I was thinking of adding step lights to an HO scale Amtrak P42. On every trip I’ve taken, the P42 step lights are very noticeable at night. Since I like to do a lot of night (dark) running on the layout, I thought step lights might be something worth trying on the models.
Not sure how to do this though and was wondering if anyone models step lights on their locomotives?
I was looking at the smallest bulbs offered by Miniatronics. While I prefer LEDs for most lighting projects, I think small bulbs would look more like real step lights. Miniatronics actually mentions these bulbs for use as step lights, which is encouraging.
I most likely will be using a LokSound decoder with the P42. The idea is to use one of the on/off functions for the step lights. I intend to wire four 1.5 bulbs in series. Although there could be more, I remember seeing four on the prototypes. What worries me is the power drain (milliamps) these bulbs might pull. Not the most knowledgeable on the electric side, but I do know 1.5 volt bulbs can max out the limits if you add too many.
Any tips out there? Is this getting too detailed and not worth the effort?
Photos for sure…that is if they turn out to work. Wondering about those Miniatronics lamps I linked before. They are axial lead, so that may not work for the look I’m after. The next smallest probably will be just fine.
Here’s a prototype image that shows off the step lights nicely.
I don’t know how small the step lights are on the prototype but this may be an instance where fiber optics would be a good choice.
The one truism about incandescent lights: The smaller they are; the shorter their lives generally are. And, even small ones - if run at peak voltage - could still become hot enough to melt the plastic shell.
Changing light bulbs when (not if) they burn out could become very tedious and an inconvenience for you after a while. However, if you installed fiber optical lines to illuminate your steps, you’d only need to change a single bulb when it burned out.
I’m looking at various resources to find out the bulb size and more information on the housing of the real P42 step lights. Wish I had a manual on the P42. They show up on eBay from time to time and I always say that would be nice to have but when would I need it [banghead]
I thought about fiber optics since I’m using fibers on another lighting project. But it might get a bit unwieldy inside the loco with all those fibers and could make it harder to take the shell on and off since the steps are outside of the shell.
SMDs, which I personally love for interior lighting in HO, may work nicely. But unfortunately incandescent colored SMD’s are very expensive at this time. And I can’t tint/paint them since the LEDs, though not lit, will be visible during daytime operation.
With bulbs it’s a 360 viewing angle, the right color, and relatively cheap compared to small LEDs.
I haven’t tested anything yet, but I’ll try a few things before going with one solution. Thanks for all of the suggestions so far.
I found what article they were in! They were in the Gallery section of the May 1993 Model Railroader. I was reading it last night and saw the photo of the RI FA units and though “Hmmm…wasn’t someone on the TRAINS.com forums looking for this?”