Anyone add diesel inspection lights?

I was thinking of an easy way to do it by using the cab lights, which I never use, and placing them above the center of the front trucks.

What you are describing is actually the "ground light", which even goes well back into the steam locomotive era. The "ground light" is mounted ONLY on the right side, directly under the Engineer's cab window (both steam & diesel), and was used by the Engineer at night in order for hime to watch the ground as he starts the train, i.e. watching the slow movement. Virtually ever locomotive EMC/EMD produced had the "ground light", as it was a requirement from back in the steam days. On diesel & electric units, the "ground light" is wired through the switch for the Engineer's gauge lights, thus when the gauge lights are "ON" (the gauge lights have a dimmer knob so that the brightness can be adjusted for night viewing without effecting the Engineer's night vision), obviously at night, the "around light" is also "ON".

So,,,,,,,yes, your FT A unit should have a "ground light" on the right side, directly under the cab window. The "ground light" has nothing to do with "inspections".

It may have been optional, but many EMD cab units also had a ground light on the left side, as the exit from the cab was via the side door and ladder.  On hood units, there are step lights (on their own switch), but on cab units the ground light also serves as a step light, illuminating the ground for employees descending the ladder.

The next question is does anyone make a casting of these lights?

Conductor Earl posted:

The next question is does anyone make a casting of these lights?

You might try contacting P&D Hobby Shop.

I have done this, and I even have a little add-on module I use in diesels that controls cab lights and ground lights.  As soon as I get production on my chuff generator board, it incorporates ground light output capability as an option, it turns them off once you get to around 10 scale MPH.  I'm making little surface mount LED boards to glue under the walkways for the actual light part of the installation.

We put step lights in a diesel once as well, used tiny 1.5mm incandescent bulbs.

Thanks all, for the comments and information.   

I was inspired to start this discussion, by a video of a great 2-rail O layout, and a night running sequence showed a highly detailed diesel running with lights over both trucks on each side.   It looked cool, perhaps its not prototypical,  but I would like to do it.

You may think I am ridiculous but... I have also thought about going further, and putting a blue LED inside my FTs on each side to glow softly through the four round porthole windows, as if someone left the maintenance lights on.   I think it would be nice to see.   Obviously I like a light show.  But I have not added lights to my locomotives so far (not counting headlight upgrades and mars lights), this would be my first foray.

Fire away if you need to , but I think it would be very cool.

It's interesting to hear why the ground lights came to be. I installed some on my G scale scratch build of a SD70ACe. I didn't know the history.

Someone makes a modern brass casting in O scale that I've seen. I'm not sure what the older ones looked like?

Posted on another forum, a discussion of ground lights and lighting in general:

"The standard incandescent bulb is set to be discontinued after 2014 so railroads are looking into their options.
Locomotives have had LED number boards for a few years now, but Union Pacific recently started installing them for the truck and step lights. Those UP locos that I've seen have the LEDs on the entire locomotive, not just over the front truck."

 Perhaps some new locos are delivered having LED lights installed all around?

Both cal scale and psc offer dummy grounding lights. On da bay a seller is offering working ground lights with mini incandescent bulbs and circuit board.

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

Both cal scale and psc offer dummy grounding lights. On da bay a seller is offering working ground lights with mini incandescent bulbs and circuit board.

Does the circuit board turn them off at a set speed?

PRR, I am not finding these, can you give a clue as to the search that turns them up?