Weekend Update - 2/28/2010

[Ian MacMillan]

Drew the lights are looking pretty good!

[UP1996]

I just pinned down some square styrene rod I had lying around. After the plaster hardened a bit, I removed the forms and worked in the slope with  the back end of a tweezers.

Thought so. I'm going to give it a shot. I've heard using double sided tape works too but, I think this is a better method. Thanks.

[Ian MacMillan]

Thought so. I'm going to give it a shot. I've heard using double sided tape works too but, I think this is a better method. Thanks.

I used tape and the Walthers paving tape but I like this idea better as it is cheaper over the long run. Although I have been using bass wood square dowels, so I am going to pick up some square styrene rod so it will last longer. After a while the bass wood breaks. I still use the Walthers paving tape with the wood dowels if I need to make tightly rounded corners.

[diezmon]

Thought so. I'm going to give it a shot. I've heard using double sided tape works too but, I think this is a better method. Thanks.

I used tape and the Walthers paving tape but I like this idea better as it is cheaper over the long run. Although I have been using bass wood square dowels, so I am going to pick up some square styrene rod so it will last longer. After a while the bass wood breaks. I still use the Walthers paving tape with the wood dowels if I need to make tightly rounded corners.

using Spackle/drywall-mud is easier, and cheaper too.  I just didn't have any around this time and didn't feel like taking a drive

[GaryHinshaw]

Question:  I only have one GEVO so far, and the ditch lights seem rather dim compared to the regular nose headlights.  Have you noticed anything similar on yoru GEVO(s)?   On my Katos, the ditch light intensity looks much more uniform with the headlights.
Ed

Ed - Daryl Kruse had a nice post on his blog about brightening up the ditch lights in the FVM GEVO's with some simple manipulations of the light pipes and LED's:

http://genevasub.blogspot.com/

I'm still holding out for the upcoming BNSF DC GEVO's so I haven't tried this myself yet.
-gfh

[ednadolski]

Question:  I only have one GEVO so far, and the ditch lights seem rather dim compared to the regular nose headlights.  Have you noticed anything similar on yoru GEVO(s)?   On my Katos, the ditch light intensity looks much more uniform with the headlights.
Ed

Ed - Daryl Kruse had a nice post on his blog about brightening up the ditch lights in the FVM GEVO's with some simple manipulations of the light pipes and LED's:

http://genevasub.blogspot.com/

I'm still holding out for the upcoming BNSF DC GEVO's so I haven't tried this myself yet.
-gfh

Thanks Gary, that's an interesting approach.  Seems that FVM ought to be able to fix that on future models.

The ultimate I think would be to abandon the pipes and install #603 LEDs for ditch lights and head lights.  It's more work, bit it would give some additional advantages, such as uniformly brighter lights, independent ditch light control with DCC, and a way to use thinner ditch lights, since the factory ones are definitely chunky looking (one of the few shortcomings of this model).  However one trick to that approach is, how to wire the LEDs to the decoder in a way that doesn't make shell removal & reassembly too hard.

I'm also looking forward to the BNSF DC units  -- lots of those on Tehachapi!    .  Is there a time frame from FVM?

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

Ed - FYI, there is a whole thread on TB spurred by Daryl's post.  There is quite a bit of possibly-useful LED info there.

The FVM site says June for the BNSF DC models.  

-Gary

P.S. Hoping to get a day on Tehachapi next month.