UPGRADE AN INCANDESCANT BULB TO LED??

I have a pr12 bulb for a railroad lantern. Does anybody know of a drop in led bulb or a place to cross reference???

Thanx Jason

Try this...
http://www.ledtronics.com/markets/railroad.htm

jpfaff,

Any LED that will work in a 4D or 4C light that uses a PR base will work in your lantern.

The reflector is very shallow in the railroad lanters. I think a high dome would be preferable to a side emitter.

Pocket Lights has some that will fit. I'm not sure if they are high dome or side emitters.
http://www.pocketlights.com/ledbulbs_for_maglite.asp

edit: Please let us know what you get and how satisfied you are with it. I'm a Engineer and some of the trainmen I work with would like to improve their lanterns. They are much more interested in increasing brightness and throw than they are with runtime. They get their batteries for free.

Make sure of polarity of your lantern. It doesn't matter with incandescent bulbs, but LEDs will let out the magic smoke if the polarity is wrong.

Thanx Hoghead,

I'm a carmen and the light output sucks? You would think the railroad would provide the best possible light sources for their employees to do their job. So, thanx again. Also, what about the amperage of a 6v lantern battery as opposed to 4 d cell batteries, anything to worry about?

Jason

jpfaff said:

Thanx Hoghead,

I'm a carmen and the light output sucks? You would think the railroad would provide the best possible light sources for their employees to do their job. So, thanx again.

Jason

Click to expand...

The carman's lantern is better than the trainmens lantern. It has a much larger reflector. Are you refering to the metal lantern with a blue body and a facited lens?

You might try a rechargeable 6 volt lantern battery with a 3 cell incandescent bulb or even a Luxeon LED. The heavy duty batteries the railroad supplies are crap. The rechargeable batteries will maintain their brightness longer than the heavy duty batteries.

I think the railroad buys the cheapest lights they can. There is hope. The UP is giving StreamLight LED headlamps to remote operators.

Yeah pretty much, except for the metal, it's plastic and the lens is what you siad. What would a rechargable battery do for me? To bad CSX didnt do like the UP.

A rechargeable 6 volt battery is actually 4.8 volts. That is why I recommended a 3 cell bulb.

Rechargeable 6 volt batteries can maintain brightness longer. They can maintain more current (amps) than heavy duty or alkaline cells. Some body help me out here!

Your light wouldn't be brighter with a 3 cell mag bulb for example, but it would stay bright longer than with a heavy duty battery. There is a big difference in the way a rechargeable battery maintains brightness compared to a heavy duty cell.

You might want to try some bulbs from CarleyLamps, but I think they have a $50 minimum order. These would be much brighter than standard bulbs. Much brighter!!!!!!! Heavy duty cells can not provide the curreny these bulbs need.
http://www.carleylamps.com/star.htm

Rechargeable batteries weigh more than heavy duty or alkaline batteries.

edit to provide better link. You would want a 4 cell rechargeable lamp, something like the 1181 or 1182 maybe. If you go this route you would need to call Carley and have them pot the lamps. This means that you would have them "pot" the bi-pin lamps in to a PR base so that they will fit your lantern. Tell them you are using a plastic light. They can tell you which lamp to use, some of these lamps will melt a plastic lens or reflector. Yes they are that bright!!!!!!

thank you very much for your help!!

I have never seen a railroad lantern. Anyone got pics? Are these available to the public?

Here you go BEpsilon nothing impressive though: but the railroad pays a arm and a leg for them I'm sure.
http://www.star1889.com/500c.htm

As I looked at the railroad light, I couldn't help but think of the UK Sunlight Vectra. The Vectra offers two 5.8 watt lamps (one lamp can be immediately switched on if the other fails) in a comparably configured package that is waterproof to 500ft. I have used this for search and rescue as it will easily blowoff my modded 4D cell maglight yet sustain good lighting for many hours. I got the Vectra from Brightguy.com on a $23 closeout. I don't see them listed, but you might give Greg a call for availability.

Thanx pec50 appreciate it. As a carmen on the railroad they expect us to inspect cars at night and do a good job with a terrible light. Go figure, but they pay for the lights, bulbs, and 6v lantern batteries. I quess you cant complain but you would think they would provide an employee with the best possible lighting in order to do a good job.

the railroad pays about $15 each for them. I have a friend who works for them in Nevada. They are the starlite 292's.