The Wobbly light on the front would drive me nuts. Needs tightening.
Dump electric traction, Steam is the ways to go. :)
It’s a Mars Light (the version from another company was called the Gyralite.) From the 1940’s on many railroads employed then to increase visibility. The Mars light oscillated in a figure eight pattern while the Gyralite’s oscillation was circular.
Some railroads used them only on passenger locomotives and some applied it to both freight and passenger. Nickle Plate (NKP - the parent of this locomotive) used them from 1947 through 1964 on both classes of use. Some railroads even had a red Mars light on the read of the train..
C & O (which went through my hometown) used them only on their passenger locomotives. You could look down the track and tell whether the approaching train was a passenger or freight by whether the light was wobbly. ;-)
Rotating lights have been (mostly) replaced by ditch lights now, but some passenger carriers (e.g. Chicago Metra) still use them. And of course, with the 765, it had the light when it was in service so now that it is ‘restored’ it of necessity must have it.
Too many railfans would complain otherwise. ;-)