Hi Henry - I'm in the same boat.  My previous attempt at installing incandescent ditch lights about 10 years ago was a bit of a disaster, so I gave up on them.  However, seeing the improvements that have been made since that time with the tiny LEDs, the discovery of Kapton tape and Aleene's clear tacky glue and their value in keeping installs clean (both new to me anyway), and "Big Al" Mayo's LED kits have given me new hope.  

I just ordered enough pre-wired ditch light and headlight LEDs from Al (Ebay user "sellsellitall2011" (see note below) - http://www.ebay.com/sch/sellsellitall2011/m.html?item=182279800986&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 ) to do my entire roster.  His how-to video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TXCzlNcoNU guides you through the install in very simple steps and convinced me to finally give this another try.  I'm confident I can make it work this time.

Note:  While I appreciated "Big Al's" helpful videos, I can no longer recommend him as an LED source.  The order I received was incomplete, and in spite of a number of emails over the past two months, has never been corrected, nor has he replied to my emails since October 25.  If others know of good sources for pre-wired headlight and ditch light LEDs, I'd appreciate you posting them here for the benefit of others.

...I wish I had when I did my first install!

I installed pre-wired 0402 LEDs in my HLCX 3857 and I must say that it was easier than I expected.  I think the most difficult part was to actually fit them to a RTR, painted loco and not screw up the paint job! Luckily for me, the pilots are black so it was quite easy to just repaint them.

The wiring connections were not that difficult at all, you just need to take your time, clearly identify your wires (positive and negative) before soldering them (I check them with a 3V CR2032 battery, get them at $ stores, they are cheaper). Test often as well, this way if anything goes wrong, you'll know quickly.

What I like about the pre-wired LEDs is the diameter of the wires (magnet wires around 32 gauge!) which didn't give any problems when I put the shell back on the frame, even though the wires were sandwich between the shell and frame.

I recommend going the LEDs way... I burned a few lightbulbs on my first install, and wasn't very happy about it!

Anyway, good luck and don't be scared of trying it, but most of all, take your time! :-)

Using 0402 LEDs, I have used the Athearn ditch lights (the style which mounts on top of the anti-climber) which are available from Athearn. I have also made ditch lights from 3/32" dia Evergreen tubing, .0625 clear styrene tubing, and 0402 LEDS. I mount them under the anti-climber on the pilot just above the snow plow.

I have also made ditch lights from 3/32" dia Evergreen tubing, .0625 clear styrene tubing, and 0402 LEDS. I mount them under the anti-climber on the pilot just above the snow plow.

Could you provide more info/photos on how you went about that?  I forgot at the time I placed my order mentioned above that about 3/4 of the ditch lights on my prototype units are flush-mounted on the pilot face, as seen below.  I'm guessing I would have been better off with standard LEDs that I could have slid through a hole drilled in the ditch light and pilot.

However, now that I've ordered them, I'm wondering if I can make the surface-mount style work in that situation.  I don't know the size of the surface-mount LEDs I ordered, but in the instructional videos, they look TINY - I'm guessing 0402s.  I was hoping that perhaps I could just drill a hole through the lights and pilot face, then mount the LEDs on the inside surface of the pilot.  Would that generally be feasible with the 0402s, if that's what's included in my purchase?  Worst case, I was hoping I could just notch the frame a bit with a Dremel adjacent to the ditch light locations to allow more clearance.  I'm only adding working ditch lights on the front, so there may be enough play in the fit between the sill and frame to allow them to fit.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I have 6 units that need ditch light thanks for the post

it is a shame that your LED seller doesn't show any pictures of what he is selling as not only is the size of the LED important, so too is the gauge of the wire.  0402 LEDs are 40 thou by 20 thou in size or about 1mm by .5mm.

I have used the 0402 LEDs soldered to 38 ga magnet wire and in most situations you can drill a 1.1mm dial hole through the ditch light and right on through the body shell.  I feed the wires through from the front and gently push the LED into the hole. A dab of Microscale Kristal Clear makes a good lens.  The magnet wire can be secured to the inside of the body shell in strategically invisible locations with tiny dots of CA glue.

i did a blog about the process some time ago http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/16850

Regarding my questions above, I found that I could drill out the Detail Associates pilot-face-mounted ditch lights with a 5/32" bit.  I stop when I get to the pilot itself, then drill downward and inward with a smaller bit to allow passage of the magnet wire.  Works great!

Peter, the LEDs I received from the above link appear to be 0402s.  I don't know the size of the magnet wires, but they're about the thickness of a human hair.  Tiny enough that I don't believe I'll need to make any modifications to the shell or frame in order for the wires to pass back to the resistor and decoder.

Thanks for the link to your earlier SD40 project!  I'm a complete newbie to this kind of work (if you don't count my previous failed pre-LED attempt about 10 years ago), but I'm already enjoying it.  It's amazing what a huge help simple things like Kapton tape and Aleene's clear tacky glue are for projects such as this in keeping things neat, and thus simplifying the task of putting everything back together when we're done.

You guys should look on Shapeways web site.  Search ditch lights and look at the ones offered by Rebel Locomotive.  I've got some C style.  If you open up the back of the light with a file you can fit a 603 in so that the lens just fits the opening.  Adhere it with whatever and then add a lens.  They are sturdy and look very fine.  I'll have some pictures for you when I figure out how to do it right.

Nick

Work has been keeping me very busy, but I finally got my first ditch lights installed:

I'm holding off on putting everything back together on this unit until I determine what's causing some strange behavior.  I apparently have them wired correctly, or they wouldn't work at all.  However, they only turn on when F6 is activated and the unit is moving backward.  I have them wired with the green LED wires connected to the resistor, which then connects with the purple wire from the decoder.  The red LED wires connect to the positive port for the front headlight LED on the factory Atlas motherboard.

I tried doing a CV8=8 reset to no avail, but just remembered that I still need to do a full reset on the programming track.  I'll try that Saturday and report back.

I think you will find that F6 is ESUs default Function for Front Ditch Lights. You can of course re map that to any Function button you like either in the Lokprogrammer or Decoder Pro. Not sure why they are working when the loco is going backward. Are you sure the motor is wired the correct way round? It could also be a function of the default output for the Purple wire. You would need to check the manual for that.