Don;t forget to rough the top and sides of the piece of fiber optic, otherwise the light will shoot straight up to the sky and not look a lot like a rotary beacon. Also, those concave-end LEDs are available in small enough sizes that they could be used as-is for a beacon in HO. The shoot most of the light out the sides in all direction.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
For the beacon I would skip all the fiber optics, they're not nessesary and alot of extra work. Just use smt (surface mount technology) LEDs. I get mine from http://www.richmondcontrols.com/ , they come with wires already installed (makes life much easier).
Details West makes a variety of beacon and strobes. Glue the smt directly to the bottom of the strobe/beacon "glass". Drill clearance holes in the strobe/beacon base and the cab roof. Paint everything first and then glue the base and strobe/beacon in place. Be sure to hook a 1 or 2k ohm resister in line with the smt.
Here's one I did:
.
You can use the same method on the ditch lights. Detail Associares has the lenses that'll fit the ditchlights. Fothe headlights/numberboaeds, I shorten the light pipe and glue a 3 or 5 mm LED to it, after filing the front of the LED flat.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
NSlover92 Thanks for the great reply! What decoder do you guys recommend? Thanks, Mike
Thanks for the great reply! What decoder do you guys recommend? Thanks, Mike
For sound a QSI Revolution-A . They are made for Atlas type locomotives. Your biggest challenge will be finding room for the speaker in a GP-40.
Engineer Jeff NS Nut Visit my layout at: http://www.thebinks.com/trains/
Any four function decoder should work for you. I have been using TCS decoders for about a year now with no problems.
Will
Hey everyone I am upgrading the lighting on a Atlas GP40. I am planing on putting in a roof top beacon, brighter headlights, Ditchlights, and Maybe Class Lights. I want them all to be functional, and I want QSI Sound. What do you guys think I should use as materials in this project? Thanks, Mike