Lights

[g-pa1]

I know about headlights and ditch lights and FREDs (sorry Fred) but what the heck is a Mars light and who from Mars would want to see it? Gene

[70novahound]

When G.W. gets there, keep him! He would make a wonderful President of Canada! The father of the Maple Leaf! He would get the Canucks off the fence!:D :^O :p CJ

[trmwf]

Pete, Actually, they do control the sound, at least the horn and bell. The throttle controls the engine noise and of course the brake button causes the air hiss associated with air brakes. prof

[janesew]

re: post # 31 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! F

[flaretired]

Does anybody know where to get light kits for passenger cars and caboose? I have heard that cabooses now come lighted. Is it true and who makes them? Chuck 🙂

[ginzokid]

Chuck, In N scale, you are on your own. With the exception of Kato which makes lighting kits for their passenger cars, and the odd Rivarossi light kit you can find on ebay for their heavy-weight cars from the 70's, there is nothing specific out there right now. Some manufacturers are making after market light kits for cabooses. I do not know the names. As for passenger cars, get yourself some phosphor bronze from Walthers, cut a set of wheel wipers and use a 16 volt bulb inside the car to light it. Hopefully the wheel sets are metal with metal axles and one sided insulated wheels. Do you have a Walthers catalog? If not, go to www.walthers.com for the on-line catalog. you can find a lot of stuff there. My "Backshop" can light your cars for a nominal fee if you care to have me do it. It's not difficult Chuck. Even if I did one for you, you could then copy it. I'm not really trying to drum up business, I have enough to do, but I just fixed Blane's Berkshire and it runs great. I'll wait until he gets it back before I blow my horn. You newer guys just have to experiment more, that's all. B-)

[flaretired]

Thank you for the info. Will check out the Walthers site. Chuck.

[brintontbutler]

I am in awe of the prof... everything he says seems to be very pertinent. What a knowlege base! Of course, everyone that is not as new as I am to this group already knows that. Big "DUH" for me. Thanks for sharing your know-how everyone. Brinton

[trmwf]

Brinton, I think you are confusing me and Pete, the ginzokid. My knowledge pales when compared to what Pete has to offer. prof

[brintontbutler]

I was responding to the comments you had signed as "prof", but I understand the "guru-ness" that Pete possesses, too! Thanks both of you, Brinton

[trmwf]

Well in that case, thank you for the compliment. I don't get very many so I naturally figured it must have been a mistaken one. prof

[flaretired]

How many of you run your trains at night? The reason I ask is, do you ever check to see the headlight aiming? I would think even in N Scale the lights should point down toward the track. Guess what, most of mine do not. Diesel or steam, they either point up or straight out. Was just wondering if there is anything that can be done to correct this problem? I found this out by accident when I was testing my lighted cabooses and noticed when the engine went around the curve I could see were the headlight was pointing on the wall. I then tested all my engines by putting a piece of white paper in front of the engines just to see where the headlights were aimed. Only two were aimed correctly. None of my steam passed and only two diesels out of eight passed. I guess your not supposed to run your trains at night. Chuck 🙂

[ginzokid]

Chuck, All of my headlights seem to point straight out too. I can also see the shaft of light shining on the wall, buildings and tunel sides. The track is not lit very much by the headlight. Since the models do not actually have a lens like the prototype, I assume we are stuck with this arrangement. You might be able to tilt the bulb down but most headlights today are plastic light tubes and not movable. This brings me to the question of just where are prototype headlights aimed. It seems to me that they should be aimed slightly down from the horizontal to light the track a ways out front of the engine, just like our car lights. Ditch lights have been added in hope that the side of the tracks can be illuminated better. I'll have to do some research for myself. As to your question of running the layout at night, yes I do and I have special lights on dimmers to achieve the look I want for night simulation. B-)

[ginzokid]

Here's a web site for you Chuck. http://www.epa.gov/EPA-IMPACT/2003/August/Day-19/i21136.htm And here is a short paragrapgh: "A headlight which shall afford sufficient illumination to enable a person in the cab of such locomotive who possesses the usual visual capacity required of locomotive enginemen, to see in a clear atmosphere, a dark object as large as a man of average size standing erect at a distance of at least 800 feet ahead and in front of such headlight." The web site has a lot of information on it. B-)

[barrysfp45]

From my memory when I was an engineman the headlight didn't actually light the tracks as you don't need to see where the bends are, the light is to light up a fair distance ahead of the train so you can see what is ahead, even if something is close you usually can't stop quick enough to avoid it, also I think the ditch lights are really a warning signal for traffic on roadways and crossings or to let approaching train crews know that they are approaching another train, believe me on a moonless night in a country type area you usually can't see anything unless it is lit, this is just my memories anyway. Barry.....;)

[barrysfp45]

Gee Pete we were typing at the same time, spooky or what. Doo,doo, doodoo. Barry....]:)