Analog 2-6-0 Front Headlight Removal

[John]

How do you get the grain of wheat light bulb out of the front headlight? I tried pulling out the bulb from the bottom of the headlight housing but it is tight. I assume the front lens was glued in? Did the bulb get pressed into the housing from the bottom? I want to switch to a LED while I have the hood up for DCC and sound installation.

[Terry Toenges]

John - Does the  headlight just pry off from the platform?
I'm curious about this, too. I don't imagine my DCC one would be constructed different than the analog one.
I'm getting a different stack and I'd like to put a box headlight on it to make it look older.
I'm hoping I can do it without cutting any wires and resoldering.
If I can't, does anyone know of a box headlight that would fit over the round one without removing the round one.

[Terry Toenges]

I pried the headlight off the platform. It doesn't look like there is room for the bulb to come out of that hole. Has anyone replaced these before? I see people on other sites saying the headlight is easy to replace but no one is saying how to do it.
Do I just have to cut the wires and get a new bulb if I want to put a box headlight on? That would answer John's question, too.

[Terry Toenges]

Well..... It's all moot now.
The headlight is glued together and has a horizontal seam. I thought that if I split it apart, maybe I could pull the bulb out of the way and somehow enlarge the hole so it would fit through. I trying to split the headlight with a razor blade and pushed too hard. It went through the housing and through the bulb and the pieces went flying. The bulb ended up in little pieces on the carpet. I found those pieces. I've been on my hands and knees with a light searching through the carpet for the lens to no avail. If the hole in the headlight would have been just a wee little bit larger, the bulb would have pulled through. Just a tiny bit.
That's about the ways things go for me. :-(
John - There appears to be a very small lip around the bulb and that's why it wouldn't pull through. Apparently the wires are inserted from the inside and then the top half of the headlight is glued on.

[Geoff12765]

I was going to suggest contacting the parts department directly - they have helped me out in the past with a couple of things - because I see that there is a light in the list of parts available for the 2-6-0 - on the assumption that if they sell the light as a spare, there must be a way to replace it.

But I see I am too late.

Sorry about the headlight.

[Terry Toenges]

Thanks Geoff. I ordered a couple of bulbs earlier today.
Just a little bit ago, I was trying to fix the paint I screwed up.
I figured while I have it apart, I'll paint the silver part of the boiler black. I did that a couple days ago. That didn't work so well. I had some Rustoleum black satin. I sprayed some in a bowl and brush painted the front of the boiler. I still had the boiler connected to the frame because of the headlight wires attached. The satin was too shiny.
I got most of that paint back off with "Goof Off" Pro Strength. I tried some flat black in a can and it ended up looking crappy, because it wasn't perfectly smooth from taking the other paint off. In doing all this, I was trying to maneuver the body with the wires still attached to the frame so that made it harder. Little by little, pieces of piping were breaking off ( to be glued back later).
When the light broke, I could take the body by itself and try the Goof Off again to try to strip the paint again. I figured with the body off now, I could spray it. This time, the stripping sucked and it was looking bad. 
I just ordered a new boiler a few minutes ago. I got a Denver and Rio Grand Western so I wouldn't have the silver.

[John]

Thanks for the replies. I also went forward. My solution was to drill a small 0.015" hole through the lower back of the headlight. I figured I could always plug the hole with something. I  was then able to stick a piece of brass wire through the back and press on the lens edge. Mine came right out. There was only one drop of soft clear glue (not ACC) on the lens. The lens is 0.060" thick and fits petty well. Like normal be ready to catch it as it flies across the room! The bulb diameter is what keeps it from being pulled out from underneath. The tightness of the wires was the only thing holding it in place. I am reinstalling an LED. I was hoping to just bend the LED leads  and get them in the engine but because of the number of bends required and the length required it will not work. My solution was to cut off the LED leads about 3/8" long and bend them down, then at a angle to the front and then down to fit through the existing hole in the bottom. This points the LED right out the front center of the headlight. I was then able to solder small wires on the ends of the leads. The solder joints end up within the existing hole. A 3mm LED fits petty well. After getting everything in place a drop of soft glue will hold the LED in place and the wires can be pulled to the inside of the shell.

Note: I am working on a second generation analog 2-6-0 where the headlight leads connect to a circuit board on the engine frame using plastic clips (no solder!). The  first generation units had wiper blades on the inside of the shell that connected the headlight to a different circuit board on the shell. I don't know what the third generation DCC models have?   

[Terry Toenges]

John - I'm glad you were successful. That was a great idea with drilling the hole.
I found my lens. Since I couldn't find it in the carpet anywhere after a few hand and knees searches, I felt around the table leg and it was leaning up against the table leg, buried in the carpet like it hit the leg and slid down. It doesn't matter now anyway since I have new boiler on the way.
All I can tell is that the light wires are on a circuit board. Clips sound like a good idea.
I had issues with mine today. I put the wheels back on and screwed the lower part back on. I tried a test run and it wouldn't move. I thought I now had and NRA loco (Never Run Again) since I took it apart. I was looking at these wiper things (up top between the motor and the flywheel). The one on the left as you're looking forward was straight. The one on the right was kind of bent forward and looked to be bent out of shape. I have never had this apart before now. I took a screwdriver and tried to push it back straight down. What ever I did, it ran again.  I'm not sure how it would have gotten bent out of shape like that.
The left one

The right one

A not very clear pic pic of where the headlight wires are soldered.