Hi All, we have a Golden Glow head light on a 7.5 gauge steam engine, I would love to get it lit , it’s a pretty small unit probably will be converted to LED , what are my options?
Check with Gary Armitstead
Some of his threads
https://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/31638/baldwin-electric-wireless-rc-build
George said:
Hi All, we have a Golden Glow head light on a 7.5 gauge steam engine, I would love to get it lit , it’s a pretty small unit probably will be converted to LED , what are my options?
George,
Looks like you have a Mercer Locomotive Works Golden Glo headlight. You mentioned you were thinking about using LED to light it. I have five of these headlights. Two were made by Dave Scalavi (Mercer Locomotive) and three were made by Jack Bodenmann here in California. The last headlight I purchased from Jack was a angled number board Golden Glo.
These are two of my Mercer Locomotive headlights. When this photo was taken, these were about thirty-five years old. Both of these lights had incandescent bulbs both for the main headlight and the number boards. I decided to have Jack Bodenmann rebuild these and add his own lighting system to them which includes and chrome plated, copper sin casting reflector…
These are the result of Jack’s restoration! Curved glass in the headlight lens and chrome plated copper casting reflector. No phony flashlight reflector. He adds two incandwscwbt bulbs for the number plates. The really nice addition is the bulb in the main headlight. That is a Krypton gas bulb which gives a naturally soft Golden Glo color and is as close to the real thing as you can get! The cost to restore these two headlight was $450.
These are two of Jack’s custom built Golden Glo headlight. Same general size as the Mercer headlamps (2 inch diameter brass body) Photo-etched numbers sandwiched between two layers of glass. These are $450 each.
This is the new angled number board Golden Glo headlight offered by Jack Bodenmann. This one is on my scratch-built Eaton Super Huskie. This lamp has the same curved glass lens in the lamp door, Krypton gas bulb and two incandescent bulbs for the number plates. Also has the chrome plated copper spin casting reflector. $450 delivered.
If you would like Jack’s contact information, send me a message.
Those look great, but a lot more money then we would be able to afford, one of my problems is the fact it is mounted on a steam locomotive, we have battery capacity in the ride along car to supply a water pump for the boiler, trying to get the power from the battery to the light along the length of the boiler is a bit of a challenge, hence the need for a small rechargeable battery pack .
Geo
George said:
Those look great, but a lot more money then we would be able to afford, one of my problems is the fact it is mounted on a steam locomotive, we have battery capacity in the ride along car to supply a water pump for the boiler, trying to get the power from the battery to the light along the length of the boiler is a bit of a challenge, hence the need for a small rechargeable battery pack .
ALL LIVES MATTER!
Geo
George,
One question for you…I noticed that you were asking the same questions about your headlight on the Chaski “Home Machinist” website. How long have you been in the ride-on hobby? Putting a “battery pack” anywhere near your boiler on your steam engine, willl be a disaster. In order to wire your headlamp, you are going to need to run a special heat resistant coated wire THROUGH your handrails on the boiler from the battery pack in your tender. Too much heat in the cab. Or run a separate conduit specifically for the headlamp. Stilll using heat resistant wire. Jack Bodenmann can rewire that headlight (not a restoration!) and add the Krypton gas bulb and the separate incandescent for a fairly decent price. Can’t hurt to ask him. I have purchased over 9 Golden Glo’s from Jack and had two Mercer lamps restore by him. He IS a Master Modelmaker :).
Friendly reminder we keep our politics out of the forums.
Thanks.
DELETE triple post.
Delete triple post.
Hi, battery is in the ride along behind the tender, I have been involved for about 4 yrs. mostly with gas powered SD45 as a couple of other gas powered locomotives. We thought it would be a good idea to finally light the head light, but we have a limited budget.
Geo
George said:
Hi, battery is in the ride along behind the tender, I have been involved for about 4 yrs. mostly with gas powered SD45 as a couple of other gas powered locomotives. We thought it would be a good idea to finally light the head light, but we have a limited budget.
Geo
George,
As you have probably found out, the steam side of ride-on railroading is a completely different world from gas-powered or electric locomotives. I have been doing this since 1956. I was thirteen and I started my first live steam locomotive (1 inch scale Little Engines 0-4-0 side tank switcher.
Even on a limited budget (be aware that steam engines and “limited budgets” don’t mix well 
), you can have your Mercer headlamp wired easily. Do you belong to a club in Florida? Check with your fellow members who own steam locomotives and get their advice. You’ll need three bulbs and a custom made holder for a LED bulb to fit in your existing reflector.