# making a flashing Ditch Lights Dash 9



## krogerssolar (Jan 8, 2009)

has any body made or found a card that will alternate ditch lights on a dash 9 or for any loco but mainly the dash 9 and that can be activated by the horn and then stop after a few seconds


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes,but with DCC. I use Train Control Systems (TCS) FL4 decoders with Airwire for light functions. Turn the ditch lights on/off with one function key and also set to flash for a set period of time when the horn is blown.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Ram Track make 2 kits for alternating ditch lights. However, they are a constant "on" rather activated when the horn goes.

Ram 118 for lower voltage operation and Ram 128 for higher voltage. 

They work right nicely.


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## krogerssolar (Jan 8, 2009)

ok Thanks Stan can the Ram 128 be controlled by the Rev Rec with the aux outputs and also where can i get these units


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## krogerssolar (Jan 8, 2009)

Stan i found the link you had never mind on that


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By krogerssolar on 13 Mar 2010 02:06 PM 
ok Thanks Stan can the Ram 128 be controlled by the Rev Rec with the aux outputs and also where can i get these units 
Click on the first words "Ram Track" in my previous post. It's a link to their site..









That's a very interesting question. 

If you're not using the extra smoke board. I think you could use smoke to control the on/off of the ditch lights. Shouldn't be hard at all. 

I'll bet you could turn it on with one of the 1-6 buttons on the TX and wire it accordingly with the corresponding color wire from 7 wire auxiliary wiring harness.

Let's say you're using the #2 function key and green wire to control the horn, you could wire the brown wire with the kit and change the #6 button to "Latching" to turn on the ditch lights. Button sequence would be 

"Push" Botton 6 to turn on ditch lights, followed by pushing #2 button to blow the horn. When you want to turn off the ditch lights, push 6 again. Might jump over to the Aristo Forum and pose that question. 

I leave my ditch lights on all the time. When the locomotive starts moving forward, the ditch lights come on and stay on as long as it's running forward. The ditch lights are controlled with an diode and are not on when the locomotive is in reverse. The Ram Track Kit has a variable pot to adjust the alternating rate. 

Two of my dismals have the alternating ditchlight board, one has just 3mm white LED's that are on when going forward and one other unit has alternating 5 mm white LED's that are on in both directions. That one is controlled by a bridge rectifier.


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

I feel the need to ask a dumb question. What is the purpose of flashing one's ditch lights? I'm going by my extensive experience with Amtrak in recent years and I'm not aware of theirs flashing. Am I looking at the wrong lights? 

PS: Stan - the S4 is out of the paint shop and the lettering will be applied tomorrow.


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## krogerssolar (Jan 8, 2009)

Thanks for the info Stan how many wires are on the Ram128 board i would assume one set for power and four for the leds and i would also assume function wires right


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## krogerssolar (Jan 8, 2009)

in my case i have seen Dash-9's when at railroad crossing when the horn is blowing its ditch lights flash i have seen a few Amtrak unit's do the same


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

No kiddin'! 

I rarely, if ever, have to stop at a crossing, so I've never seen that. And, since I can only see the Amtrak ditch lights from my roomette window when we're on a bit of a curve, and most crossings are relatively straight, I'll probably never see that either. 

Now that I know that, I can justify adding them to my motive power so I'll see what it looks like. 

This is going to be a fun summer.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By krogerssolar on 13 Mar 2010 03:34 PM 
Thanks for the info Stan how many wires are on the Ram128 board i would assume one set for power and four for the leds and i would also assume function wires right 
K.... There are 2 power wires to the unit and then 2 to each LED. Just wire the 2 power leads into the smoke unit. 


Betcha nickel it'll work...


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By JackM on 13 Mar 2010 03:28 PM 

PS: Stan - the S4 is out of the paint shop and the lettering will be applied tomorrow. Great, Jack. Love to see it.


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## rmcintir (Apr 24, 2009)

If you want to do it yourself or find out a little more on the electronics side of flashing ditch lights check out this article: 

http://www.trainelectronics.com/artcles/ditch_lights/index.htm 

I really like the alternating dimming and brightening of the lights. I have been considering doing something like this for the headlights on my two Aristo RS-3s and USA Trains GP-9. I just converted them all to LEDs and wired each separately. It may not be prototypical but it will certainly look cool. Flash them alternatively at low speeds and when I blow the horn.


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## SlateCreek (Jan 2, 2008)

This vid illustrates the "Crossing Lights" function pretty well. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKXZShP5xPA 

Depending on the locomotive, there's typically a system where pulling the horn causes the plunger that starts the bell ringing to pop out, assuming you pull the horn hard enough to 'mean it' ... on some Amtrak locomotives this also starts the white strobes on the roof flashing until the bell is turned off. On engines with "steady burning" ditch lights, there's generally also a push button on the control stand that will flash the lights alternately for a short time whether or not the flash pattern is triggered by an air switch. 

Here's the study that put it into practice: 

http://www.fra.dot.gov/Downloads/Research/rr0717.pdf and also http://www.fra.dot.gov/Downloads/Pu...cesses.pdf 

And, oh, you said a Dash 9 ... here's a pretty good illustration of the sequence with a Dash 9: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vsb3Mn8MAQ 

Matthew (OV)


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## krogerssolar (Jan 8, 2009)

an update to my Ditch Light Question i has made a control with a Picaxe from the plans from Dave Bodnar this is the final drawing i used http://www.trainelectronics.com/ART5700TrainEngineerRevolution/AUX-2-PICAXE/index.htm and this is his full article http://www.trainelectronics.com/artcles/ditch_lights/index.htm Check them out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ0WCvd9ytA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up31RRKLfEc


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## rmcintir (Apr 24, 2009)

It feels good to make it yourself doesn't it? With a little help from Dave Bodnar of course! VERY COOL and congratulations!


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