Caboose lighting

[Don Gibson]

How far do I want  to go?  Ie: How much do you want to spend?

1. Pr. TOMAR MARKER LAMPS.  2. 3 volt rechargeable battery system* 

3.WIPERS to bring track voltage inside.

The Tomar 1.5v. bulbs look cool, Battery eliminates 'flicker, *Recharging cirrcuit includes bridge rectifier and voltage regulator. LED's need 3 v.min.  ** Richmond Controls has for $35. / recquires metal wheels. Single yellow LED/resistor provides 'lit lantern' inerior .

[wedudler]

Rich,

I like your Kadee spring idea. It's better than my Tender Pick up for P2K 0-8-0.

Thank you

Wolfgang

[cacole]

It would depend upon the era and the railroad.  Some crews had only kerosene lanterns for light inside the caboose, and some had electric lights.  Either way, they would be very dim.  No white fluorescent-looking ceiling lights.  A small wattage filament bulb in a goose neck lamp over the conductor's desk, and maybe one or two dim lights on the walls or overhead.  Barely visible from the outside even on the darkest night.  Bright lights inside the caboose would have diminished the crew members' night vision and made it harder for them to keep watch over the train, which was one of their primary responsibilities.

[gmcrail]

Would it be realistic to put lighting in my HO "cabeese"  The lighting in the Lionel "cabeese" that my brother had was always neat during night sessions.

If so how would one go about adding some lighting.

 

 

When I was just a "yonker", back in the Fifties, I lived across a cornfield from the Burlington 3-track main out of Chicago.  Saw a lot of freight trains roar along there at night.  One almost never saw any interior lights in a caboose. The only time you might see any light would be if the conductor was at his desk doing paperwork, and then only a small one over the desk.  You would never see light in the cupola, since it would destroy the night vision of the brakeman on watch. 

There are a number of options for lighted markers, however, which look very cool indeed.  

Just curious, but, what's a "yonker"?

A John Wayne term for "youngster".  (Out of one of his movies - I forget which one....)

[gandydancer19]

Good thread. 

I have been 'remotely' thinking about going whole hog on my caboose fleet (4ea) and putting in a decoder to control markers, and now an interior light. It is kind of ambitious, but one of those projects made to order when I need to take on a good challenge and relax.

Thanks Rich for posting Harold's photos on the pick-ups.

Lee, I like your caboose lighting. Thanks for showing it.

[moelarrycurly4]

The Kadee spring idea looks promising

[richg1998]

Harold has a good idea for all wheel pickup for trucks. Unfortunately his site have gone away and some pictures he posted on this issue have gone away. I saved many of hi9s pages so here are a few photos of the installation. I am using his ideas for tender pickups but it will work with a caboose.

The pickups are using Kadee #5 springs. Need super glue of 00-90 screws.

Rich 

[AntonioFP45]

WM3798,

Your caboose's lighting looks quite realistic  

I recall seeing cabooses at night on freight trains "back in the day" as I watched them pass.  Generally, looking at them from the outside, the interior lighting appeared dim (especially if the windows were grimy). 

Makes me chuckle a bit as I've often seen model railroad and toy cabooses that reminded me of Athearn Blue Box locomotives equipped with the "Super Interior Light Frying the Crew"  syndrome.

After reading this thread, I think I will go with LEDs for two HO cabooses that I plan on detailing. 

[Mr. SP]

Most of my cabeese are lit. I used a 18V GOW bulb wired to the trucks. The trucks are metal such as Kadee but with metal axels insulated on one side. A 2-56 X 1 inch screw goes up into the caboose. There is a spring between the head of the screw and the bolster of the truck. This provides electrical contact. Both trucks are done this way with the uninsulated wheels opposite each other when the trucks are installed. Double nuts are used inside along with a spade connector with the lamp leads soldered to it.

The main drawback is when the wheels get dirty and the lamp quits working. Be sure to not have the uninsulated wheels opposite in the same truck. Access to the inside of the caboose needs to be provided to replace the lamp when it burns out. LED's could be used as well I would imagine.

[G Paine]

Tomar makes marker lights in HO, O and G scales; they are green & red or yellow & red

http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?category=&scale=&manu=tomar&item=&keywords=marker&words=restrict&instock=Q&split=30&Submit=Search

[richg1998]

That was one thing I was wondering how bright a real caboose at night was. I don't remeber seeing any when I was a kid but that was in the 70's and I don't rememebr standing trackside at night either.

