Some more of the project.

More parts getting made for the Peter Gray clones.

Bob D.

For those interested, Bob and I are hoping to put together a start-to-finish presentation of how this was accomplished.

Nice work. For the case roundel holders, were you able to track down whomever was making the Handlan repros for Shrader for the dies, or just more incremental forming?

For the colored glass - have you checked stained glass suppliers? Don't know if you have a local stained glass works for access. Comparing my class color lenses directly to current suppliers for correct shade it looks like there may be some that's close here: http://www.glasscrafters.biz/CTGY/gl_fus_sp

The S3F-223.74 might be close enough, particularly for electric lamps.

I wonder what it would involve to stamp "Gray Boston" on the top as the original had, probably not much for a person with the right dies, but tough for everyone else.

The case roundel holders will be the single most difficult component to make. I don't think I can make them exactly as Gray did. The transistion from round to oval and blending to a round case in a short distance is a challenge and it is a single piece. Plus 4 alike are needed. I think I can do it in multiple pieces married together. Ultimately not much is visible when the lamp is assembled so I have some leeway.
Haven't searched out a source for colored glass yet. The stained glass route may work although a lot of it is textured.
I gave thought to making a stamp for the tops. The Gray Boston font is pretty simple to produce on a CNC mill. But on the other hand I decided that may lead someone to believe they really are Gray markers when they are not.
It might be more appropriate to have an internal plate with my name and production date hidden on the inside. Let the future lamp collectors figure that out!
Anyone know what wattage 32v bulb would be correct to use?
It is going to be nice to have a set of markers that have never been rusty!!

Bob D.

More progress being made.

Winter shop work and an update to this thread and the fabrication of the Peter Gray marker lamp replicas to be used on New England Steam's MEC470. These are built from scratch by myself to replace the tattered partial carcasses that were on the loco.

More photos. These are powder coated inside and out in Mirror gloss black.

Wow, incredible workmanship. Had any luck finding or fabricating the colored lenses?

Have not acquired any colored glass yet. Want sets of both red and green. The stained glass suppliers should have something for material. The gels for projection lights would work but would rather have glass I can cut to size.

Bob D.

Some more pics.

More progress.

Bob - Great job. They look nice. A bit late now, but did you consider trying to get case roundel holders from Adlake? They are still producing markers.

If you haven't answered your bulb question yet, I'd say 20W or 25W bulbs were standard for class lights. Just one of the P-N class lights of the several I've bought had a readable bulb in it and it was 25W. What size turbo does 470 have/how much power do you have available for bulbs and resistors?

There are 34V 25W bulbs available here.
http://normanlamps.com/incandescent-bul ... e%5B34V%5D

The Spectrum glass I noted in my earlier post is flat as far as I know. You're going for red/green vs. white/green? I wouldn't have thought anyone used red and green in class lamps, but I don't know MEC practice (or did you build a second set for the tender?). For the red the Spectrum S4F-152_S ruby red would be good if you want a darker red. If you want a slightly brighter red the S4F-151_S cherry red would probably work, but it's showing as unavailable right now.

Thanks Traindetainer. Scrapped a few roundels making them but eventually got 4 I was happy with. Didn't try to obtain any.....didn't want to make this easy!
The bulb you linked should be ok. I peeked into a cannon ball style marker and it had a 50 watt bulb. That seemed like a lot. The frensel lenses are pretty effective.
The colored glass clips in and can be changed out. White and green is the norm. Don't see 470 running in a section though so I figure having a white and red set might be useful.
Spectrum has so many colors to choose from. Even if has a texture it probably won't matter.
I think the dynamo is 3000 watts but I'm not sure.

Bob D.