Choosing Locomotive Lighting For the Long Run

New locomotives are built with LED lighting, both on the exterior and interior, providing a brighter longer lasting, albeit a more expensive alternative. For existing locomotive fleets, most likely it’s time to upgrade from incandescent lighting to a brighter future with a durable alternative. Both LED and halogen are offering alternatives with safety and maintenance benefits for Class I, passenger and light rail locomotives.

The biggest mistake made in transportation maintenance and repair today is making purchasing decisions based on the lowest price. Price should never be the only consideration even with something as simple as a lamp. For example, a $15 bulb may seem like a small part of a locomotive’s overall expense, but it can have a big impact when it goes out.

In addition to replacing the lamp itself, there is the labor involved in changing the lamp as well as the lost revenue while being serviced. For locomotive head lamps and ditch lamps, incandescent will always offer the lowest price, because they are the oldest technology and are not the most reliable or the most cost effective in the long run. These incandescent bulbs are less durable and continued vibration can cause the filament to break leaving the locomotive with only one light.

For head lamps, incandescent lamps also lose their aim from the constant movement on the track causing the beam to start to tilt up over time. Additionally, these lamps lack the brightness of the halogen and LED alternatives.  

When we examine LED lighting options, cost tends to be the biggest concern. Current locomotives in production do come with standard LED lighting. This alternative does allow for brighter, longer lasting light. However, as these LED lights start to get older gradation is a factor. This is evident if you look, for example, at the simple LED strings of lights lining airplanes aisles. When the plane is new, the walkway lights are perfect. Within a few years, areas start to burn out and the lights start dimming. The only way to repair a light is to replace the whole line if LED lights on both sides of the aisle match.

More at

https://www.railwayage.com/mechanical/choosing-locomotive-lighting-for-the-long-run/

Good for them! I think the inital cost surely paid for itself!

I had never thought of any of this until I saw that article.

I'm sure it will be quite a savings!

When I buy the bulbs, I'm really looking for the color, i.e. the Kelvin rating. The first bulbs I bought for my office, were too blue (5000K), and then I bought 4000K bulbs and that was just right. (I don't want it yellowish at all in my office.) I used one of the 5000K bulbs in a hall light, because the hall is so dark, and there's only one light in the center. That works really well. I then replaced four bulbs in a fixture in the center of the TV room/sewing room, also 4000K, but I'm a bit on the fence about that because it does seem a bit bluish. That one also has a dimmer switch, so it doesn't have to be full brightness. I think the next one will be a lightbulb in the kitchen, over the sink, because that one is too yellow and not bright enough. I may just stick a 4000K bulb in there because I still have two left over. I can always keeps switching around. I also have a leftover 5000K bulb that I think will go in the garage next.