So I wanted to install the Mars light Front on my New NKP Berkshire. I saw the other post where the poster damaged his so I was extremely careful, but ended up in the same situation. So I thought I'd post for anyone else trying to do this swap.
First the new MARS front with the MARS light only has one LED installed in it with a pigtail and connector for the MARS light itself. Inside the locomotive front is an unused connector to plug it into, very simple. Both are labeled Mars Light. However Lionel unfortunately did not also install a second LED and pigtail with connector for the headlight in the additional MARS front. If they had done that it would have been simple plug and play. I doubt it would of cost a few dollars more to have made it that way. Instead they want you to remove the LED from the original front and then put it in the MARS light front (The MARS light front has an open hole right behind the headlight for it.) The issue is that its basically a friction fit. The rubber shrink tube around the base of the led provides a tight fit. So from the factory during assembly they just jam it in basically (very easy for assembly). But trying to pull it out is almost impossible without pulling the Micro thin wires off the led because the led base is basically inside the housing. The instructions say to gently remove, and I was so gentle and was trying to pull on the heat shrink around as close to the base as was sticking out and not the wires. I even used a micro, needle nose to try and grasp the base more. But alas, the wires slipped off the led.
So I broke out the solder iron, some micro heat shrink tubing and started to repair. The saving grace is the LED actually has solid pretty durable leads coming off it. You will need micro size heat shrink though or you won't be able to fit it in the hole in the front.
Here is the before repair.
Here are the connectors in the engine/
This is the MARS light front. Notice the empty hole in the middle. This is where you put the headlight led once you remove it from the other front. It would have been so easy just to provide an led preinstalled in that front.
Here is the repaired led, ready to go back in.
The actually swapping of the front is by 1 upper and one lower screw on the hinge. The upper one is no problem. The lower one requires disassembling the entire front bottom of the locomotive because you can't get a screwdriver for the bottom screw.
I decided to wait until I ordered another LED from Lionel so I have one for each front. I was anxious to run the engine and did not want to take it all apart.
Hope others have better luck. If you get the led out of the original front then you are home free. Mine was super tight really jammed in.
