Athearn F7A Headlight Bracket

[Anonymous]

I have just bought an Athearn F7A and was annoyed to find that the headlight bulb illuminates the cab and not the headlight. There's a kit of bits to detail the loco to be had from Walthers but I can't find anyone who does a fitting to get round the light bracket problem.

I can see how to cure the prob by shortening the bracket and cutting a new "tongue" at the end to fit the appropriate housing. Before I do though has anyone out there done this successfully or do any of you know who makes a suitable replacement part - Athearn don't.

Cheers from across the pond.

[Anonymous]

My Athearn F units all have a piece of brass tubing, the diameter of the headlight and about an inch long glued inside the nose. I put the headlamp bulb on slightly long wires, and feed it inside the tube as the body goes back on. This stops the "Athearn Radioactive Cab" syndrome.
Works on hood units too![:D]

[AntonioFP45]

Hello Limey,

KB is right on. One additional tip if you decide to experiment. You can replace the bulb with a "Warm White' LED. LEDs for locomotive lights and number boards are becoming more popular as they are: cheap, bright, realisitc, draw very low current, draw no heat, last many years. Additionally there are LEDs made now that are small enough that you can actually place them directly in the light housing of the locomotive and eliminate the clear plastic lens from the factory. [:)]

Another application: The tiny class lights housings on Athearn locos, which are solid plastic, can be drilled out and tiny LEDs put in place. Win-Win all the way around.! [C):-)][tup]

Model railroad shops are now able to obtain these that are specific for locomotives. Some modelers that are electonics pros simply go to an outfit that sells electronic supplies and buy batches of LEDs for a few dollars. [:p][:D]

Hope this helps, Cheers

[Anonymous]

Thanks to both of you.

I'll try your idea KB and think about LEDs Antonio when the layout is up and running and i have more time for experiment.

Cheers for now.

[Anonymous]

I noticed the same problem - for now I've just removed the standard light bulb and intend to use the "Brass tube and LED" method as described above. I also have to sort out most of my Athearn hood units with a similar system - the only ones I'm happy with the lighting on are my SD9, PA and SW7s. Thanks to the high-nose on the SD9 there is little or no glow in the cab at sensible speeds, while the others have a plastic moulding around the bulb to prevent this problem.

One question however: Can anyone explain what rating LED (and diode, for directional lighting as apparently LED's don't like having power put through them "the wrong way") I will need to do this - my knowledge of electronics is limited to being able to wire layout electrics using off-the-shelf components! I've seen cheap bulk-packs of LEDs from Maplin (electronics supplier over here) but don't know if they would be suitable.

[CP5415]

I usually paint the inside of the cab windows black.
This diminishes the amout of light illuminating from the cab of the cab & hood units.
But I like the idea of both the led & copper tube.

Gordon

[Anonymous]

I used a piece of black heat shrink tubing and the problem was solved.

[Anonymous]

I had purchased those models for a while but moved on to better quality engines. Instead of buying more of those athearn trains, I save up to by a one nice atlas engine.

[CP5415]

Yes Atlas, Kato & Proto locomotives are nice. I came close to buying Kato's CPR SD90MAC when they were out. I own a couple of Proto RDC's, have 2 Proto locomotives on layaway & 2 Proto D&H PA's on order.
I have one problem though.
I do not like having to scramble to save money so that manufacturers can produce a model on a limited basis sell them for a limited time & move on.
For that reason I limit myself from buying much from these manufacturers.
I own nothing from Atlas & the only thing I have from Kato's CPR's business car.
I'll stick with Athearn. They are getting better in noise & detailing. I've never had a problem with their quality.

Gordon

[Anonymous]

An interesting comment CP5415.
I have only been playing American Railroad Modelling for a few months and have made quite a few mistakes as you can imagine (hence my Forum Nickname). Buying an Athearn F7 wasn't one of them but buying a pre-Proto Lifelike F7 was. Still it was cheap and I could afford to make a mistake. Though the mechanism was not very good the body shell was quite a good moulding so I detailed it with all sorts of bits from my scrap box. I trust the recently discovered Walthers detailing kits will do the job better.
From my work as Fat Controller on the Spa Valley Railway I seem to remember Gordon is a BIG engine. Thanks Gordon.

Cheers

H'igorant Limey

[CP5415]

Hey HL

I'm looking into getting the F unit detail kit from Walthers as well.
When I find the time I'm going to use the heat shrink tubing idea as well on the F units as it's readily available from work.

Gordon