I want to replace the incandescent headlight bulb in a steam locomotive with an LED when I add a decoder. What color LED should I look for to simulate the look of an incandescent bulb from the steam era? I think the warm white 0402 LEDs I have are still too white for a steam loco, and all of the LEDs which put out an appropriate color of light look orange to me. What (and where) should I be looking for?
Good Luck, Morpar
You can make the LED yellower or oranger by coloring the lens with a yellow or orange highlighter. Try it in steps so as not to over do it.
Mopar,
Which steam locomotive are you adding an LED to - i.e. manufacturer/model?
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I have a couple in mind. There are a couple of Rivarossi units (FEF-3 and Allegheny), an AHM 0-8-0 for the yard, and a couple of Bowser locos sometime in the future.
I have used Golden White LEDs, either a 3mm or a surface mount (SMD), depending upon the circumstances.
Rich
Alton Junction
Since they are plastic, Mopar, and the bulb is most likely located inside the smokebox, I would just go with 3mm warm-white LEDs. I like the Miniatronics "yeloglo" LEDs (PN: 12-310-05 or 12-310-10), as they emit a slightly yellowish hue that nicely mimics the brass headlights.
The SMD LEDs I usually reserve for my brass locomotive installations because the "bulb" is much more visible inside the headlamp. This what a 0603 warm LED looks like in a NJCB 0-10-0 switcher:
Hi Morpar,
Another way to soften the white is to use higher value resistors. Instead of the common 1K resistor, start with 5K and work up from there. I have used resistors as high as 30K to get an LED to look like a kerosene lamp or a very early lightbulb.
Resistors are cheap on eBay so it doesn't cost much to get a few different values to play with.
I would still use a warm white LED.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Dave's post is spot-on. I used 10K resistors on my brass locomotives that were mounted with 0603 LEDs. The light from them is softer than how my above photo portrays them.
tstage Dave's post is spot-on. I used 10K resistors on my brass locomotives that were mounted with 0603 LEDs. The light from them is softer than how my above photo portrays them. Tom