This past Christmas I noticed in craft shops some artificial tea light candles that consisted of a plastic base the shape and size of a tea light and a little plastic or rubber (?) "flame" on top with a LED inside which the package claimed flickered like a real flame. Operation is by watch battery. These were interesting but there were never any on display to see what they looked like and I wasn't interested in buying a $4 experiment. I had my doubts because the previous year I had purchased an artificial LED window Christmas candle from Lowes (at about $6) that made the same claim. The "realistic" flame didn't do anything but blink on and off.
Flash forward to yesterday at a different craft shop, and up by the counter was one of these lites out of the package and turned on. The effect is quite impressive. It actually has a random flicker just like a real candle light. I asked about it and the cashier said they had one going for about 3 months before having to change the battery. I don't know if they turned if off every night but even half that is a long time.
I thought if anyone else uses this type of light effect in their layout that it might be of interest. I saw a wired unit in a Walthers catalog that basically did the same thing (I think used for campfires or fireplace) but for a lot more money. No doubt I'm going to work these into my Halloween layout by drilling a hole in the plywood and popping the flame up through it. I'm thinking a witches cauldron over a fire out in the woods. If the tea base can be removed or made thinner I might even put one in the caboose just to light the windows up. :) Wouldn't cabooses in the old days have a pot belly stove or something inside to keep warm in the winter anyway?