Installing Ditch Lights on F40PH

[diburning]

How is it done? The ditch lights sit in recessed housings and I am very afraid to cut the shell myself.

Are there any reputable services that can do it for me?

Prototype photo here:

http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?2...TYPE=SIMPLE&PAGE=1&BOOL=ALL&SEARCHSTRING=1006

 

[steamhead]

Di...We are all afraid of doing something we've never done before...I say...go for it..!! Just a bit of advice of something I learned along the way..DON'T CUT IT TO THE FINAL SIZE REQUIRED. Cut the opening a little undersized and use a small flat jeweler's file to open them up to the right size. And don't rush it...You've got all the time in the world..!!

 

[diburning]

I thought all it took was filing down an area so it's flat.

 

[steamhead]

Not being familiar with the ditch lights you intend to install...from the picture they seem to be mounted on the inside of the shell with the lens protruding through it. If it's surface mounted...so much the better, although you will still need a hole to pass the wires through. I still say...Go for it..!!

 

[Sawdust]

That's an awesome engine, I'm with Steamhead take your time & Go for it!

 

[thedowneaster]

As you know, I'm not a purist when it comes to details....so my MBTA Screamers will have simple round ditch light fixtures. I bought Detail Associates ditch light frames (flush mount). I will drill them out and the shell for GOW incandescent lamps.

 

[diburning]

Mine is going to have LEDs.

Once that is done, I'll repaint the purple stripe and the gold stripes, repaint the headlight (the headlight housing should be purple - no gold on it) and add drop style grabs (Walthers included the straight type grabs which would only work on the nose)

I'll also add DCC, a 6 function decoder meaning I can install marker lights. Headlight will be F0, front markers will be F0 (reverse direction), rear headlight will be F1, rear markers, F2 or I could tie them into the front headlight, and ditch lights will be F3 and F4. (Or F4 and F5 if I wire the markers independant of the headlights)

Then, I'll file off the mars light, add a bell (I need to figure out a way to fabricate a bell bracket since no one seems to make them) and a Details West K5LA.

I'll use a digitrax decoder that can be upgraded to sound with the soundbug so that if it turns out great and I want to add sound in the future, I could do that.

 

[thedowneaster]

Wow, even with pictures I assumed the headlamp housing was silver. Your photo is of a VERY clean engine!

I was able to use bells for GP high hoods. I don't remember the exact details, but i know there was some modification needed. Its super-easy to re-shape the soft metal.

 

[diburning]

It's not my photo.

Do you have a part number for the metal high hood bell? I can't seem to find it on ebay and I only have a details west catalog (cal scale and detail associates don't have catalogs)

Here's a close up

http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?2...TYPE=SIMPLE&PAGE=1&BOOL=ALL&SEARCHSTRING=1006

 

[thedowneaster]

Details West BE-135
or Walthers #235-135
$1.50 for a pack of two of 'em.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/235-135

 

[diburning]

Thanks!

Did you buy those F40PHs in the MBTA scheme or were they repainted from a different scheme? It looks like those F40PHs have the dynamic brake fan. MBTA's F40PHs do not have dynamic brakes. The Walthers MBTA F40PH is correct and doesn't have the fan, but their amtrak models do.

 

[thedowneaster]

They were Amtrak engines...I mixed up my own blend of purple. Wayyyy closer than Walthers color!

I have a walthers "non-dynamic" insert from another engine that I making a silicone mold from in order to make copies to un-dynamic my screamers.

 

[diburning]

I think it would be easier to cut off the fan, and fill the radiator with putty and paint it.

 

[thedowneaster]

Ehh....We'll see, I can always try that first. It's a very simple part so making a few castings wouldn't be terribly difficult. There may be a small ebay market for them too.

 

[diburning]

thedowneaster, I noticed that on your MBTA thread, you put diaphragms into your comet coaches. Which brand and item number did you use? I bought a couple pairs of Walthers Rubber ones, but I realized now that I have the wrong kind.

 

[thedowneaster]

Oh gosh! I have no idea, but I wish I did! I now have 12 of them that need diaphragms. All I know is that they were intended for Amfleet coaches...came from walthers.

PS: Here's an F-40 with the round ditch light boxes....I bet they will look pretty similar to the box fixtures when they're on. http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?2...TYPE=SIMPLE&PAGE=3&BOOL=ALL&SEARCHSTRING=1055

 

[diburning]

only the F40PH-2Cs and F40PHM-2Cs have the round ditch light housings.

They were built that way with ditch lights.

When the original F40PHs were built, they were not built with ditch lights because they were not required by law at the time. After the law was passed, MBTA sent their F40PHs to Amtrak to retrofit them with ditch lights. Amtrak came up with the recessed housing idea so that's how they came to be.