Coming Soon in "HO" and "N"
Twin Headlight Version of the Pioneer Zephyr
About the Con-Cor Twin Headlight version
of the Pioneer Zephyr:
After several accidents, the Pioneer Zephyr
was modified in the 1940's to add a double "Twin
Headlight" assembly above the nose,
and the rear observation car.
The second headlight on the nose was an
early version of the "Mars" light.
A bright oscillating light enabled motorists
to see the approaching train from a greater
distance.
Our version of the "Twin Headlight" Zephyr
will use a flashing LED that will operate
in both DC and DCC mode to simulate this
safety feature. The Pioneer Zephyr retained
this "twin headlight" until its
final run on March 20th, 1960.
When running on Analog "DC" the
Front headheadlight will blink as long as
the Train is moving forward. (See Video below).
When convered to DCC mode by swapping out
the factory mounted PCB board plugged into
the NMRA 8 pin Socket with a DCC Decoder,
you can program the P-3 connection to vary
the Intensity and duration of the blinking
to suit your own taste, by changing the CV
settings of CV 51 to 2 or 3 and CV 62 to
a setting around #16. (See instructions at
end of the Video below. Double check with
your Decoder Manufacturer to make sure these
settings will be appropriate for the model
and brand decoder you will be using.
By this time the Original Pioneer Zephyr
had many additional sisters in service on
the Burlington system, and the tail end observation
car had the name "Pioneer Zephyr" name
applied onto it. Our "Twin Headlight" Zephyr
will also have this name applied to the rear
of the Train.
You can see a short video
of the Engineering Sample of the new HO Twin
Headlight Zephyr running on
the Elmhurst Model Railroad Club layout in Elmhurst
Illinois by clicking the link found lower on
this page.
Wig-Wag, LLC
