.

[Anonymous]

.

[tstage]

Cisco,

It should be an LED and, IIRC, the front smoke box door is a friction-fit so it should pull out.  May take a little careful coaxing though.

Tom

[Erie-diamond]

OK, now first I'not familiar with this loco so I may not know what I'm talking about so keep that in mind. I'm assuming this is a DCC sound engine. So, does the tender light work? Does the CV for the headlight have the correct values? Since it is a used loco, it's possible the former owner messed with the CV and has the wrong values programed into it. Can you reset the decoder to factory settings? Just a thought,  Ken

[gmpullman]

Tom is correct that the smokebox front is a friction-fit into the smokebox.

Prod it a little with a plastic card or utensil and work it out. The original Life-Like models used a 14v incandescent lamp.

Some discussion about it here:

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/p/253496/2831850.aspx

 

The LED is a very crucial modification. In my case the incandescent lamp generated enough heat to distort the smokebox shell just ahead of the stack requiring some repair work.

I had room to mount the LED and resistor into the existing socket. I used a multimeter to find the + side of the headlight circuit. The LED has to aim up to engage with the lucite molding to refract the beam out the front. 

Good Luck, Ed

 

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Gentlemen. That is what I thought, but I didn't want to force the smoke box first.  This is a loco only, and I am fitting a different tender to it, so I will be hardwiring the loco to a decoder in the new tender....something I have done before on these eBay finds.  I have several other Heritage locos, but all were in orginial condition and newer with the LED already in place and the orginal tender to boot.  Yes, I am afraid this might be an incandescent, but I didn't want to apply track power for a test just in case, since there is no light board present with a resistor on it.  But since the test with a 9 volt battery and resistor yielded no light, I am sure it is not an LED, so that is why I have to get at it in any case.

[gmpullman]

My early run P2K tenders did not have electrical pickup on the tender trucks, a poor decision in my opinion. However, the drawbar with the six pin electrical connector built in, I thought, was ingenious and I wish other manufacturers would have adopted its use.

I guess Proto offered retro-fit kits to get pickup on the tender and later runs had it. Someday I may try to adapt something. I put TCS Keep Alive decoders in them and that cures any hesitation over tricky trackwork.

Have Fun, Ed

[Anonymous]

Thanks.  So, for the archives in case anyone searches light replacements etc.this is what I found and this is what I did.

P2K Heritage 0-6-0 inexpensive on eBay, but with no tender.  I like these and have several more of various sizes.

What I found...

Test leads for correct polarity for LED

 

What I did, eesy peesy.  Easiest bulb replacement possible

 

Hardwire in the decoder because the tender is not a match and no socket is available.  I had other connectors, but chose to just solder up everything for a good contact.

 

Used coupler instead of drawbar

 

Tender needed metal wheels and pickups....here from club soda cans (nothing sticky inside).

 

Was even able to add light pipe and LED rear light to the inexpensive tender sent along by the eBay seller generously for free.  Quite fiddly though....took some time.  Also hand rail added.

 

But now have a good little bargain log hauler and yard engine....good quality loco.

Thanks for your help about getting to the light.  No damage done that way.  I also used a little plastic-safe lube to pry off the smoke box cover.  This is an old model and was sticky.

 

 

 

[hon30critter]

Cisco Kid:

The lights look good!

I can see there was a two pin socket for the bulb, and that you plugged the LED directly into the socket. Was there no resistor required?

By the way, I've been through the Fraser River canyon on the Canadian. It's impressive! That was a long time ago. I've also driven through it and camped there. The campsite was so steep that you were looking down at the roof of the camper in the next site below you. Everyone should put it on their bucket list.

Dave

[Erie-diamond]

Dave, if you look at the fourth picture down with the decoder on the tender floor you will see a blue wire with a resistor. This is not my build, but I believe that's the resistor for the head light. I could be mistaking though. Ken

[tstage]

Very nice job, Cisco!   The only thing I would have done slightly different would have been to add a small section of black 1/8" (or >) heat shrink tubing around the head of the LED and front headlight light tube:

This would help connect the LED and the light tube together in order to focus the beam more through the front headlight.  Very nicely done, nonetheless.

Tom

[Anonymous]

tstage

add a small section heat shrink tubing around the head of the LED and front headlight light tube:

Tom

 

Thanks, Tom.  I never thought of that.  The LEDs are so directional already, but I will give it a try on another install.

Yes, Dave, the resistor is usually best installed back at the decoder since there is little room in a steam loco to place things. (And I have seen some people put a resistor unnecessarily on every each LED.  Only one is required on the common blue lead if all LEDs are run off it.)

[tstage]

You're welcome, Cisco.  Yes, an LEDs beam is more directional than an incandescent.  However, it will still produce some extraneous  light - just like an incandescent.  That's why it's important to paint the backside of an LED a blackish color when using it as a rear headlight in a switcher cab.  Otherwise, your cab becomes overly illuminated when the rear headlight is on.

Also, the resistor can actually go on either leg of the LED and it will work properly.  Personally, I like putting it on the white (front) and/or yellow (rear) wires rather than the blue (common) wire for consistency.

Having said that, I wonder if you run a locomotive using Rule 17 and have both lights operating simultaneously whether a single resistor on the blue wire would be enough resistance?  I would think so but wanted to throw that out there.

Tom

[Anonymous]

Now that is a good idea. I can think of a several switchers that need a bit of black paint on the light. More to do. Of course you are right, Tom. The resistors can go on either lead. I do think I have some locos with one 1/4 watt resistor for both end lights on Rule 17 and I can't recall a problem. I know the lights both work....and one would always be dimmed in that case. Onward indeed.