 

Rich thanks for the head up I will look for such device.

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The caboose crew would need "night" vision so most probably no internal lights at night. Someone was in the cupola watching. When I was in the Navy, there were only red lights in certain places so when you went outside at night, you still had good "night" vision.

Scalelike Industries sells a large variety of lighting devices. It appears they are only on ebay, "Buy it now".

Do a Google search for scalelike industries.

Rich

 

[wm3798]

I've lit a couple of my N scale cabooses.  The best way to do it is to get trucks from a car that has pick-ups already done, or to work out some sort of battery power.  I made my own power wipers from stuff in my junk box.  The light source is a yellow LED that I took out of a locomotive to replace with a brighter headlight.

It provides a nice, dim but visible light.  Since I run DCC, track current is constant, so it stays lit even when the train's not moving.

Here's the chassis of another one I did.

I ran a brass rod up through the bolster pin to allow the truck to swivel unimpeded.

 

In HO, the Life Like Proto 2000 NE steel caboose has lighting installed.  If your railroad used a different style of caboose, you could probably get a Life Like and adapt the lighting system to your caboose.  I like the yellow LED because it looks like a small oil lamp or low electric light.

The interior wouldn't be brightly lit because it would cause reflections in the cupola or bay window, which would hinder the crew's ability to observe the train for safety problems.

The next thing I want to try is to rig in marker lights.

Lee

[lvanhen]

When I was just a "yonker", back in the Fifties, I lived across a cornfield from the Burlington 3-track main out of Chicago.  Saw a lot of freight trains roar along there at night.  One almost never saw any interior lights in a caboose. The only time you might see any light would be if the conductor was at his desk doing paperwork, and then only a small one over the desk.  You would never see light in the cupola, since it would destroy the night vision of the brakeman on watch. 

There are a number of options for lighted markers, however, which look very cool indeed.  

All military vehicles/aircraft/ships use red lights for interior lighting at night where white light will disrupt "night vision".  Did the RR's use this as well?

[Medina1128]

Would it be realistic to put lighting in my HO "cabeese"  The lighting in the Lionel "cabeese" that my brother had was always neat during night sessions.

If so how would one go about adding some lighting.

 

 

When I was just a "yonker", back in the Fifties, I lived across a cornfield from the Burlington 3-track main out of Chicago.  Saw a lot of freight trains roar along there at night.  One almost never saw any interior lights in a caboose. The only time you might see any light would be if the conductor was at his desk doing paperwork, and then only a small one over the desk.  You would never see light in the cupola, since it would destroy the night vision of the brakeman on watch. 

There are a number of options for lighted markers, however, which look very cool indeed.  

Just curious, but, what's a "yonker"?

[gmcrail]

Would it be realistic to put lighting in my HO "cabeese"  The lighting in the Lionel "cabeese" that my brother had was always neat during night sessions.

If so how would one go about adding some lighting.

 

 

When I was just a "yonker", back in the Fifties, I lived across a cornfield from the Burlington 3-track main out of Chicago.  Saw a lot of freight trains roar along there at night.  One almost never saw any interior lights in a caboose. The only time you might see any light would be if the conductor was at his desk doing paperwork, and then only a small one over the desk.  You would never see light in the cupola, since it would destroy the night vision of the brakeman on watch. 

There are a number of options for lighted markers, however, which look very cool indeed.  

[moelarrycurly4]

Realistic?  Not in terms of the way Lionel has done it.  Most cabooses (or Vans) have small lights on the inside....very spartan.  You wouldnt see them durning the day, but you might see them at night.

David B 

That was one thing I was wondering how bright a real caboose at night was. I don't remeber seeing any when I was a kid but that was in the 70's and I don't rememebr standing trackside at night either.

 

Rich thanks for the head up I will look for such device.

[richg1998]

I picked up a kit off of ebay HO scale for caboose marker lights. It is battery operated with two tiny red LEDs for marker lights. The smoke stack on the caboose is removed and a black push button switch is put in its place. A white LED could be used in the place of the marker lights. There are two low power LEDS. There are two button cells for power. Since I have a four wheel caboose, I will not try to deal with wheel pickups.

The PC board device is about one inch in diameter. It is a CL-123R by Scalelike. They have many different options.

Rich

[moelarrycurly4]

Would it be realistic to put lighting in my HO "cabeese"  The lighting in the Lionel "cabeese" that my brother had was always neat during night sessions.

If so how would one go about adding some lighting.