Does anyone have suggestions on making ditch lights for a SD45? Would 5mm or 3mm leds be best? What type of placement and enclosures should be used? Any suggestions on where in the Aristo systems to most easily hook them up electrically? Please post pictures if you have installed ditch lights in your sd45 or dash-9. Do your lights flash alternately, or constant on?
JimC.
If there have been previous posts on this topic, I would greatly appreciate someone posting a link. I have been unable to find one through searching.
JimC.
Jim,
The UP, BNSF & KCS ditch lites come on with the head lite… They do not flash either, only the RR’s back East have the flashing ditch lites… More places for people to do stupid things, & comit suicide!! On the building the lites use a short length of plastic tube for the housing, use the 3mm LED’s, turn them in about 7 degrees so they cross each other, they are ditch lites… Hopes this helps…
Jim, it seems I recall an article on them some time back over at the other place. My memory seems to think it was Marty. It’s been a couple years.
This months GR has a casting article. One of the items being cast were ditch light housings for an LED.
Wiring should be pretty simple if you don’t want flashing, just tie in with the headlight. LEDs require a current limiting resistor - or - very low voltage.
Jon
Bob Burton said:
Jim,The UP, BNSF & KCS ditch lites come on with the head lite… They do not flash either, only the RR’s back East have the flashing ditch lites… More places for people to do stupid things, & comit suicide!! On the building the lites use a short length of plastic tube for the housing, use the 3mm LED’s, turn them in about 7 degrees so they cross each other, they are ditch lites… Hopes this helps…
The ditch lights of our regional railway alternate - I believe as soon as the bell is actuated for road crossings. Have to check next time with CN and CP but I believe theirs work the same way.
Hans-Joerg,
I did not realize the Canadians were having the same problems as the people on the East coast… Oh well you learn some thing new every day…
Thanks for all the replies… I looked up prototype photos. All the DRGW had two sets of over/under lights.
Before:
After: I drilled and added over/under lights to my sd45.
Plowing snow with the Dash-9 blade installed on the SD45.
LEDs from Autozone that come prewired with resistors and bezels were used for the hood lights. #5326 uses drop in Li-on batteries [back fan shroud lifts off], with RCS-RC[9A], and Phoenix 2k2 sound[speaker in gas tank]. #5326 is still fully track power capable through the Aristo circuitry. Santa will bring a sister loco, #5328, to run with her in tandum [track power or batteryRC powered]. JimC.
Looks really great Jim. 
Jim I think you missed on the Idea of ditch lights. I used Ram product and worked quite well. BTW Kansas has about as many Xing accid as other folks. The reason that ditch lights came about is from a crossing accident that occurred in Hutchinson Ks in the 80s that killed 3 teenage girls on valentines day. Later RJD
RJ,
I just changed my thinking about ditch lights after looking at the roster of DRGW SD45s [including the road numbers 5326 & 5328{above} that I have]. The prototypes do not seem to have what are generally thought of as ditch lights, but rather have two sets of vertically aligned headlights. This is what I ended up modeling.
JimC.
John,
Thanks for the link.
Jimc
For those of you that are handy with the soldering iron, you can make your own ditch light flasher for about $2.
