Yes,
I remember. as a kid that we referred to the trains that traveled above and below ground on the same route as "Subways" or "Subway Trains". Anything that ran above ground and stayed above ground was an "EL". Even my parents, who didn't speak much English, knew the difference. They always referred to the 3rd Avenue El as "El Trensito" (The Little Train). Sad day it was when that line closed in 1973.
Even though I was a kid then, I remember having a disagreement with someone when I used the term "subway" instead of "the El".
For outsiders not familiar with New York City transit nomenclature it can be a baffling mystery to them. Scenarios involving visitors to NYC asking for directions to get somewhere, via transit could be funny.
Out of Town Visitor: "Excuse me sir, how do I get to the Bronx Zoo from 241st Street?"
New Yorker (with heavy accent): "Wot? Oh yeah, da Zoo! No Prawblem....... Whatcha do is.............walk right over dere and catch the #2 Subway to 177th Street! Ya listening? OK, den youse get off da train, go down stairz, and walk two blocks west. Turn right and ya found it! Piece a cake!"
Mr. Visitor looks around for an underground entrance and says "What subway? Where's the station entrance?" I don't see it!
New Yorker, (pointing upward): Right dere!
Mr. Visitor: "Oh, you mean that EL Train station?"
New Yorker: (Thinking to himself "Where's this goofball from, Mayberry?") but says to the visitor "BINGO!".
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
AntonioFP45Subway and EL trains appeared at night (Even when elevated, New Yorkers still called them "subways", lol).
In New York, they *are* subways that are elevated. The "El"s would refer to the older construction specs: the elevateds, in Manhattan, the Third Avenue El in the Bronx and the Myrtle El in Brooklyn. These are all gone now. Any remaining Els were rebuilt to Subway specifications. as far as construction, weight loadings and dynamics are concerned. We call them Subways because they *are* subway routes, and to distinguish them from the now extinct Els.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Hey, DC
I do wonder. But this is why I definitely want cool white light that is "toned down" and will yield a subdued lighting effect, like the VIA Rail train in the YouTube clip that I posted above. Otherwise, imho, a very bright interior light contrasted with a metalized shell may appear "toy like" , which would be distracting rather than complementary. The effect I hope to get is one where if sunlight is coming through the window, the interior lights of the cars would be unnoticeable.
On the flip side of this coin, I understand where Lion is coming from. In the early 70s, I lived in New York City and remember how incredibly BRIGHT the fluorescent lights on the Subway and EL trains appeared at night (Even when elevated, New Yorkers still called them "subways", lol).
If one never plans to run on analog (DC), then the LEDs without rectification, as you describe, will provide constant brightness light with DCC.
To reasonably operate the LED strips on both DC and DCC track power, one needs to rectify. To provide constant brightness on DC (above about 3V track) , one needs to regulate, also.
Hi Antonio,
I'm interested in how the inside/outside colors are going to balance out in your photos with that cool white light inside and whatever on the outside of the car.
DC
http://uphonation.com
Conventional wisdom is to rectify the power but mine are powered right from the track with, if I recall correctly, 24oo ohms of resistance. My passenger cars are from Walthers so there are electrical contacts high on one of the end bulkheads, making the connection pretty easy. I soldered the resistors directly to the LED strip, then wires to the contact tabs with a bit of slack to allow removal of the roof.
Hello DC!
Always glad to see you posting.
Thank you for the tips. I looked at the website and your work is impressive! I admit to sometimes being a bit intimidated by electronic related installations. But, with photo guides, I can install wiring and simple circuits. If a project seems to "fussy", I admit to preferring to purchase a "ready-made" module or unit that would not require a lot of cutting/pasting/soldering/etc.
But I'm flexible and always look at various options. I do hope that eventually someone will be willing to post a "Step-by step" video on YouTube on custom lighting passenger car interiors, particularly Walthers older run units.
skagitrailbird I have had my passenger cars lit with LED strips for over two years with no problems of any kind. I suppose there may be quality differences between manufacturers and even the occaisional bad apple but gernerally I think you can use them with confidence.
