First thing I did with my two Tinplate Traditions 408E's was to swap out one bulb on each end so as to have BOTH green bulbs on the front of the loco and BOTH red bulbs on the rear. The story goes that Mario Caruso was a maritime veteran and that the red/green combo is actually a marine running lights protocol. Actually, it was probably my OCD that made me do it! LOL!
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You could replace them with clear bulbs and call them ditch lights! 
Granted, the SG 408E's are not-to-scale TOY train engines, yet it seemed logical to me for the green lights to serve as class lights on the front end, and for the rear ones to denote the rear of the engine.
Chuck's ditch light suggestion is a very witty and humorous response, and a reminder that none of this should be taken too seriously! 
How many of you change the front bulbs to match one another?
It would be cool if you could get the lanterns to flash from side to side like ditch lights.
Are they screw-in or bayonet bulbs?
Same as the 153 block signal bulbs?
They are the screw type and they look just fine as red and green lights. Unlike the headlights, they do not change with the direction of travel.
Art,
A friend of mine has a TCA 25th Anniversary 408e. He has one end with green lanterns, the other red. I asked him why not have red and green on both ends? He said to him the all green end reminds him which end is the front, and moves out first when powered up.
I agree,i put green on front,red on rear,,,the other way reminds me of my navy days !
AND there you go! :-)
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