Lionel F-7 Numberboard Concern - Overheating ?

Ran the engines today  for a 1/2 hour.  The Front area by the number boards was hot - Worried that extended running will cause damage.  

rrgeorge posted:

My question to anyone who has these or similar units.  Should I be concerned ?  Is there a fix ?  I was thinking maybe swapping out the lights and installing leds.  Any thoughts - directions ? Thanks in Advance

I don't have a Lionel Legacy NYC F-7, but considering what you've described, I'd say the LEDs are the right way to go.  In fact, I've recently done exactly that with one of my diesels, and I'm satisfied with the results.

Hi George,

I noticed the same on my TMCC Santa Fe F7  cab lights from 2004, but not on the number boards. Regardless I would just replace them with the LEDs

rrgeorge posted:

I recently acquired a Lionel Legacy NYC F-7 set (6-34511) I believe these are from about 2009 ? Have been running and enjoying the units.  I did take it apart to rework the smoke unit, and saw that the number boards were backlit by grain of wheat bulbs.  Didn't think much of it at the time.  After running the units for a bit I felt the front of the engine by the number boards and noticed it was really hot !!  I am now concerned that over time this could melt the number boards or body shell.  Did a search of the forum and could find nothing about this. 

My question to anyone who has these or similar units.  Should I be concerned ?  Is there a fix ?  I was thinking maybe swapping out the lights and installing leds.  Any thoughts - directions ? Thanks in Advance

The fix would be to add aluminum foil on the platic interior of the cab shell where you don't want the light to be seen. Use dabs of Walthers goo to stick the foil to the shell interior or the silver backed duct tape

Actually, my fix for those would be either LED's, or simply wiring them in series to drop the current and heat.  They still should be plenty bright for number boards, and you'll eliminate the risk of any shell damage.