Electrical "Odds-n-Ends" for Model Railroading Enthusiasts                         

Installation of LEDs in Williams GG-1

The most common question we get is, "what kind of bulb do I need?"   Whether it's for a turnout or a switch controller, a passenger car or an engine, you need to determine if the bulb is  bayonet base or screw base.  There are a lot of bayonets in our industry but it's not safe to assume that's what you have; it can vary even within the same product line.

With engines you need determine not only what the base is, but what is the position of the lamp: is it vertical or horizontal?  A horizontal bulb is typically replaced by a focused lens, whereas a vertical bulb is usually replaced by an inverted (light comes out the sides of the bulb). 

Two examples:  A Williams GG-1 (which probably accurately represents most older GG-1s) and a Lionel Steam engine.  Let's take a look:

This picture shows the two original incandescent bulbs mounted vertically.  Below are pictures with them changed to inverted LEDs:

Now for the Lionel steam engine.  Before:

The above pic shows the incandescent bulb again mounted vertically.   If we used a focus bulb the light would shine straight up and not filter through the lens on the front of the engine.  So we go with an inverted again, which forces the light out the sides:

Another great application worth sharing, we have a lot of customers who use our MTR-12T relays as "on-off" switches to turn off power to unused blocks (referencing command control systems).   The following pic (though not my clearest) shows a SPST switch which would be mounted at the control board, an A/C Ready LED which was also mounted at the control board or other convenient space which identifies status of said block, and then the relay which was mounted under the table in close proximity to the block.  Other installations omit the on-off switch and do it automatically instead when connected to adjoining blocks. 

4 in 1 LED in action:

A good friend of ours, Stan from Stan's Tanks uses our 4-in-1 LEDs for the light trees on his layout.  They do a great job of broadcasting light on his freight yard. 

Lionel Bumpers:

In this example we're using our Red inverted LED.  The red LED color compliments the red lens cap (and no heat issues to melt the lens cap!).

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Last modified: November 08, 2008