When did Southern start putting the white flags on their lead units? When did they quit?
Plus, what was the reason for them?
Here is a photo by George Redmond of an old Southern with the flags a waving:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=667411
~Mike
Flags where used to identify the class of a train in 19R (train order) territory. White mean an extra (not a timetable train) or a scheduled train that was running more than a certain amount of time off its timetable schedule. The train would be identified by "extra lead engine number, direction"
Green and Red flags where also used to identify sections of a scheduled train. ie..there might be overflow tonnage for lets say, train 112, and they would run more than one 112..the first section would carry a red flag to indicate a second section of that train following, and the last section would carry a green flag to indicate that it was the last section of a scheduled train... At night, marker lights would be used. Needless to say, dispatching using the old 19R train order was a lot more complicated than the systems used today..
Extra 3299 West at Floyd Street, Louisville ky.
(http://jreb.org/v-web/gallery/albums/album28/ns3299ns11215stlvl90.sized.jpg)