I have had a few headlights go out on some of my locomotives so I decided to try something different. In the past I have used Evans lighting which work great as well as some single light bulbs, but I ran out. I started looking around my work shop and wondered if some Model Power interior LED lights might work, so I removed the shells of a Southern and C+O F unit and studied the wiring.
One is a Bachman, the other an Athearn. Both engines run really well and look fine on the railroad. One of the reasons I thought about using these lights was, I had a whole package that I got for a really good price and the package had six to eight lights, pre-wired.
The Athearn was pretty straight forward, I just soldered the wires to where the original light was attached and it works great.
This my hand painted Proto 2000 with the headlight. Next is the Athearn F unit in the Southern livery.
The C+O unit by Bachman was a little different when it came to the wiring, you can solder one of the leads to the motor connection but the other lead has to be attached to the chassie by a screw which I did near the nose or front end of the body.
As you can see the headlight looks bright and I think it looks pretty good. The Model Power lights are turned on their sides and glued to the chassie in the nose of the unit.
So, for me it was a nice project and I think by using the Model Power LED interior lights it was an inexpensive way to improve the looks of these locomotives.
Thanks,
Robert Sylvester
Newberry-Columbia Line, SC
I use the constant voltage directional lighting kits from Miniatronics. They give off a warmer light, and they work great and are easy to install. The locomotive below is sitting still.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
robert sylvester I have had a few headlights go out on some of my locomotives so I decided to try something different.
I have had a few headlights go out on some of my locomotives so I decided to try something different.
What's the tongue depressor for?
Hi Robert,
Congratulations on installing the LED headlights!
If you want to buy more LEDs eBay is the place to go. Some LEDs cost less than $0.03 each and most of them come with free shipping. Sometimes it takes a while for them to get here from China though.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
maxman robert sylvester I have had a few headlights go out on some of my locomotives so I decided to try something different. What's the tongue depressor for?
My guess is that it was running a slight fever...
maxman...What's the tongue depressor for?
I'd guess that it's to hold the locomotive in place, perhaps spinning its wheels, while power is applied to keep the light working while the photo is taken.
If you look closely at the third photo which Robert posted, a big 0-5-0 appears to be restraining the C&O F-unit.
Thankfully, locos in my layout's era didn't use illuminated headlights during the day, and I don't run night operations....simplifies the wiring somewhat.I am, however, doing front and rear lighting (and a decoder installation - my first) for a friend, and am glad to be modelling in my chosen era.
The wiring isn't difficult, merely annoying, especially when taking access for locomotive maintenance into consideration. The loco in question is steam, and disassembly for maintenance has a specific sequence to accommodate some of the details which have been added to the locomotive.
Wayne
LEDs are neat and all but I don't care for the ultra bright and blue lighting. I've seen some uses with more appealing light but I haven't much knowledge using LEDs.
oldline1
Hello! I just finished a small lighting project of my own. I have installed working strobes and emergency lights into my N Scale Amtrak F40PH. I weathered the loco pretty hard because it has recently been assigned to head the Maintenance of Way consist after seeing too much timme running passenger service. This is also the first time Im trying to link a video to this forum, so hopefully it works. This is my first lighting project outside of DCC decoder install. I think it turned out pretty well and am already looking at other locos for adding some more prototypical lighting features. Let me know your opinions! Cheers!
-John Collins
https://youtu.be/f-o3I0HO0os
irishRRHello! I just finished a small lighting project of my own. I have installed working strobes and emergency lights into my N Scale Amtrak F40PH.
Okay John, I'm certainly impressed! I work in HO and I have a hard enough time getting things right, let alone doing it in something half the size. Your model looks very professional!
Maxman: Great question, every time I would power up the engine the headlight would come on but the engine would move, very sensitive, the engine would not be still, so the tongue depressor is to hold the engine in place while I took the picture. Heh, Heh.
Also, these engines are DC. The hand painted engine in the Southern livery is DCC, so when the power is on you don't have to crank up the throttle to get the headlights to come on whereas my DC engine needed to be held at bay to take the picture, Dr. Wayne is right. I admit, is was just an inexpensive way to light some of my engines. Now my DCC engines, many decoders installed by Tony's Train Exchange, have realy great headlights, a more yellow glow and not so hot. The model power interior lights are what they are, interior lights, inorder to light up a building but for me it was a fun project and you can really see the train approaching.
Dave: Thanks for the info, I will look into that. I hope they have resistors, if not I guess you could add one to protect the LED.
Thanks
robert sylvester Dave: Thanks for the info, I will look into that. I hope they have resistors, if not I guess you could add one to protect the LED.
EBay offers all sorts of different LEDs, some prewired and some not, some with resistors and some without. I don't care for the LEDs that come with a regular resistor soldered to the end of the wire. While they may sound easy to work with, in fact the length of wire between the LED and the resistor can be hard to try to stuff into the shell. You are much better off to buy separate resistors and solder them in a more suitable position yourself IMHO. You might want to get yourself some heat shrink tubing. It makes it so easy to insulate the wires.
