I model freelance 1940-1960alleganey road "Cumberland and Ohio" accordingly take apart locos repaint and when install Dcc use led's. What could I use with the LED so light would emit as a headlight and ilumminate the number boards : is it acetate, fiberglass (hard to find clear sheets or rods or is there some other material? Extracting original from a shell often ruins them.Small ligts east with fiber optic strand with a little heat at the edd to make a "bulb' but where can I get larger diameter (1/8;3/8;14/ clear strands or rods? What abuot square clear rods? What about sheets to cut to size?
JDAY
A chunk of clear plastic is typically what is used in locos that have all that fromt eh factory. To get good light transfer you need to have the edges polished. Outside of possible the decals, I have been able to remove these from locos when convertign to DCC. I put them back with eithe some clear caulk or white glue (which dries clear). Most of the time, when converting to DCC, the factory light bar stays. A notable exception are my Atlas/Kato RS3's, stock they haev two logn light bars leading to a single light bulb in the middle. For directional lighting I install 2 LEDs, by cuttign down the stock light bars to just past the first tabs that hold them in place. These light bars are also the headlight lenses, so I want to get them back in. I attach an LED to the end of each one with some shrink tube, anothe roption is to drill into the end of the bar and embedd the LED with some glue.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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