lionel gp7 gp9 dummy directional lighting / how do you do it?

[the nitro man]

i have a lionel gp9 dummy engine i'm trying to figure out how to do directional lighting in. if it was d/c powered i could figure it out, but being a/c powered that changes every thing. the only way i can think of would be to use a lionel e unit in the dummy just to controle the lights. plus it's going to have a flashing strobe light on to (which i'm not sure how to get it to flash).
any idea's?
this is a dummy engine for a lionel western pacific gp9 i have. it looks awesome in a lash up, plus i put the big scale fuel tanks on both engines so that made it look that much better.

any help would be greatful. jerry

[lionelsoni]

Short of sensing the direction of wheel rotation somehow, the only thing I can think of is a tether from the powered unit. If the lights in the powered unit are returned to the frame, you can simply disconnect the light on the end coupled to the dummy and run its wire across to the dummy's outer light. No return wire should be needed.

Do you already have directional lighting in the powered unit? If it has a traditional mechanical e-unit and universal motor, you can get directional lighting very simply just by wiring the lights to the motor brushes instead of the pickup.

[the nitro man]

the powered engine doesn't have directional lighting. it has a electronic e-unit & can motors. if the electronic e-unit converts ac into dc current to the motors, i think all i would need would be a couple of one way dioeds, & wire the lights to the motors. i might just say the heck with the directional lighting, but i would like to get the strobe light to flash.

[lionelsoni]

That should work. You can still extend the light wiring to the dummy; but it will take two wires.

[Anonymous]

Hey, it's horribly low tech, but how about just putting a switch on the dummy somewhere? Annother switch to activate the strobe?

There's tons of solutions in the TMCC world. There are even cheap boards, just for dummies. If you care about things like directional lighting, command control will blow your mind. $55-65 will get you command AND directional lighting in your engine. And $55 doesn't go very far for parts at the local Radio Shack anymore, so you might as well.

Just a thought, Nitro.

Old 2037

[lionelsoni]

As for low tech, I think that Jerry's problem is that his locomotive is already too high tech. If he had a proper universal motor instead of a can motor, he would need neither diodes nor switch from Radio Shack to get directional lighting...;-)

Actually, it occurs to me that you can go back to low tech even with a can-motor locomotive if you've got a Lionel e-unit and a rectifier (just a couple of bucks at Radio Shack).

[the nitro man]

the powered unit has a electronic e-unit & can motors. doesn't the electronic e-units convert a/c into d/c current? if so, couldn't i pull the current from the motors to the lights & use a diode in the circit (i think a diode only lets current flow one way)? if so, the diode on the correct side of the circit should give the powered unit directional lighting. i can see it in my head but getting it into words are another story lol. if i new how to post a picture i would draw it for you to show you what i'm talking about.

what can i use to make the strobe light flash on & off like the newer factory engines do?

Old 2037, where can i find the dummy boards you are talking about?

thanks everybody. even if i can't do it, i'm sure i'll learn some thing out of this.

[lionelsoni]

either motor terminal-----diode-----incandescent lamp-----other motor terminal

If the lamp lights in the wrong direction, turn the diode around.

If you're planning to do it with a light-emitting diode, say so; it's just a little more complicated.

[the nitro man]

Bob, thats what i was trying to say. thanks
i'll just do the direcional lighting in the powered unit for now. later on i'll try to find a board to do the directional in the dummy (or use a e unit).

now how do i get the strobe light to flash on & off by its self?

[ChiefEagles]

Got a spare electronic reversing unit? If so, install it in the dummy. It will then give directional lighting without motors. I have several extra ones I pulled out of two GP7/9's that I converted to TMCC [used the DD Mini Commanders]. Pickups for those engines are easy to obtain. I recently put lights and a smoke unit in a dummy.

[the nitro man]

do you have a spair you would sell?

anyone know how to make a light blink (the top dome light)?

[ChiefEagles]

send me an email.

[Anonymous]

for the beacon light, look into either Richmond Controls or Circuitron for a beacon light circuit. I have a circuit from a Radio Shack book that builds a small LED blinking light strobe, uses a LM3909 IC chip, a small capicator and a AA battery, it will flash for over 3 months without turning it off. Easy to build if you can do decent soldering. Cheers Mike