DIY Passenger Car Lighting

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’m on DC, looking for less expensive and less time intensive options for lighting passenger cars than ready made systems that cost twice as much as the passenger car did to begin with.

Important considerations would be some sort of capacitance bank to provide at least some lighting while parked in the station, not to mention helping avoid momentary flickering or lamp burnout at block junctions, either easy to change bulbs or long lasting LED solutions, and a yellowing-orange light color to simulate the oil lamps used on the prototype road around the turn of the century.

To y inexperienced eyes, It appears I’d need the capacitance circuit layout, a circuit layout for powering LEDs if going that route, bulb recommendations, bulb socket recommendations, and reliable truck electrical pickup recommendations.

I’d rather not add some sort of HF ancilliary electrical signal to the rails for lighting if it can be avoided, if I was to do that, I’d probably just go DCC instead. While I’m at it, I probably need a decent price on some sitting old time passengers too, two classes, tophats and bustles under hoops, and scraggley old miner looking types too.

Anyone who’s done this and has ideas or advice, it will be appreciated, thanks.

2

Back when I was in Jr. High. I built a complete consist of Athearn Heavyweight cars for the Santa Fe.

Here is what I did.

I ran a series of 1.5 v bulbs wired in paralell evenly spaced 4 to a car. I also put in complete interiors made from blocks of wood and styrene for bulk heads while I was doing this.

Between each car I ran a series of Micro Disconects. that can appear as brake or signal lines or something. Then in the first car of a train I mounted two baddery holders for D Cell and wired them in paralell and an on off switch so you can turn the lights on and off. It provides a steady light and since I don’t switch my passenger consists, It has worked well. As lights burn out I have been swithcing to LEDs. And have reached good results.

James

3

Cheap: (4) 12 v. grain of wheat bulbs per car*.

  • Plus Metal wheels plus wiper system to bring track voltage into car.

Best: 12V. TO 2.8v. home built charger circuit / rechargable battery / LED’S.*

1 Fd cacacitors reduce flicker, Batteries eliminate’s it.

Your choices are (1) to spend more than the car cost (2) build and install your own; or (3) BUY a more expensive car 's with light’s.

Sincerely,

General I. Zation

4

If you wire all your cars together, you will probably have enough independent contact points with the rails to eliminate flicker. Collecting truck power, with one rail from the front and the other from the back, is less reliable but still not too bad, particularly with good wheels and clean track. Remember that oil lamps would flicker, too.

You can now get “golden” or “yellow-glow” LEDs, which have a nice, warmer color to them. I’m using them for headlights in my 60’s era diesels. LEDs are very directional, so you might want to build a baffle or bounce the light off the roof of the car to spread it around.

Preiser makes a big “bag of unpainted sitting people” that you could probably adapt pretty well with paint. Hoop skirts might be tough, but you wouldn’t see them, except at the station. There, Preiser makes a few different setsof 1890’s figures.

5

“Best: 12V. TO 2.8v. home built charger circuit / rechargable battery / LED’S.*”

Click.

The light bulb goes on.

Okay, it’s only an LED but still…

I have several 12 volt chargers, for my NiMH camera batteries. They have an input for 12 volts so you can charge the batteries in your car. I bought them for $10 apiece, and can burn one for a lighting circuit. The case is pretty big, but I bet the circuitry and a battery or two will fit into the baggage car.

More expensive cars aren’t an option. I ordered these more than a month ago, and was told that they were out of stock, that the company who makes them has been bought out, and that no-one has any idea when more will be available. Considering that prototype locomotives aren’t available, (old time 2-8-0 C-16 Baldwins), except sporadically in brass, not being able to get the boxcars or passneger cars was putting a serious damper on festivities hereabouts.

On a Christmas Eve trip to the hobby shop for a turnout motor, I was ooohing and aaahing over a boxed set of Santa Fe rib siders, and when I returned it to the lower shelf, a familiar shade of orange-yellow caught my eye. Sliding it out I found three Denver and Rio Grande Western passenger cars with clerestery roofs, circa 1890, two coaches and a mailcar, perhaps the last ones in the western hemisphere. They’re rough, X2F’s all, one was missing an axle and all three have dings in the styrene roofs that will require bondo and maybe a dent puller to remedy, but this Santa Claus is willing to take whatever Christmas I can get.

Mr. B., thanks for the tip on Prieser’s big bag of squatters. If I can’t get period costumes, or paint them, I’ll just fill the cars with miners, saloon dwellers, cardshaprs, and other unsavory types.

I know I can find era standers, but they aren’t cheap, and I’d like to pack the passenger cars full up. Since you will only see them through the windows, close is good enough.

James,

6

Micro-disconnects are miniature plugs/sockets that may or may not come with wires attached.

Model Power has rolls off stranded 28 or 32 gauge wire that is very flexible.

7

The idea of using a battery to run the interior lighting in passenger cars is something I have been thinking about for a long time. I would like to know if a DCC decoder could be used to switch this circuit on and off? I don’t know enough about decoders and what type of current they can control. They seem to be able to operate somewhat like a power switch. If anyone out there has the answer I would appreciate a reply.

Doc

8

Add a couple of model railroaders in there to complete that group. [:D]

Let us know how it works out. I’ve got a few old wood passenger cars that will be an “excursion train” one day, but there’s a lot of other layout work to get done first.

9

jeffers_mz

IF you are going to use LED’s (low amperage) their voltage requirement is approx. 2.2 volts. If you use incandescent’s, 2 AAA batteries instead of button types.

Follow me me on this:

  1. Track power need’s to get into car.(Metal wheels + wiper’s)
  2. Bridge rectifier and voltage regulator to convert +/- 12v. to 2.8v. DC (battery input) .
    3.(2)1.4v. rechargable batteries in series in holder - to feed LED’s.
  3. Resistor value’s between batteries and LED’s; and between charger and battery pak needed.

Lastly somebody’s circuit diagram, giving P.N. and values on above, so you don’t have to experiment,. or guess.

Bi-directional track voltage converts to directional DC, feed’s the Regulator and the battery, which in turn feed’s the light’s. This is the best.

OR: buy a WALTHERS car lighting kit (it has the rectifier and regulator) for $10 and adapt it.

10

Thanks, Modelmaker, I will need some small plugs because these cars aren’t always together.

Mr. B, it’s on the back burner right now, but I’ll keep you posted. (See thread named “Big job today”) I found RTR pickup truck kits yesterday that consist of axles, wipes and connectors, so I won’t have to hunt up period trucks.

Prototype photos show wall mounted hurricane type oil lamps, four to the car, about three quarters of the way upp the windows between the windows. That may have to rise up a bit using LEDs, because even the small ones are pretty large to be looked at directly.

I’ll need to figure out what contreols LED brightness also, since 4 of them at full power will likely be too bright.

Don, thanks for the info. The charger circuit I have already converts 12v to 1.4, but has no provisions for polarity reversal when backing the train. The total power involed is negligible, so I can either set up a circuit to dump it when reversing, or rectify it, whichever is easier with materials available.

If it works well on the passenger cars, I’ll convert my cabooses too.

11

As an alternative to the battery, you can use a “super-cap” (such as Digikey P12914-ND, a Panasonic type) which won’t degrade over time. Keep the LED brightness constant using a voltage regulator, or simply a stack of diodes with a dropping resistor. Be sure to rectify the track power before the supercap. LEDs should also have a current-limiting resistor.
I just lit two Walters/Rivarossi cars using their kits. Painful. Finally gave up on their metal contacts and hardwired power from the trucks to their regulated light assembly. Perfect light now.