WMATAGMOAGH wrote:realtype wrote:I boarded 3146 at College Park yesterday, the lighting was really "different." Even if you weren't paying attention, you would definitely notice it. In the tunnels its especially obvious. The car still looked brand new, the lighting was very bright and had an almmost bluish tint. At first I thought they were LEDs, but they used the same housings, and it would have cost a fortune to fit the entire car with LED's.
I wasn't really paying attention to the door announcement, plus I was listening to music, but if it was the old one I definitely would have noticed.
3146 is a test for LED lighting according to Dr. Gridlock's blog, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/getthe ... overi.html
So I was right. I don't think I've ever seen a building or rail car that uses LED's for
main lighting, since white LED's are extremely expensive. I don't see what sense it makes, fluorescent lights last a long time also, but are much, much cheaper. Metro couldn't even afford to put white LED's in the station platform, but put those ugly red ones instead. But, at least there they were replacing incandesent bulbs, and the change would have been more cost effective. Personally I like LED's a lot, it's part of the reason I prefer the Breda rehabs to the CAF's, but I agree with Dr. Grodlock's opinion that they're "creepy," when used in that manner.