USA Trains Passenger Car Lighting

[bman36]

Hey everyone,
Last fall I ordered a set of USA Trains old time coaches. The cars use brushes and springs for pick up on the wheel flanges. This creates a horrible amount of drag. Not to mention the annoying flicker as the cars round the track. Decided to remove the brushes and go with batteries. Using my multimeter I tested track voltage to see how much was needed to light the cars nicely. turns out they look nice at about 13.2V. Question is what kind of battery will do the job for all four coaches? A friend suggested changing the bulbs to 12V ones and trying a 9.6V ni-cad. pack. Anyone else done this yet??? All ideas appreciated here. Later eh...Brian.

[Marty Cozad]

Brian
I have 6 of the long passenger car and I use a 12 volt 4.5 amp in my battery car for all of them. I use the plugs from Tony W. to MU them together. Male on one end and Female on the other .There are alot of lights here and they look fine and the battery last a long time before charging. No flickering and they are on at station stops.

I should be getting some from him soon if you need just a couple.

[bman36]

Marty,
Thanks for the info. We have a really well stocked electronics shop here that is very reasonable. Another place near my home specializes in batteries of all kinds. Gonna' have to stop in and see them. Can you see where this is going??? [;)] Later eh...Brian. [:D]

[Anonymous]

Well i have LGB illuminated carriages and they have so little drag, much less than ones with normal wheels and unless I really have dirty tracks i have no flicker and of course they are the correct level of light output at all times.

The LGB steel wheel sets with power pick ups and ball bearing wheels are an engineering marvel and i even think they are patented as are many other LGB innovations.



RGDS

Ian


PS As a retired battery guru i would not advise anyone having any battery they didn't need just more things to warry about.

[Tom The Brat]

On my Sierra coaches, I put in ball bearing wheelsets.

Not really a cost effective solution. Somehow, I'd figured on it costing 1/2 as much as it did[:D] but boy do they roll nice now!

[bman36]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Torby

On my Sierra coaches, I put in ball bearing wheelsets.

Not really a cost effective solution. Somehow, I'd figured on it costing 1/2 as much as it did[:D] but boy do they roll nice now!

Hey there,
I find now that since I removed the brushes they roll just fine. Once the lighting is back in order then back on the line they go....well when it melts. Later eh...Brian. [:D]