I want to add (using a decoder) a red braking light into the nose of my FP7, for when I brake on a mainline. Is that prototypical, and is there a decoder out there that supports this? Thanks in advance!! For the record, it's an NP Loewy unit with no lower light... will I need to add a lower nose light and a mars light to be able to do this accurately? I know the real ones weren't equipped thusly.... Yeah, I said thusly :ru-wink:
Lights I don't believe that Braking lights were prototypical except for high rail vehicles :tb-biggrin:. The only protoypical light used on F units were Single headlights, Dual sealed beams, Mars, Class, Strobe, and Ditch Lights. You could use probably reprogram a decoder that has a mars effect on it but I'm not too keen on DCC yet s im not sure.
I ask because I had read that next to Mars lights in the same housing, there was a red light that would light up under braking (I believe it was actually in the same lamp so it moved like a mars light), this was so locomotives on the same mainline traveling towards each other could signal each other of slowing or stopping conditions, this was pre-radio so early diesels only. Anyone here familiar with what I'm talking about?
gmrcguy and SecretWeapon are incorrect. Santa Fe used the red mars light in their PAs and Fs like you're talking about. They were for emergency braking applications, and reverse moves. Mike Skibbe added one to one of ATSF PA's, so it can be done. EDIT: found his explanation: Not sure of the protoptypicalness of it being in a NP unit, as I don't really follow them.
I just read the same thing in the last MR I received , if I remember correctly it was when the emergency braking was applied , they said it was to stop an upcoming train on a double mainline in case of a derailment . I saw a picture before of a twin lights in the top housing of an F unit , one red and one white . Will try to find one but it could take a while ! edit : mcjaco is typing faster than me !!! In the top portion of the upper light , it looks like there is a 3rd light that is red also on the right side of the picture there is a GP or SD unit with a red light on the top portion of the nose . http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=58315&nseq=4 In this shot we see clearly the red light ! http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=305265&nseq=18 Another one : http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=296483&nseq=45
WOOHOO!! So I'm NOT imagining things! Well then, I suppose I gotta go buy a decoder with mars capability and try to get it right. Maybe I'll just have to assign it a function and hit it myself when I slow her down.....
I am cheating a bit with my single light E and F unit , I use Digitrax decoder and have putted a mars light effect in all of them , I just love to see them coming at me rounding a corner ... Sorry , I know it is not prototypical but I like it ... CV49 you enter 02 for Mars light or 07 for Gyralite , it's a little bit different but I prefer the 02 .
The Lackawanna had placed Red MARS lights below the headlight on F3's F7's and I think the FT's as well. Even their 4-8-4 and 4-6-4 steam locomotives had them. They were used (as previously mentioned and well explained) when a train ended up with an emergency application of the brakes. The rulebook advised that the Engineer was to lite the MARS light to warn oncoming trains that this train was in emergency and an adjacent track may be fouled by derailed equipment. Today we use the "Emergency, Emergency, Emergency..." transmission to do the same thing. It is neat that this concept has been around since the steam era but just executed differently back then. I use one of the lighting function outputs of the installed decoder and wire a red LED to that. When I wish to light it, I just push the function button and light it up. While I have done this, I find that I never really put the train in emergency just to light up the light. We go into emergency at work all the time and it is a pain in the ass. Scott Lupia
You could go for a pair of micro LED's bonded together to fit in the housing. Wire the white LED to FOF and the Red LED to Function 3
Yeah, you've got the story straight now. And it survived into other units. The most remarkable on ATSF is the original FP45's - note the light configuration here: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=55153&nseq=105 Top light is a mars light - you can even see the oscilating lens in that shot. Then the red braking / end marker light up top; the "headlights" are on the nose. I put a Richmond Controls custom-built design in mine to get that, but we still didn't light the red light - it is an MV lens on my model. I'm not sure when they quit this, but nothing beyond the FP45's had it that I'm aware of. What's more is I've never seen it on ATSF power except passenger.
Northern Pacific had only two FP7's (6600 and 6601) They were dual headlight configured for passenger operations. Neither FP7 was assigned to the North Coast Limited. The following photo link is of BN Executive F9A BN-1 (nee NP 6700A). The headlight configuration shown would be the same for NP FP7s. Hope the photo is of help. http://archive.trainpix.com/BN/EMDRBLD/F9A-2/BN-1B.HTM Another angle of BN-1 nose on: http://archive.trainpix.com/BN/EMDRBLD/F9A-2/BN-1E.HTM From your comments, I gather that the FP7 model you have has only a single headlight? If so this would definitely NOT be an accurate NP FP7 model. Who was the manufacturer?
Intermountain. Good as it gets these days, but not all shells are acurate. THIS is nice: RED baby!!! Of course, it shows the real F's were a diff. color than most model railroading companies would have us believe.... look at the two tones there....
Oh, and I was spacing out on the single headlight- this is my loco, with detailed and lit cab interior (which will be DCC controleld in the very near future along with a red hi nose brakelight!!) and its matching B is off in a box.....
Your picture is of the earlier NP Passenger paint scheme, commonly (among modelers) referred to as the "Pinetree" scheme. Unit 6505A is a EMD F3... while 6512A is a F7. Although NP freight units looked very similar (passenger and freight units all had the same "butterknife" nose striping) freight units had black body shells. The later Loewy two tone green/white striping applied only to passenger units.
That's mine, up above on my layout (almost there!!). From what I gather, the red E-light was still installed through the F-9's due to lots of lines still lacking radio.
NP class 6600/6700/6900 F7/FP7/F9 passenger units all had the dual upper Mars light config (white/red). Class 6500 all had the single big red light in the upper light. And the IM FP7 NP body shell is correct ... although the following photo link is a very inglorious pose for unit 6601, still it shows that the body shell is correct as modeled by IM. :tb-err: http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/np/np6601aah.jpg P.S. - Nice lighted pic of your IM FP7!! :thumbs_up:
I used a miniatronix's yellow micromini surface mount LED and their (64ohm? IDK) resistor. SInce the loco's being built for 14v DC (DCC) I just wired it straight to the screwposts on the frame halves, on the forward end of the DC board. Of course two things: I have the thing in an "arch" to keep the LED high and keep it out of photos, and I also took the green cab interior insert and painted/detailed it (grey with white seats/black piping and a red brakestand). Visible while running, no good macro mode on my camera though... I'll try to shoot a pic of it on the workbench later.... Easy $0.75 cab lights. I'll do that right after i clean up this gawdawful bachmann engine house I nearly killed myself over last night! Why do they never have the right parts in the box? OMFG
