I just opened a brand new box of Lionel North Pole Express Passenger cars. I have them temporarily on the back of my Hogwarts train and they are blinking like crazy while the light on the Hogwarts cars are not blinking at all.
What is up with this?
watch?v=PrsjqrI4ulM&feature
I watched the video twice, trying to determine the sequence of events.
In the old days, Lionel wired one light to one truck pickup. The fix was to bridge the two. You'd get sequential blinking over a turnout or uncoupling section.
I cannot see that specifically in this video.
Are the lights bridged together, and are there two roller pickups, and two ground pickups, per car?
I am guessing plastic trucks with the wipers for the axles?
If vridged, and still does it, look ay oil/grease/dirt or paint on rollers, wheels, and axles.
Check the wipers for tension on the axles.
If metal trucks and no wipers, look for the ground connection from the kingpin to the light.
I have nothing close to that new.
Newest I have is from.....25 years ago or more.
Dave
I can’t see anything wrong unless there is something on one side of the axel like dried machine oil or something
Ok, I just noticed that the lights are blinking even when the train is stopped so it has nothing to do with the wheels , trucks or anything like that.
I can’t figure out how to open it up and it feels like it’s glued, but as soon as I get it apart I’ll know more about the inside. Could it be possible that it’s supposed to do this?
Wow getting that car open was a nightmare, but now that I have it open, I don’t have a clue as to what is going on. I’m not an electronic person and maybe someone else can tell me what is all the electronics for, but from the looks of the capacitor, it look like its supposed to flash. I just don’t know and I don’t like it.
Looks like incandescent bulbs (not LEDs) from what I can see.
Re-wire it!
Connect wheels together, and to one side of both bulbs, connect rollers together and to the other side of both bulbs.
The circuitry from the Halloween cars, which are supposed to "spookily" flash, has somehow made it into the Hogwart's style NPC cars. Bypass the circuit board and the lights will stop flashing.
Pete
"You can’t study the darkness by flooding it with light." - Edward Abbey -
Thanks guys, I was afraid of that. I can’t believe they didn’t put a switch in to bypass that feature because it’s really annoying. I’m not sure I could ever get used to that.
After you bypass the board, [since you have the top off] stick down some lead weight [like fishing weights]. What I did to my Polar Express passenger cars. Makes them heavier and thus not bounce through switches. Also causes conventional engines to require a little more voltage to run at a moderate speed. Thus, more smoke.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Hmm, that’s interesting. Maybe I should do that to my Polar Express as well. At least they come apart easy.
I added removable rigid foam to the bottom of the cars a few years ago trying to quiet it down some. It did help but I think I would have done better if I used soft foam instead of rigid.
I agree. That is a flasher circuit.
Simply wire the lights directly to the pickups and leave the board disconnected.
Dave632 I agree. That is a flasher circuit. Simply wire the lights directly to the pickups and leave the board disconnected. Dave
Thanks Dave for the confirmation. I ended up putting them back in the box exactly as they came until I decide on what I’m going to do with them. I’m not sure if I’m going to resale them or not and I don’t want to devalue them.
I ended up ordering a different set of passenger cars that are a little smaller and I will not receive them until after Christmas so they will have to wait until next year. I have other cars to take their place until then
THANKS FOR THE info on the flashing lights. I have the Christmas Rs-3 that would look great with those passenger cars . I agree with you the flashing lights would drive me nuts.
Merry Christmas !
CHARTER MEMBER OF THE MILWAUKEE FALLEN FLAG MODEL TRAIN CLUB . I COLLECT HO, N , O-3rail & On30 Trains & run them ! I Use KATO HO & N scale Track . I also Use Lionel Fast Track ! I change track layouts Often !
I think Lionel should have at least listed that bit of information into the Features list on the box or even in their catalog. I don’t think I would have bought it if I had known. I really don’t like having to modify the wiring and a simple slide switch would have been great. I'm not aware of any other way to turn the flashing off and I don't see anything that could be a switch
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