Hello - just purchased a Athearn Genisis Series CSX SD70MAC that we added a decoder to, to utilize DCC. This unit was operating ditch lights. My question is this - are ditch like on the prototypical engines alternating?
The Athearn and Decoder installed only flash the ditch lights together?
almost all protype locomotives have alternating fashing ditch lights but only flash when the horn is blown and flash for around 20 seconds after the horn stops blowing…then go back to solid on… (as long as they are turned on… if they are turned off…sounding the horn will cuase them to flash anyways)…some older units have ditch lights that dont flash when the horn blows…but remain on soild when they are turned on regrardless of the horn is sounded or not… as far as the decoder… i have no clue… someone else might be able to give you that information…
csx engineer
What type of decoder did you use, and did you wire the Athearn ditch lights as individual bulbs or the way they had been connected to the original constant lighting board? Unless you separated the wires to the ditch light bulbs, they are not connected to the decoder in a manner that will allow them to alternately flash. Your decoder documentation should indicate which solder pads or connectors control the ditch lights and how to program them to alternately flash once they are properly connected. You may also need to use resisistors if your decoder doesn’t have a built-in voltage regulator for 1.5 Volt bulbs.
You are incorrect in saying almost all modern locomotives have flashing ditch lights. There are very few BNSF locomotives with flashing ditch lights. I believe it is more of an eastern railroad thing as most of the NS or CSX units I have operated have had them.
BNSF engineer
How many light bulbs (or LEDs) are used for the ditch lights? I don’t have any Genesis, but I’ve got a Kato AC4400 that has a single light with a Y-shaped light pipe to the two ditch lights. If I want the two lights to flash alternately, I will need to install two separate lights.
OTOH, if you’re certain that there are two light sources, and they are wired separately, there is likely a decoder CV to set, which will alternate them. What brand/model of decoder did you install? With that info, someone can probably help you figure out the CV and value needed.
why am i wrong in saying most do… the flashing is an opption as you should know…and 99% of all the power i have ever been on they flashed… foren road as well as rent-a-wreck leasers…
The only power that I have run with flashing ditch lights are the two ex-CSX GP38s we have. The rest don’t flash. The CSX power I see run through on the UP has it, but the UP power doesn’t. Not saying you are wrong, as most of the power you run has the flashing ditch lights.
The NCE decoders I have go through detailed instructions on programming for the flashing ditch lights, as long as the lights are hooked up to separate function outputs.
Remember, there are other railroads besides CSX and NS [;)] Almost no UP or BNSF power has alternating ditch lights, and I know UP deliberately removes the flashing devices from power they recieve through mergers. So out here on the west coast, we don’t get any purdy flashing lights! The exception to that would be amtrak or your foreign east coast power. [:)]
99% of the power you have been on may have had flashers, but 99% of the power I have been on have not had flashers. So we will split it down the middle and say half the locomotives in the country have flashers, half don’t. Most CSX, NS do, most BNSF, UP don’t. Oh and don’t forget we get working fridges out west too. Not old fashioned ice boxes or no fridge or ice box in the NS case.
CSX, NS, and Conrail are (were) the only Class 1 railroads to have flashing ditch lights on nearly all their engines. BNSF, UP, CP, and CN for some reason, do not. Most of the Rail America owned shortlines have flashing ditch lights, too. I live by CSX, NS and 2 Rail America owned shortlines, so whenever I see a locomotive that doesn’t have flashers, it’s odd to me.
I wouldn’t be suprised if someday the FRA mandated flashing ditch lights. Which are you more likely to notice at a grade crossing, a blob of light of a blob of flashing light? Hmmm…
sounds like a sutiable settelment to me… the east west differnces agin… lol
csx engineer
Here is what I’ve see in Southern California on the BNSF Transcon through North Orange County.
BNSF - never seen ditchlights on BNSF units flash.
NS - if leading, ditch lights alternately flash with the horn.
Metrolink - alternately flash when the horn blows.
Amtrak - surprisingly I have only seen the ditch lights flash with the horn once, and that was when the engineer gave me a courtesy blast when I was filming. But supposedly the P42s are set up to flash when the horn is blown. Perhaps there is an override.
HyRail - BNSF pickups and other Hy-Rail vehicles have headlights that flash when they approach a crossing, at least this is what I’ve seen.
I have seen BNSF with ditch lights operating on rare occasion when they roll in on the ramp at Cicero, IL. I cannot recall if the use of the horn preceded their use. Most times they are on continuously.