working marker lights

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’ve always wanted to enhance the operating environment, and put it to the test on a featured model. That model is a Nickel Plate products NKP Hudson. As if I already got the mars and headlight working on it, next step is working marker lights. Here is a progress report.

Using a Titan decoder (but you could use any function decoder or a decoder with at least 3 separate lighting functions)

Then using a 3 color superbright LED (designed for RGB large size TV’s) I can get the 3 basic marker light colors, White, Red, Green.

The marker lights on the hudson presented a problem as they are mounted on the elephant ears. The solution, fibre optics.

At the moment only the side illuminates, but I will experiment, notching the fibre and insert a fibre for the other direction, that should divert light for the forward direction.

Look ma no hands.

On the titan I have to program it to change colors, but a simple function decoder is just button presses (when setting up the decoder)

The Titan uses “addressing” CV’s, it takes 2 (or 3) CV’s to set a function feature.

But once you have the addressing set, changing the colors is a snap.

It took me some figgering out how to do this on the Titan but thats how, using front/rear markers and rear number boards lighting functions.

Once I finish this its lighting the front number boards, (a trick I already did on an AHM 2-8-4)

2

Nice work on getting the right colors for those CLASSIFICATION lights.

Now, when to use which. For TTTO operation:

  1. Train running on timetable authority, and last section of train running in sections - dark.
  2. All but last section of train running in sections - green.
  3. Extra (Train not on TT, authorized by TO) - white.

The only time a loco-front classification light should show RED is when the locomotive is working tender first as a rear-end pusher, or running light tender first. (The tender than has to display appropriate classification lights.)

Fun, isn’t it?

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with very un-American class and marker lights.

3

caboose markers would get more complex as they can designate which track, type of train, etc combining red and green lenses, right now I don’t know how to deal with different colors on side and rear unless we have dual color super tiny LED’s.

(I will call them markers, flags perform the same function)

4

Era and prototype will affect marker colors. The Rio Grande still used yellow instead of green until about 1940.

Very nice work with the fiber optics, BTW.

5

You can do yellow with this as well. Just the combination of colors.

I solved the front lense issue, 2 smaller fibre optic threads, one for each lense, using heat to flatten the ends it seats well on the marker.

Now I know how what to do its easier now,

6

Now, if I could only figure out how to do that with the microscopic railroad "handlans: used on my HOn3, K-27’s and K28’s…Hmmm.

Richard

7

Nice work with the class lights. Tough to do in small scales.

They are easier to do in G scale [;)]