The one time I thought the beacons were a great asset is when I worked for a shortline with a 10 mph speed limit. The beacons were visible to approaching traffic to the side of the engine.

The most worthless thing I ever saw was the forward facing strobes that BN used circa 1990-1991. I think those came from the 99 cent store as cheap as they were built, and they really weren't visible. I hate running an engine with flashing ditch lights at night, and I know others did not care for engines with strobes due to reflections from the side or gryra/mars lights because they said they would put them to sleep at night. One I advantage I liked on the gryalites is they would light up more of the adjoining right of way, handy when going around curves or watching for slides/trees on the track at night.