MV lenses?

[Joetrain59]

 I don't find a website for MV Lens Products. Are they still around?
 Looking for N scale red lens for D&H caboose end marker light.
 Thanks,
 Joe D

[wvgca]

website address is
http://www.mvproducts.com/Model-Lenses.html

[Ngineer]

I don't find a website for MV Lens Products. Are they still around?

I used to buy them at ModelTrainStuff (M.B. Klein Inc.).

But I stopped buying there since they changed their website as it is impossible to find anything. Their new website is a catastrophe. 

You could send them an e-mail, though. IMHO they are always helpful when you contact them via e-mail or through their contact form.

   Javier

[Joetrain59]

Thank you.
 Joe D

[robert3985]

I use a lot of MV lenses for my U.P and S.P caboose marker lamps.  I found the vast majority of mine online at eBay...for distinctly LESS than I could buy them from the "normal" sources.  It's been a while since I've bought any, but you might want to just do an eBay search for 'em.  You might be surprised at what you find.





As to using MV lenses for marker lamps, when I'm running my freights at shows, I get a lot of comments and questions about how I've managed to put a light inside my marker lamps.  Depending on the lighting in the venue the show is being held at, the tiny MV lenses DO make the marker lights look like they're illuminated.

Here's a photo on my layout of Wilhemina Pass, and if you look closely, you can see the MV lenses in the marker lamps on the departing Oxide Red CA-4 caboose...and they look illuminated...



Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore



Cheerio! Bob Gilmore

[central.vermont]

website address is
http://www.mvproducts.com/Model-Lenses.html

Pretty much a useless website!!
They don't list any of their products.

Jon

[robert3985]

I don't find a website for MV Lens Products. Are they still around?
 Looking for N scale red lens for D&H caboose end marker light.
 Thanks,
 Joe D

@Joetrain59 Joe, I did an eBay search using "MV products" as the search parameter, and got over 6 pages of results.  Give that a try...

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Joetrain59]

Thanks, I was about to troll online shops. I'll look at the bay. CV, there is a chart on their website. Forget offhand how I stumbled onto it. But I found I need #701, red lenses, .046". I had some years ago, tried to drill one out as MV says can be done. I didn't have much luck back then. Has anyone actually lit them, esp. for headlights?
 Thanks much,
 Joe D

[Jim Costello]

Joe D....Walthers lists several pages of MV lenses. No photos but size and colour listed.

Jim
Modelling the NH down under

[nkalanaga]

I lit one, once, in a dummy Minitrix F unit, using a 1.5V bulb and a AAA battery.  During the day it didn't look that different from the unlit ones, and I didn't run in the dark, so never repeated the experiment.

Most of mine were used in units without headlights (common in the 70s and 80s), so lighting them wasn't a high priority.

[peteski]

Problem in N scale size lenses is that the mirrored back is aluminum and of course does not allow light to pass.

MV Products has instructions for how to illuminate their lenses in larger scales (where the lens is larger.  You partially drill into the lens from the back, (where the light bulb would sit), then place a light bulb behind the lens where the hole is.

You could try this in N scale size lenses, but the hole will have to be tiny (#80?) so not much  light will shine through it.

[nkalanaga]

I think my hole was 0.02", #75(?).  With the very small bulb directly behind the lens it did light up, but as I said, wasn't impressive during the day.  The lenses do look good unlit, although after 30+ years they also look yellowish, like a tarnished reflector.

Drilling the lens for an F unit isn't that hard.  Drilling one for a marker light would probably be a waste of time.

[peteski]

I think my hole was 0.02", #75(?).  With the very small bulb directly behind the lens it did light up, but as I said, wasn't impressive during the day.  The lenses do look good unlit, although after 30+ years they also look yellowish, like a tarnished reflector.

Drilling the lens for an F unit isn't that hard.  Drilling one for a marker light would probably be a waste of time.

Yes, some of the resin used for the lenses seems to yellow with age.  And also many of the more modern headlights have small lenses (close to size to the already-oversize N scale marker lights).  IIRC, those 1:1 headlight lenses are 6" diameter.

[robert3985]

I've lit all sizes of MV lenses using a fiber-optic rod inserted into the appropriately-sized hole I've drilled in the back of the lens.  The secret is to slightly melt the fiber-optic rod on both ends, but not making a "blob" on the end you insert into the MV lens.  A blob on the other end will help gather light from your light source however...not TOO big...just make a "blob" there.  Clear epoxy secures the fiber optic into the MV lens, at the same time negating most of the roughness of the drilled hole...which is good.

I'll repost the same photo I used to illustrate MV lenses as marker lamps on cabooses, since the Kato F-Unit leading the opposing train has a machined brass lower headlight housing as well as an MV lens set behind a clear, flat Styrene cover.  The light source in this was a super-tiny incandescent 3.5 volt cylindrical bulb, hooked up to a diode matrix.  My layout power was DC at the time.

I also lit the headlights on my brass F's and E's using this technique as well as my brass Big Boys, Challengers and FEF's minus the headlight housing clear Styrene cover.

Photo (1) - Repost of previous photo in this thread illustrating the MV lens headlight on the F3 lead unit coming our way:


Photo (2) - Brass F7's pulling out from the signal at West Echo after getting the green with empty Livestock Dispatch cars headed for the stock yards in Ogden.  Drilled MV lens headlight behind clear Styrene housing cover:


Photo (3) - Big Boy 4023 posing at West Echo signal for company photographer with drilled and lit MV lens headlight:


Photo (4) - Key brass Big Boy with drilled MV lens headlight - unlit:


I think they add more to the model when they're unlit, even though I like 'em lit too.  Even if you don't light them, I think drilling the holes in the backs gives them "extra dimension" and adds to their realistic looks to represent sealed-beam lights.

The most difficult part of drilling the backs of the MV lenses is creating a properly centered "dimple" which acts as a starter for the drill bit.  The second most difficult part is holding the damn things while drilling them.  Take it slow, don't apply too much pressure using any holding tools and you'll be okay.  However, be prepared to lose some...either to the backs coming off, or when they shoot out of your holding device into the netherworld, never to be seen again.

However, I think the extra work and frustration is worth the results you get.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Joetrain59]

Bob, are your models HO or N?
 Joe D