Passenger car lighting kits

[ghelman]

Thanks all for the feedback. I will work on the bushing idea.

[lownote]

 You can add power to a tender the same way--via ball bearing wheels (whch are sadly abut $30 a set) or via bushings that go in the sideframes

[sfcgadget]

I am going to tinker with those battery powered LED puck lights. Some are pretty small and last a long time. I found a set of 10 stick on (8 oblong 2 1/2" x 1 1/4" x 3/4" and 2 oval swivel the same size) at Harbor Frieght and Tools for $9.99. That's a dollar a piece! The only thing is the method used to turn them on and off. A toggle switch could be wired in or use these right out of the box, they are the push to turn on type, a hole in the floor under the light to insert a stick would work. That way the only cost is that of the light. Using these would let you have constant lighting. At this price, I'm going to put lights in all my passenger cars and cabeese (cabooseseseses).

[lownote]

 I've added track powered lighting to five Bachmann coaches now, and here's what I've found. There are a bunch of ways to do it.

 Some Bachmann coaches come with copper scraper tabs that rub on the wheel flange. These work but they are awful--loud and they add rolling resistance. I pulled them off three cars and replaced them.

The Bachmann coaches have a pocket for a plunger piston. It's a little too shallow, and you have to drill it out gently. I used a bit and turned it by hand, with a pair of pliers. George Schreyer has the details on his site:

Lighting with piston plungers

I did this and found that it still added a great deal of rolling resistance and since my layout has some stiff grades, I took them back out

You can add ball bearing wheels. Expensive, but they are great-they pick up power well and roll freely. I used Gary Raymond wheels. Pricey, but you only need one pair of wheels per coach. Make sure you don't order the "finescale" wheels.

You can add brass bushings to the trucks, and solder wires to the bushings. This is the cheapest way. Get a set of aristo diesel bushings, and drill out the sideframe to fit. Just take the sideframes off the trucks, and enlarge the hole so that the brass bushings will just press fit into the new hole. Solder a pickup wire to the bushing on the edge, and then you have power pickup for cheap, low rolling resistance and no noise. I've done this a bunch of times now. You only have to do it on one side.

While I was doing all this I converted the lights to LEDs, because they draw less current and last longer, and I added a bridge rectifier and a large value capacitor, so they would not flicker. Now the coaches roll smoothly and the lights stay on over dirty spots on the track. If you stick with the incandescents the flickering is less of an issue

 

here's a picture

 

 

It's lit with four leds

The other option would be to convert to LED lights and then batteries. Three LEDs wil light a coach nicely, and they draw very little current, so you can power them with three AA batteries in a box under the coach. I have not tried that

 

The easiest and most expensive way is the ball bearing wheels. The plungers, in my opinion, are  waste of time and effort

 

[ghelman]

I am working two issues. One I would like to find a light kit for my bachmann passenger coach. Track powered. I am also trying to add some power contacts to a tender. I was looking for LGB but was told Good Luck! I thought a light kit might provide the powered contacts. Any help in this area would be apprciated.

 Thanks