New light bulb for Lionel 685 locomotive

[Sutter Grandma]

I've fixed up my 1953 Lionel 685 locomotive for my grandson and gave it to him for Christmas.  It's running pretty well, but the light bulb has burned out.  I found replacements on eBay, but the light is yellow, not white like the previous one.  Any help with this issue?

[rtraincollector]

goto www.ttender.com Jeff will help you with all the correct stuff. And if asked will give you tips in fixing stuff if you need help ( email [e-mail] Phone [phone] ( phone is the best way to get ahold of him) he's normally in there late afternoon into the night. 

[Firelock76]

An automotive 12 volt bayonet-base bulb will work just fine, I use them myself.  Take the old one to an auto parts or hardware store to get a good match.

12 volts may not seem like enough but I doubt you'll ever push the engine up to the 18 volt max, and even if you do the bulb should take the gradual increase in voltage just fine, it's a sudden surge in power that usually blows bulbs.

[TrainLarry]

You need a #57 bulb, rated at 14 volts for that engine. That is what the service manual calls for.

 

Larry

[Sutter Grandma]

Thanks for your response!  I may give Jeff a call tomorrow.

[Sutter Grandma]

Thanks, I'll try the local hardware store.

[Sutter Grandma]

Thanks, I tried an 18 volt and a 14 volt that I found on eBay, they both work, but the light is yellow, not white.  Maybe I'll try a 12 volt, as suggested by another responder.  Those I can get at Ace Hardware, apparently, so if that works it would save on shipping costs! 

[BigAl 956]

I really don't remember any of my postwar engines having a white headlight unless someone substituted an LED? Perhaps the problem is the lens has yellowed over time?

[Sutter Grandma]

I had the train refurbished last year, and when we plugged it in the light was definitely white.  It probably wasn't original, so either it was replaced in the far distant past (it's been in a closet for 40 years) or the repair guy put in a new bulb.  I did find the same kind of bulb, a 1445 12 volt, in the automotive section at my local Ace Hardware, of all places.  After paying through the nose for shipping through eBay because I thought I wouldn't be able to find anything locally.  Live and learn!

I'll let you know how the 1445 bulb works out in a few days.

Thanks everyone, for your input!

[lionelsoni]

Nominal "12-volt" lamps for automobiles are meant for voltages between about 12 and 15 volts, depending on the battery's state of charge.  They are usually specified for voltages of 14 to 14.7 volts.  The published ratings for the 1445 are 135 milliamperes and 2000 hours at 14.4 or 14.7 volts, depending on the manufacturer.  GE also rates it for 150 milliamperes at 18 volts, with an unspecified but surely very short lifetime.

The color and life expectancy of an incandescent lamp depends on the filament temperature.  At low temperatures, the light is yellowish, and the lamp can last for thousands of hours.  At high temperatures the lifetime shrinks to a couple of hundreds of hours and the light becomes whiter (or even bluish for some very-short-lived photographic lamps).

Traditional locomotive headlights are incandescent and in the yellow ballpark, just like traditional toy-train lights.  Modelers pay a premium for special LEDs with orange-dyed bodies to convert the usually blue-white color of the LEDs to a realistic yellowish color that mimics incandescent lamps.

[cwburfle]

My 1975 GE Miniature Lamps catalog, #3-5169 also has two listings for a #1445 bulb.
At 18 volts it is listed as a toy train bulb, with an expected life of 250 hours.
The rest of the specifications are:

18 volts, .15 amp, 1.5 candlepower.

At 14.4 volts it is listed as a automotive bulb, with an expected life of 2,000 hours. The rest of the specification are:

14.4 volts, .135 amps, .7 candlepower

A #53 bulb is listed as automotive and indicatior, 14.4 volts, .12 amps, 1 candlepower, 1000 hour life.

[Sutter Grandma]

Wow, who knew there was so much to learn about light bulbs!  The 1445 bulb I bought today is listed as 12 volts.  I now have 12, 14, and 18 volt bulbs, so I have plenty to choose from!

I had no idea the original light would have had a yellowish glow...I hadn't seen it running in about 45 years!  The bright white of the 1445 bulb was pretty awesome at night, though!  

Thanks again!

[lionelsoni]

They're all the same lamp.  It just draws different amounts of current, burns out sooner or later, and has different colors at those various voltages.

Any incandescent lamp produces the same range of colors, depending on the voltage you run it at.  Sometimes you will see lamps described by their "color temperature", the filament temperature in kelvins.