Generally, if you are working with a 12 volt power supply, a 1000 ohm resistor for a headlight is a good choice. You can go lower but the LED won't get any brighter. It will just use more amperage which just takes power away from your motor, and it may add stress to your decoder if the total draw gets close to the decoder's maximum rating.
If you are modelling street lights or interior lighting you may want to use a much higher value resistor in order to reduce the light output so it better resembles an incandescent lamp. I used 30,000 ohm resistors in the interior of my 1907 McKeen streetcar and the lights glow nicely, just like a 1907 light bulb would do. That's a bit of an extreme example, but using 10,000 ohm resistors is quite common for things like older street lights or house/factory lighting.
I would like to make one suggestion regarding the specific colour spectrums of 'white' LEDs. The LEDs you used in your locomotives are typically described as being 'cool white'. In fact, cool white LEDs often look quite blue instead of the somewhat yellowish light that incandescent bulbs give off. If you are mimicking fluorescent lighting like the lighting in some passenger cars the cool white LEDs are great, but you might find that your locomotives would look better if you used 'warm white' LEDs. I know that you had the LEDs on hand so there was a certain savings to be had by using them, but for a couple of dollars and a few more minutes with your soldering iron, you might want to consider swapping out the LEDs you used for some warm white ones. Just a suggestion. If you are happy with the colour then of course keep them.
A couple more points: 3mm round top LEDs usually fit the F series locomotive headlight openings quite nicely. If you are doing locomotives with smaller headlight lenses an '0603' size LED (preferably pre-wired) can be glued to the back of the lenses without taking up any space inside the shell. If there are double headlights I recommend using one 0603 LED for each light. That will give you the intense light that is typical of modern locomotives. I usually install my smaller LEDs with the power on so that I can see exactly where the LED is positioned behind the lens. If you are off center even by a tiny bit the headlight will be dull. I use 90 second epoxy to mount the lights. Despite the name it doesn't set fully in 90 seconds so you have to hold the LED in place for 3-4 minutes. Patience is a virtue, and keep checking the position of the LED. Even when the epoxy seems firm the LED can still drift out of position. Don't ask me how I know!
I think that you have just begun a very interesting facet of the hobby - LED lighting. Have fun!
P.S.
Sorry for the long response! Once I get going I'm like the Energizer Bunny! Blah blah blah.....
Congrats on the LED install, Robert. I would definitely look into a different LED for your C&O F-unit headlight - e.g. "warm-white" or "yeloglo". The "cool blue" just doesn't fit that era of locomotive.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Good point, it is bright. I have two F-units that the Train Exchange installed two Tsunami-2 sound decoders and they replaced the lights with a yellowish glow, it looks really good, probable more fitting for the era.
I like the 3mm yeloglos from Miniatronics and purchase them by the 10-pk.
tstage I like the 3mm yeloglos from Miniatronics and purchase them by the 10-pk. Tom
I used 3mm warm white LEDs in my Kato NW2 and they look pretty good. Perhaps a tiny bit more yellow than I'd like, but acceptable.
The little beast came with head lights that had a gawd awful orange glow.
I wrote to Kato about it and they said it was typical for locos of that period! Eh... no. I lived near the ROW in my small town and never saw a pumpkin coning down the line. :-)
Amanda
“90% of success is hard work. The other half is intelligence!” - Unk
Here are a couple of photos of the lighting to which I referred in my previous post.
When I received the package of LEDs from BC Robotics, my immediate response upon opening it was that I had been duped! All that was visible in the clear plastic bag was a coil of very fine wire, red and black - no LEDs!!! I opened the bag, but upon pulling the wires out, there was obviously something where the wires met...
Here's one installed in the MV Products lense in the loco's headlight....
Because I'm unable to program the decoder, that light currently doesn't come on. However, the back-up light, done in the same manner, does light...
Definitely not blue, but not too yellow either.
The results almost tempt me to add lights to some of my locomotives, but the difficulties painting this particular loco, solely due to the wiring, make it a no-go.
Monon Railroader tstage I like the 3mm yeloglos from Miniatronics and purchase them by the 10-pk. Tom my Kato NW2...The little beast came with head lights that had a gawd awful orange glow. I wrote to Kato about it and they said it was typical for locos of that period! Eh... no. I lived near the ROW in my small town and never saw a pumpkin coning down the line. :-) Amanda
my Kato NW2...The little beast came with head lights that had a gawd awful orange glow.
Amanda,
When I purchased an undecorated Kato NW2 a couple of years back it also came with those hideous orange headlights. I wasted no time in switching them out with yeloglo LEDs. Waaaaaaay better looking and more prototypical - for sure.