MKT Strobes?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I'm wiring up a Bachmann GP40 with DCC and want the roof strobe to be live. From videos, it is definitely a strobe and not a rotary beacon. The only problem is I can't determine the color because the light blows out the video. My guess is amber. Can anyone verify?

[RockGp40]

My Santa Fe is amber, so good bet.

[C855B]

Xenon strobe tube (bright white) in an amber dome. Ostensibly amber. Ish.

[squirrelhunter]

Daniel, I don't know if you have Facebook, but the MKT Modelers group there is a wealth of info on MKT diesels and has former employees of the MKT among it's members. 

Looking through the posts in the group, it seems MKT used Federal brand xenon strobes. It seems most were clear, but some were amber from the comments.

One thing I've learned with MKT power in the 80's os to check photos of your unit- they changed small details like strobes and scotchlite stripes on the side sills in the last 5 years or so before the merger.

[Olivani]

May I ask in this thread ? Did UP patch the MKT engines or even repainted them or did they just sell everything to a scrap yard ?

Oliver

[C855B]

Repaint, I do believe. Same with Western Pacific, and the equipment UP owned but leased to the Rock Island (GP40s and cabooses). They wiped the company images off the face of the earth as quickly as they could possibly manage. There were no patches, or if so, just long enough to get them to the paint shops. The MP was treated similarly, but it took them a little longer as there was more to do. Mop employees got the last laugh, with a distinct lettering style that varied from the corporate guidelines, unique to the Jenks shop.

[squirrelhunter]

C855B is correct, UP did not patch any WP, MP or MKT power. Don Strack's Utah Rails website has rosters that include repaint dates.

MKT did have ex CR/PC GP40's and GP38's, ex ICG GP38AC's and ex Kennetcott Copper GP39-2's that they patched over. Some of the ex CR/PC GP40's got MKT greennand yellow, but some made it through the merger in black or blue with MKT patches on the cab and long hood.

2 or 3 ex RI GP40's did run in the mid 80's (1984-86 or so) in Texas still in battered RI maroon and yellow, but there were only a couple and they didn't last long before they were finally retired. By all accounts the unrebuilt WP and RI GP40's needed major work and UP sent them to Texas in the mid 80's to deal with a traffic surge but leased them to NdeM or retired them pretty quickly after that.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll start work on the strobe tomorrow. These units were gone by the time I model, but I love the paint scheme and it adds a lot of flavor to a consist. The Bachmann GP40 number is actually one of the former Conrail GP40s, so it will be a bit of a family reunion when it runs though.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I think I got the basic look without getting too crazy:

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[peteski]

Not amber?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Couldn't get verification they are amber. It looks like they were all over the map on styles.

Here is a video of the strobe in action. You can see it is much whiter in comparison to the headlight, but I wasn't sure if that was due to the light blowing out the camcorder sensor.

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MKT 236, fellow ex-Conrail brother to 245
https://s3.amazonaws.com/rrpa_photos/55350/MKT+236_1989-10-26_GP40_Grand+Avenue_St+Louis+MO.jpg
This looks like a 6" wide white strobe, about 12" tall.

MKT 178 has a slightly square appearance, but still clear. The top half has a lot of soot.
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/841895/

MKT 170 has a similar strobe, but had an amber rotary a few years prior.
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/827944/
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/512897/

MKT 190 too.
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/774772/

MKT 188 clearly has an amber rotary beacon here.
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/631575/

As does MKT 210.
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/591374/

And MKT 176.
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/512898/

But I finally found a photo of MKT 245, and it clearly has a strobe.
https://www.rr-fallenflags.org/mkt/mkt245bbp.jpg

So I believe that MKT used amber rotary beacons prior to 1982 and started switching to white xenon strobes at that time.

The strobe on this engine was made with fiber optic sanded to the basic shape of the light and a small slice of heat shrink tubing added for the bezel. The fiberoptic goes though the cab roof where the 0402 LED is sandwiched between two layers of electrical tape. There is no light leakage whatsoever, and the LED can be removed without much fuss if I need to.

This model is using a Digitrax decoder as it was what I had on hand at the time. The strobe effect is absolute garbage. It stays lit for far too long and ruins the effect. Bummer.

[peteski]

Couldn't get verification they are amber. It looks like they were all over the map on styles.
. . .
This model is using a Digitrax decoder as it was what I had on hand at the time. The strobe effect is absolute garbage. It stays lit for far too long and ruins the effect. Bummer.

Bare Xenon it is then. 
Yes, Digitrax FX lighting effects are exactly what you called them.  Their effects where gradual brightness transition is needed (rotary beacons, GyraLites, alternating ditch lights, etc.) are also very poorly done, especially when using LEDs.  But from what I recall from experimenting, even better grade decoders like ESU don't really really handle strobes very well.  Better than Digitrax, but still not the very quick burst you expect from what is basically a flash bulb firing.

[Rivet Miscounter]

A very timely and interesting topic.

I have really loved my venture back into N, in large part due to the decision to model 1989 which allows me to model MKT power.   MKT had trackage rights over the BN line I plan to model and I have a pair of the forthcoming Atlas GP40s on order.

I am really hoping to get the strobes/beacons right on both the MKT power and BN.   I had forgotten about the MKT strobes until reading through this, but now I clearly recall them being installed on some units during the mid/late 80s.   I think the look you've acheived is really good.  Hopefully you can figure out a way to get the flash rate like you want it.   I feel like MKT's move to strobes was slow and likely never completely finished so I may do one of each...will need to research.  But definitely will try to emulate what you're doing there with the strobe.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Doug, after looking though pictures for several hours it looks like most or all rotary beacons on their GP40s were replaced between 82-83. I'm not sure about their other engines though. For the ex-Conrail GP40s, some received them early on before repainting and others (like 245 here) didn't get a strobe until just before the merger.

I need to play around with the NCE decoder features in my fleet. The ESU decoders do have pretty good strobe effects. I have used 5th generation Loksound decoders for most of my F40PH models and their dual strobe effects are really good. The material Kato used to make their strobes also helps the effect. They are semi-translucent which creates a great radiant effect. The fiber optic here isn't as good. I have some ideas on that, but it needs more experimentation.

[C855B]

Doug, after looking though pictures for several hours it looks like most or all rotary beacons on their GP40S were replaced between 82-83. ...

That would make sense. The Federal Signals rotary beacons (I forget their RR marketing name) didn't do well in the high-vibration environment, and especially in continuous use. In the public safety space, the same lights worked great and were long-lived, but, after all, were operated only in the applicable emergency situations.

The FRA rule change about auxiliary lights - whenever that was... ~1982? - made all the flashing light systems such as Gyralights, rotating and non-rotating beacons such as xenon strobes obsolete. I think it was right about the time UP ate MKT and the others.