Step/Ground(aka truck) LED lighting?

[drudge]

Hi,

Has anyone put ground lighting using micro/nano LED's into a Atlas master series locomotive? I have an SD35 and I was considering and like the idea of ground lights and I can't quite see how you would attach and route the lighting.Does the frame have to have a hole drilled down through the frame on each side  over the front trucks( in the appropriate location for mounting the light housing) and then route the wiring up through the frame holes ? It doesn't seem like there is any place on the plastic shell where you would be able to attach the ground lighting and route the wiring.

Also,when it comes to step lighting,where do the wires from the LED's get routed to hide them from view?



Thanks

[zakc]

Try a site called Nginering they seem to have a photo of that if I remember correctly.

[drudge]

Sorry for the late response.I thought my email would alert me to any posts,but it didn't.

I tried to google that site.No luck.

[c415rock]

Hi drudge,

Here is a link to there site,if you don't see what you are looking for just email them and ask. There customer service is top notch. There products are easy to use and great to work with. I have no affiliation with this company, just a very happy customer for many years.

www.ngineering.com/index.htm

Erik

[drudge]

Thanks for the link.

However,I was looking more for pictures or info on specific installs on using LED's for step and ground lighting in Atlas HO scale locomotives.I couldn't find anything on that site pertaining to step/ground lighting installation.

I'm trying to get a better idea on what is involved in routing the wiring in an Atlas master series SD35 and how to go about installing the lighting over the trucks.

Thanks

[analogbeatmaker]

Hi drudge. I installed step lights on an old Athearn BB. All you have to do is use the extra function wires on the decoder to power the LED. I drilled out my step light pieces to accept a fiber optic, that was the same diameter as the "bulb" in the step light part. Then I epoxied the step light housing on the end of the fiber optic. All four fiber optic strands were then bundled/epoxied together at the other end and mounted in a housing I built of styrene to hold the singular LED that lights them all. You'd just have to figure out how to route the fiber optics from the steps/truck area to the place you decide to mount the LED. If you have no room to come out of the top of the step light with the fiber optic then I don't know how you would accomplish this. You also have to use epoxy to hold this stuff firmly enough. Not only affixing the step light housing to the fiber optic strand but also along the route of the fiber optic. It's very time consuming but works the best. If you choose to use 1 LED for each step/truck light then you have to figure out a path to run the wires to the decoder. You may have to file out areas of the frame/shell to do this. Thankfully you'll be using very small LED's which use magnet wire and it's hair thin...so you shouldn't have to modify too much. I hope this helps some.