Weekend Update 1/9/22

[arbomambo]

[peteski]

Red class lights??  Class lights being used as both class and marker lights??  What's that all about?  In the photo, the following engine also has red ones...do they turn 'em on when the engine is on the rear running in reverse??  What happened to white and green class lights on the front?  My knowledge of class lights and marker lights stops at December 31, 1956...so what's goin' on here??

I wouldn't have modeled those marker lenses the way Sean did it, but it is his model and if he wants to use fiber optics with a metal bezel, it is his choice.   But I agree that those will  not look quite like the marker lights I'm sued to see on diesel locos.



Typical marker lights I'm used to seeing are not aimed parallel to the track. They are installed flat on the pointy nose. The lens  is domed, and almost flush with the bezel, which is almost flush with the body surface. The housing (bezel) is usually painted the same color as the loco's body and the lens is usually a colorless dome. The light's color is likely selected by sliding a color filter behind the lens.


Having said that, I have also seen some added-on red markers which are installed on bracket which protrude from the nose. Those are aimed parallel to the track and have nice silver bezels. Maybe Sean is going for that look on a narrow-good diesel?  Notice that this loco still has the "standard" marker light lenses above the windshields.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

He's definitely shooting for the ones like the ones on the nose of that F40. Check out the link he posted to see a good example.

Conrail used these on some units to comply with some mandate. I THINK it might've been Amtrak (which would explain the F40 too). They're definitely not the regular EMD class lights.

[peteski]

He's definitely shooting for the ones like the ones on the nose of that F40. Check out the link he posted to see a good example.

Duh!  Roger that.  But Sean's model in that photo seemed to be much darker blue than Conrail.   That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

The hypodermic tubing should be just the ticket as bezels for those lights.

[dem34]

Duh!  Roger that.  But Sean's model in that photo seemed to be much darker blue than Conrail.   That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

The hypodermic tubing should be just the ticket as bezels for those lights.

Looks almost like an unmodified 90s LL molded in a dark blue. But that said, Conrail Blue also looks a lot darker to the eye without the white lettering if it is painted which I don't think it is. I went for something similar looking with my models just with paint, if I had to offer a nugget I'd say that the fiber optic lenses are a bit big especially when I hold up an AZL SD50 to the screen as a reference.

[GonzoCRFan]

Duh!  Roger that.  But Sean's model in that photo seemed to be much darker blue than Conrail.   That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

The blue was way too dark. But I can't be held responsible for the sins committed by Death-Like on their mid-1990s "GP38", which is the only convenient diesel shell I had available that I was also willing to mutilate.

And I did find some suitable tubing that will work with the smaller 0.75mm red fiber optic I also ordered. The stuff in my experiment was 1mm in 1/16 tubing.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Duh!  Roger that.  But Sean's model in that photo seemed to be much darker blue than Conrail.   That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

The hypodermic tubing should be just the ticket as bezels for those lights.

It's influenced by his sense of humor

I don't know if he even painted it. It might actually just be one of those geeps. He mentioned it was purely a testbed, and also mentioned that he agrees about the tubing being used in the next rev.

[GonzoCRFan]

Red class lights??  Class lights being used as both class and marker lights??  What's that all about?  In the photo, the following engine also has red ones...do they turn 'em on when the engine is on the rear running in reverse??  What happened to white and green class lights on the front?  My knowledge of class lights and marker lights stops at December 31, 1956...so what's goin' on here?

Technically they were just marker lights, but a lot of us CR modelers refer to them as class lights as well. They were supposed to be used on the trailing end of helpers or light engine movements, but in reality were turned on based on the whims of the train crews.

The MV lenses are long gone. I might have to give your epoxy-based recommendations a try to compare the overall effects relative to the effort and materials involved. Which one did you use on your UP 25502 caboose? The green lenses look really good.

[GonzoCRFan]

if I had to offer a nugget I'd say that the fiber optic lenses are a bit big especially when I hold up an AZL SD50 to the screen as a reference.

The easiest way to test how it would look was the 1mm fiber optic in some drilled-out K&S 1/16 tubing. I was mainly concerned with seeing if the marker light in a metal housing that looked red enough once the fiber was deprived of light hitting it from almost every angle. The website I bought the stuff from showed it being a nice, deep red, but the stuff absorbs so much light it actually appears hot pink.

[peteski]

Sean, are you planning on illuminating those marker ligths. or are they just dummies?

Fiber optics will not give you that "mirrored reflector" look.  They will just pass the light through them to the other end.

Also, no need for red fiber optics.  A standard clear fiber optic will work. If illuminated with a red LED, it will emit red light.

If dummies, the best way I achieved nice reflection (other than using the MV lenses) was by making my own reflector and placing a drop of epoxy over it  - basically my own version of a MV lens.  In your case, I would take a bezel-diameter aluminum rod. Then use a drill of the lens diameter and drill slightly into the end of the rod. Just enough to make a "reflector". Then drop some epoxy in the indentation to simulate a lens. In your case, instead of epoxy, I would just dab some Tamiya clear red paint.  That should nicely simulate a red lens, and the reflections from the drilled reflector dimple will make it sparkle.

[DKS]

Making model lenses:

Start with relatively fine, clear fiber, such as 0.015". Cut the end cleanly with a fresh knife or razor blade. Hold the end up close to a hot soldering iron tip. The end will mushroom out into a perfect lens shape--smooth and slightly rounded. Pull the fiber away from the iron when the lens is the desired size. It will probably take several tries, as it happens quickly. Then, for red light, use a red LED, as Peteski suggested. The lens shape makes the illumination look quite realistic; however, for wider dispersion of light, lightly sand the lens with very fine sandpaper.

Start:



Making the lens shape:



Finished:

[keeper]

What DKS said!

[GonzoCRFan]

Peteski and DKS, I'm just going for unlit marker lights. This is a rabbit hole I've been trying to avoid going down but Conrail units just don't look right without something being done to achieve the look (of course everything that made CR interesting anf unique also makes it a PITA to model). Operational ones would look amazing if done right, but I'm just not enough of an electronics guru to be able to pull that off - swapping DCC boards is about as adventurous as I like to get.

I do sincerely appreciate everyone's feedback and helpful suggestions.

[rail_nut]

Aren't The class lights to be used when MRTA loco is leading and red markers when loco is pushing train. I don't know if MBTA uses the class lights as I don't really know their operations. As a commuter service I'm not sure why they would. just my thoughts.

[peteski]

Aren't The class lights to be used when MRTA loco is leading and red markers when loco is pushing train. I don't know if MBTA uses the class lights as I don't really know their operations. As a commuter service I'm not sure why they would. just my thoughts.

No marker (classification) lights were used on MBTA.  Only red marker lights for push-pull operations.  I'm not sure why they didn't just use red lights on those high-mounted marker lights, but instead they installed dedicated red marker lights on the lower nose on those early F40 locos.  Might have been an "Amtrak thing".

When they rebuilt those locos they removed those separate marker lights, added ditch lights, and put red lenses in the original high-mounted marker/class. light locations.