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INSTALLING LIGHTED TRAIN INDICATORS(LOCOMOTIVE NUMBER BOARDS)Charles MorrellTrain IndicatorsThe Southern Pacific and the Union Pacific used lightednumber boards in the steam and early Diesel eras to indicatethe train’s identifying number per the timetable and train orderdesignation. The numbers were metal stencils and later paintedclear plastic that the fireman would install in slotted holders onthe front of the locomotive prior to leaving the terminal. Theillustration from the SP rule book (Fig. 1) shows the manner inwhich the numbers were displayed. Scheduled trains and trainsrunning as sections of a scheduled train were identified by thetimetable number. Unscheduled trains operated as extras andwere identified by the locomotive number and the letter X inthe train indicators.PFM SP C-9The SP class C-9 locomotive imported by Pacific Fast Mailin the 1980s was and still is an exquisitely detailed model. Butthe indicators were unlit solid brass castings with decals for thenumber. This has bugged me for a couple decades, but I didnot want to take the loco out of service and mess up the paintjob and commit no telling what other damage to an otherwiseperfect running locomotive.The decision to convert the model to DCC with sound andmove the speaker from the tender to the locomotive smokebox provided the stimulus to also add lights to the train indicators.Unfortunately, this decision opened a can of worms sincethe interior of the smoke box was filled with such items as aflue sheet, stack funnel, and exhaust nozzle. In addition, theindicator castings were secured with brass pegs and enoughsolder that removal without damage did not seem possible.Fig. 1July/Aug ’09 - O Scale Trains • 29