General Discussion (Model Railroader)

I've choosen to use fiber optics for my n scale ditch lights.  The problem is I have no idea how to do this.  Any advice is needed and welcomed.

Fiber optics is a simple and straight forward application.

First you will still have a small light source somewhere within the interior of your locomotive and attaching the right length of fiber optic cable from the light bulb out to where the ditch lens mounts on the body of the locomotive.

I have made simple ones using the loose clear plastic strands and wrapping as many as needed to create the thickness of the cable needed in black electrical tape (this keeps the light in the strands and moving down the cable to shine light only out the very ends of the many strands.

Fiber optic lighting is just a way of moving light from a source like a "Grain of wheat" size bulb through a cable and having the light shine out at the end of the cable only.

Now when I've needed to light more than one lens (any plastic clear disc that acts as a light lens) like in my car model kits I would start with a light bulb in the trunk built into a small black box with a rather thick home made cable made up of many strands of fiber optic threads wrapped in black plastic tape , I would take 1/4 of the strands and bring them to the transparent red tail light lens of the model and glue in place, I would repeat the same process ending that section of cable just behind a red plastic lens for a brake light in my model, this would give me red break lights or running lights and now I would take the remaining 50% of my cable and individually wrap these into 2 cables that now make up 50% % of the total amount of strands I started with, 1/4 would go to one head light lens in the model and the last 1/4 would go to the other head light (mounting the ends of the cable to the back side of the clear head light lens inside the fender of the car model this would give me two head lights and two tail lights all from one light bulb in a black box in the trunk.

Picture a 5 ended cable , like branches of a tree , the trunk comes out of the light box (all limbs are wrapped in black tape ) the only unwrapped parts are the 5 ends. Now two of the branches split and end up behind the tail lights and the other two branches stop just behind the clear lenses of the head lights , I'm sure you can visualize this methiod by now.

I think Radio Shack might be able to get the fiber optic strands for you.

Good luck and I must say, it is a good idea.

Happy Rails.

Jess Red Horse of the Blackfeet Nation.

Hey tatorsalad,

I haven't done it in N, but I used plastic fibre-optics. I found that if I heated the ends with a candle, it melted to a shape very similar to a rounded lense.

I used brass tubing soldered together to the right size for the fibre-optic on one end and LED size for the other.

I installed the LED into the brass tube and then covered it with heat shrink to hold it in place and prevent the light escaping from the tubing.

Hope this helps!

For N scale, I would mill out 'notches' in the split frame to accept SMT Leds.  These would sit behind the ditchlights.

David B 

davidmbedard wrote:

For N scale, I would mill out 'notches' in the split frame to accept SMT Leds.  These would sit behind the ditchlights. David B

I've been thinking about that but im waiting on enough courage to do it.