Model Railroading > Kato N Scale SP Lines GS4 Train Indicator Boxes Question

Greetings,

I have one of Kato's recently released N Scale GS4s in the SP Lines scheme and I am trying to determine if I have a defective unit or not. These units have the train indicator boxes at the front of the boiler. My question is, are they supposed to be lighted? Mine do not light. The Mars light, headlight and locomotive number boards on the side of the headlight casing all light but the train indicator boxes on the top-front of the boiler are not illuminated. Can anyone who also has this model please let me know if their train indicator boxes are illuminated or not?

Thanks in advance for your help.

My regards,
Cliff



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/17 11:06 by amtk908.

I've never seen mine lit.

Keith

They have never lit in any of the runs.

Chris

Not lit. Different versions have them in the front or farther back depending on the year modeled as I recall.

Scott Schifer
Torrance, CA
TinyTrains Website

Thank you all very much for your responses.

Last evening I decided to pop the boiler shell off and take a look inside. What I discovered was there is a 'U' shaped light pipe that is fed by the same surface mount LED that also feeds the headlight light pipe. The 'U' shaped pipe is designed to feed the front train indicator boxes. The pipe lines up with but does not come into direct contact with the back of the lenses in the train indicator box. Unfortunately, due to the length of the pipe, its small diameter and it not being in direct contact with the lenses, it really doesn't do a very good job of illuminating the boxes. I ran the engine in a totally darkened room and the train indicator boards appear lit but very faintly. Given the position of the LED on the board, I would suspect that locomotives with the train indicator boards mid-boiler would do a much better job being illuminated. The LED is almost exactly opposite the mid-boiler train board location which would require a much shorter light pipe, if any at all. Just FYI... The MARS light is a separate LED that is mounted further forward and lower in the frame and flashes. A separate light pipe transfers the illumination to the MARS light casing on the smokebox front. It does not really do much of a job of replicating a MARS light but it is better that having it at steady illumination.

One a side note, although it is mentioned in the instruction sheet that is enclosed with the model, some folks may miss the fact that the backup light on the tender is not illuminated. I suspect that it is because the circuit board that handles lighting is above the frame in the boiler and the circuit board that handles motor control is located in the tender. It was probably more trouble than it was worth to Kato to design a lighting circuit for the backup light. The locomotive lights, headlight, MARS light, locomotive number boards and train indicator boards are directional. Unfortunately, this is not very prototypical and it means then when the locomotive is operated in reverse, no lights at all are illuminated on the locomotive or tender.

While I had it apart, I took the opportunity to change the train indicator board lenses to the X4449 indicator, as this will be more appropriate for the units use. The unit, as delivered, has the lenses installed for train 98. Extra lenses are supplied for train 99 an X4449. Changing them is pretty simple but is detail work and requires some precision cutting to get the lenses off the sprue. Smoothing or polishing the back of the lens section where it was cut from the sprue seems to help with light transfer from the 'U' shaped light pipe.

Other than these minor lighting annoyances, I find the locomotive to be a real gem. It has smooth, quiet operation, good low speed control and excellent detail for an injection molded model in N Scale. Another quality Kato product. I believe that I have at least one of every model of North American locomotive that Kato has produced and there is not a dog in the bunch. The GS4 should look great paired up with my FEF-3 and UP Exhibit Train and will allow me to replicate some of the excursion operations that occurred back in 2007.

Thanks again for all of your kind replies and I hope that what I have discovered will be of use to someone else.

My regards,
Cliff

Very helpful Cliff. Thanks Bruce

amtk908 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank you all very much for your responses.
>
> Last evening I decided to pop the boiler shell off
> and take a look inside. What I discovered was
> there is a 'U' shaped light pipe that is fed by
> the same surface mount LED that also feeds the
> headlight light pipe. The 'U' shaped pipe is
> designed to feed the front train indicator boxes.
> The pipe lines up with but does not come into
> direct contact with the back of the lenses in the
> train indicator box. Unfortunately, due to the
> length of the pipe, its small diameter and it not
> being in direct contact with the lenses, it really
> doesn't do a very good job of illuminating the
> boxes. I ran the engine in a totally darkened room
> and the train indicator boards appear lit but very
> faintly. Given the position of the LED on the
> board, I would suspect that locomotives with the
> train indicator boards mid-boiler would do a much
> better job being illuminated. The LED is almost
> exactly opposite the mid-boiler train board
> location which would require a much shorter light
> pipe, if any at all. Just FYI... The MARS light
> is a separate LED that is mounted further forward
> and lower in the frame and flashes. A separate
> light pipe transfers the illumination to the MARS
> light casing on the smokebox front. It does not
> really do much of a job of replicating a MARS
> light but it is better that having it at steady
> illumination.
>
> One a side note, although it is mentioned in the
> instruction sheet that is enclosed with the model,
> some folks may miss the fact that the backup light
> on the tender is not illuminated. I suspect that
> it is because the circuit board that handles
> lighting is above the frame in the boiler and the
> circuit board that handles motor control is
> located in the tender. It was probably more
> trouble than it was worth to Kato to design a
> lighting circuit for the backup light. The
> locomotive lights, headlight, MARS light,
> locomotive number boards and train indicator
> boards are directional. Unfortunately, this is
> not very prototypical and it means then when the
> locomotive is operated in reverse, no lights at
> all are illuminated on the locomotive or tender.
>
>
> While I had it apart, I took the opportunity to
> change the train indicator board lenses to the
> X4449 indicator, as this will be more appropriate
> for the units use. The unit, as delivered, has the
> lenses installed for train 98. Extra lenses are
> supplied for train 99 an X4449. Changing them is
> pretty simple but is detail work and requires some
> precision cutting to get the lenses off the sprue.
> Smoothing or polishing the back of the lens
> section where it was cut from the sprue seems to
> help with light transfer from the 'U' shaped light
> pipe.
>
> Other than these minor lighting annoyances, I find
> the locomotive to be a real gem. It has smooth,
> quiet operation, good low speed control and
> excellent detail for an injection molded model in
> N Scale. Another quality Kato product. I believe
> that I have at least one of every model of North
> American locomotive that Kato has produced and
> there is not a dog in the bunch. The GS4 should
> look great paired up with my FEF-3 and UP Exhibit
> Train and will allow me to replicate some of the
> excursion operations that occurred back in 2007.
>
> Thanks again for all of your kind replies and I
> hope that what I have discovered will be of use to
> someone else.
>
> My regards,
> Cliff

Just to verify, I have one from the original run, that has the number boards in the center of the boiler. These do indeed light up.
To me they are not dim -- in other words, I can see them at a medium speed in a lighted room. However, I wouldn't call them "bright" either, but I feel that is due to the small size. I'm not sure if adding a DCC decoder would allow you to change the brightness or not, as I'm still running in DC. Someday I hope to find out!
Incidentally, I never realized that the tender light stayed dark in reverse. That's kind of a drag.