Hi,

I'm starting to think about locomotive headlights, and I could use a little advice.  Specifically, I'm working on HO scale steam locomotive headlights.  The casings I will be using are translucent and are large enough to accept a 3mm LED, of which I happen to have a lifetime supply.  However, I am considering the possibility of using something like a 0402 SMD LED - three actually, one for the main light (installed behind a paraboloic reflector) and two more for the two number boards.

From the distant future, we wait for the invention of the Star Trek Replicator.  Today we have affordable 3-D printers.  But in 1894, there was the Automatic Sculpturing Machine, the great granddaddy of part duplicators.  

If there is one thing that makes N feel like the unwanted tag-along little brother of model railroad scales, it's the availability of RTR vehicles. Particularly modern cars, and more specifically, North American cars.  This makes putting together a modern layout (say, 1990s+) somewhat challenging.  It seems as though Ford is the only company which has licensed its vehicles in N (Atlas), and even those are few in number.