Mounting above pilot ditchlights

[lemscate]

I am wondering if anyone out there has a good idea on how to mount above pilot (on the walkway) ditchlights on an HO Atlas C30-7 (or really any locomotive that does not come with them, for that matter). Not dummy ditchlights, mind you, but operating ones. I have installed working ditchlights under the walkway using fiber optics running back to a bulb in the shell, but I do not see how this is easily accomplished with the thin profile of above pilot ditchlights. The units that come from the factory with them seem to use a chunk of clear plastic perfectly formed for the purpose, but I do not have the means to make one for my setup.

Any ideas or know-how in this field are greatly appreciated!

 

[Catt]

First things first.Welcome to the Gauge I think you will enjoy your time here.

Now as to the ditchlights are you talking the tall type or the ones that simply just set on the deck?

If the second type is your plan here is my idea.

1 mount the ditchlights to the deck.

2 take your fibre optics and form the bulb end.

3 insert the fibre optic through the ditchlight housing and run it back along the pilot to small holes or notches at the very bottom edge of the hood,and from there to your light source.

4 after checking to make sure everything works according to plan paint the fibre optic laying on the front deck the same colour as the deck.

5 this same plan would work for the tall lights but would require some fancy bending of the optics.

On a totally unrelated note,what part of Michigan are you from?

 

[Matthyro]

Welcome to the Gauge lemscate

 

[lemscate]

Thanks for the welcome. To answer your question, Catt, I am from Muskegon, soon to be reconnected to the Terminal Hobby Shop, er, Milwaukee via carferry.

I think I'll end up having to bend fiber optics to make it work, though it won't be pretty as light escapes from bends. I guess I'll have to fiddle around, which I have quite a bit of time to do since the decoder I was using had to be sent in for repair (under warranty, thankfully). It's as if the locomotive doesn't want light effects...