I have a Bachmann 2-10-0 and I am looking at maybe putting LEDs in for the headlight and tender light. I was wondering if anyone knows of a good way to go about this and what to look at in getting a LED to replace the regular light bulbs. I have the undecoratd version so I have it set up with the smoke box with mounting for the headlight bracket at the top instead of on the smokebox door. The tender light seems it would be pretty straight forward, but the headlight seems like it could be tricky. Any help or ideas would be great. Thanks.
I was also thinking of trying LEDs. I haven't done it yet but some infomation in case you didn't know. LED come in different brightnesses measured in Millawatts (mw). The color, even if you choose White, will be different. The color is called Wavelength. I don't know what Wavelength for you to try but some "white" LEDs have a bluish tint color because of its wavelength. Powering it can also be tricky. Most LEDs like 3-5 Volts, if you run your engine at a higher speed, the voltage will be too high & blow out the LED. You can use a resister but that will drop the voltage because it's limiting the current. I would use a Zener Diode rated at 5 volts, the output from the Diode wouldn't exceed 5 volts. Also the LED wouldn't work when the Engine is running in reverse as LEDs are polarity sensitive.
I'm not familiar with this engine. But I've put a lot of LEDs into engines, most diesel. Here you see my working beacon light. Wolfgang
