens were needed as this line serves an area on the Sea of Japan coast, which gets blasts of Siberian cold fronts.

[worldrailboy]

mm I have noticed that many of the Hokkaido train photos are among windy winter landscapes

if I can point out a non-japan practice again this is what Canadian National did for their difficult line through the mountains in British Columbia to get to the coastline side
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IPZX1n_gnIM/SsG3hO8JgcI/AAAAAAAAEKw/-p-B9BFIfQU/s1600-h/4205%2Bditch.jpg
ignore the red circle added to the photo but either way that sure was a lot of extra visibility at the time

[ISO8]

Hi,all
Here's some pics I found the locomotives with two headlamp.
Japanese photographer called them "Kanime (蟹目）, meaning "Crab's eye"

19650 http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/br1020er/21028210.html
79613 http://blog.kcg.ne.jp/upload/1086/062058500.jpeg
79615 http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/kasekibannzai51241/11729238.html
79616 http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/br1020er/1504409.html
79618 http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/br1020er/22390818.html

Almost of locomotives needed more lux equipped sub-headlamp, like C62-2.

kindly regards,
ISO8

[worldrailboy]

hehe I can understand why they would probably had called it that

btw thanks for that new blog url that I haven't noticed before