# Tender lights



## ChopperCharles (Jan 3, 2012)

I have a 4-6-2 and a 4-4-2 atlantic steamer. They have fake lights molded into the rear part of the tender. What color should these be? I'd like to drill them out and put actual bulbs in there.

For that matter, on the Hogwarts Express there are plastic lanterns on the front, waht color lights should those be? 

Oh yeah, and my GP7 has marker/running lights molded in. What color for those as well?

Thanks!

Charles.


----------



## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

The rear top light on a slope back tender is white along with ditch lights. The rest I have no idea. Maybe watch some Harry Potter and find out.


----------



## ChopperCharles (Jan 3, 2012)

Well, it's not a slope back tender. I just checked youtube, and the big boy uses red lights, so that's what I'll use.

Charles.


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I have one that has red lights on the sides and a white one in the middle. The red markers are always on, the white one is directional. I'm doing that to another one that I have that I'm converting to TMCC.


----------



## ChopperCharles (Jan 3, 2012)

Cool! So one other question, how would i light the firebox area to look realistic? And how to paint it too, for that matter. It's all black right now.

Charles.


----------



## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

ChopperCharles said:


> Cool! So one other question, how would i light the firebox area to look realistic? And how to paint it too, for that matter. It's all black right now.
> 
> Charles.




I don't know how you could light it, but a flickering light would be best.


How about a red/orange paint to brush on?

Maybe drill a bunch of tiny holes and install the light under in the cab, paint it the red/orange and you will see the flickering lights through the holes?


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

ChopperCharles said:


> Cool! So one other question, how would i light the firebox area to look realistic? And how to paint it too, for that matter. It's all black right now.
> 
> Charles.


Lionel lights them with a small red plastic insert. I agree with Ed, a flickering light would be cool. I'm going to add those to a couple of my steamers that have steady incandescent lights for the firebox glow. I have a new Legacy steamer that has the flickering light, looks a lot better.


----------



## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

If only you did DCC, you could do all those things by just hooking up a wire and programing that wire to do whatever you need it to do.
Strobe lights ,Ditch lights, Dimming lights, Automatic directional lights, Fire Box flicker, and many more.


----------



## ChopperCharles (Jan 3, 2012)

if i only did DCC, I'd be spending a **** ton of money to convert all my locomotives. I LIKE AC. It works. I have a very simple layout, one locomotive running at a time. If I had DCC i'd have to figure out how to program the stupid thing instead of just soldering in a couple of 16v red and green wheat bulbs directly to track power. DCC seems like a solution for a problem I simply don't have.

Charles.


----------



## Rangerover (Feb 8, 2012)

Just my opion on the running lights, headlights, rear lights and ditch lights. Excluding a Mars light, most lights on scale model locomotives are too white. A light yellow either painted bulb's or the newer 2mm(ditch lights)3or5 mm leds (headlight, rear light) with the Golden-White, Yeloglo and Sunny-White LED's are much more realistic and LED's are trouble free and last 1,000 times longer, and they don't melt plastic, less power consumption too! I also use the above colors with 3 or 5 mm 360 degree cone for lighting buildings


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

You can buy warm white LED's for lights, I have them in several sizes.


----------



## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

"I'd be spending a **** ton of money to convert all my locomotives"
Wow so harsh on DCC!!!
Well It's not for everyone, Thank goodness, Leaves more for me!
Oh and I can decode an engine for $15... and put 10 LED's in it for about another $5...You call that a "**** ton of money"???


----------



## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Firebox*

Oooh Baby , Firebox T-man style HOT HOT HOT!!!!

Remember this thread.


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I think I'm going to bag some of those flickering candles and use red cellophane to make my firebox glow.


----------



## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

The tea lights are seasonal you may not find any.

SO adding an LED to the tender look at the thread above it has this.
I spelled diodes wrong. Good Grief.










I would move the resistor next to the LED if you add more than one LED. Each LED should have a resistor when wired in Parrallel.


----------



## ChopperCharles (Jan 3, 2012)

NIMT, $15? 

I'm going to have to upgrade each loco to a DCC can motor (open armature AC motors in there now). Then I'm going to have to buy a commercial dcc board, which are $35-$90 depending on the brand. Then I'm going to have to drop dime on a DCC transformer, and a DCC controller. Then I'm going to have to program it all. Oh, and if the brand I choose decides to stop making stuff (Like Dallee often does), I might have to scrap it all and start over completely with a new brand. 

The idea of cruise control and running locos at 100% track voltage is good, but the execution is not something I want to attempt for my simple ceiling layout. Maybe if I get into more scale modeling in the future, and build a realistic looking layout. But for right now, that's a long, long way out in the future.

Charles.


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I think Sean has spent too much time in HO scale, he's not thinking vintage S-scale.  If you were going command/control for S-scale or larger, I don't think I'd be looking at DCC, the power handling of larger trains gets into some serious expense if it has to go through a DCC controller! 

DCS or TMCC just powers the track and sends RF commands down to control the trains, no need to amplify control signals to many amps.


----------



## ChopperCharles (Jan 3, 2012)

I might go DCC when I build an N guage layout, because I'll be starting from scratch. The only locomotives I have are tyco, and I don't like them, so I'd be buying something new. But that project (N coffee table layout) is so far in the future I'm not even at the "hrm, that'd be kinda neat" stage.

Charles.


----------



## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

ChopperCharles said:


> I have a 4-6-2 and a 4-4-2 atlantic steamer. They have fake lights molded into the rear part of the tender. What color should these be? I'd like to drill them out and put actual bulbs in there.


There should be a large rear headlight (normal yellow/white bulb) and probably some small marker lanterns (red (well, OK, most of the time red, but let's not get into that)).



> For that matter, on the Hogwarts Express there are plastic lanterns on the front, waht color lights should those be?
> 
> Oh yeah, and my GP7 has marker/running lights molded in. What color for those as well?


Well, first off, there is a significant (although it might seem subtle) difference between marker lights and classification lights.

Markers are the red lights displayed on the rear of the train. 
Classification lights are signals displayed on the lead engine of the train, along with matching coloured flags. The options are white, green, and off/none.

A regular (scheduled) train displays no signals (lights and/or flags).
A regular (scheduled) train with one or more additional sections running under the same schedule displays green signals.
An extra (unscheduled) train displays white signals.

Further explanation of the whys of that pretty much requires a full explanation of how operation by timetable used to work.


----------