I have had my passenger cars lit with LED strips for over two years with no problems of any kind. I suppose there may be quality differences between manufacturers and even the occaisional bad apple but gernerally I think you can use them with confidence.
Do you power the strip straight off the track (DCC), or do you rectify the track power first?
Hi, Antonio.
I think you will do much better cost-wise and flexibility-wise to do your own. There are many ways to do good LED apps, flicker free, and doing your on layout/design means you can use many different sizes/colors and place the LEDs anyway/anywhere you want - has many/few as you want. I have not addressed that issue for years now, since I did my models. Have you checked out my site, and the lighting/electrical pages? There's a supper capacitor that worked very nicely on my Soho and CY cars with 4 wheel pick-up. All my Walthers cars and converted brass cars with 8 wheel pick-up do just great without keep-alive circuits. There's warm white LEDs, also. Those old 3 and 5mm low wattage LEDs are CHEAP. Anyway, check it out, and I will help with any questions.
BrianinBuffaloWhile on the Toronto TTC (metal wheels - noisy) and Montreal Metro (rubber wheels - very quiet) they had flicker in the cars. I can not remeber if BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) had any flicker issues.
Most of us have issues with Flickr, that is why I use my own servers.
NYCT has no more flickering lights. They installed bat trees.
Gentlemen,
Thankfor your replies. I was curious because, originally, I was considering the fluorescent lighting bar units from Walthers, which are a bit pricey at $32.95 each. These $10 "rad" units are much cheaper but as the saying goes........"You get what you're paying for"..........so I was wondering if there were any quality control or durability issues that one should be aware of since these are affordable?
Lion, yes, I've ridden Amtrak's long distance trains and the lights are dimmed in the evening, usually within an hour after sunset.
But even when fluorescents are on, when viewed from outside of the train, they're not blinding white and appeared subdued through the tinted windows. This VIA train with classic Budd is a good example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAXVjnIV87o
I've considered mounting lights on the floor. I have "Chrome" reflective decals that are easy to cut, trim, and stick to the ceiling for reflectivity. However, I've decided that I prefer to go with mounting LED lights on to the ceilings of my cars.
skagitrailbirdThere is some flickering but surprisingly little.
Flickering is not problem of LION. 48 wheel pickup solves a lot of issues.
Him wants lights to stay on while train is stopped in station, about one minute.
I am using these LED strips in my passenger cars and they work great. Yes, you can tone down the brightness with resistors. I haven't tried inserting a capacitor in mine. There is some flickering but surprisingly little.
AntonioFP45Would appreciate opinions and comments. I am interested in lighting up some of my Alclad-metalized Walthers units.
LION has been looking at such solutions for his subway cars. Of course LIONS cannot afford to buy things like this and must make them from scratch. Subway cars, such as are run on the Route of the LION are brightly lit, and are supposed to remain lit while in the station. LION has had problems doing this and at the moment is sitting on his drawing board thinking about it.
With LEDs you must keep your polarity correct, this means you must include a full wave rectifier in the circuit. Treat the incoming DC as if it were AC, and use the DC outputs of the rectifier to provide correct DC to your lighting circuit. Your capacitor is also polarity sensitive, as is the regulator.
What voltage does the strip require? What voltage is on the tracks? Forget the resistor until you have figured out the capacitor. What sort of capacitor will ewe use. LION has been looking at this one. It is a 5 volt, 5 Farad capacitor so you will have to add a voltage regulator to the circuit. Whatever you look at, you will need one rated in Farads, not micro-Farads or pica-Farads, but of course it will not fit in a finished interior. At $10 it is too pricy for the LION to use one in each car ($480.00) but if he can put one on each train and use jumpers between the cars him can knock the price down to $80.00.
Next issue. LION has ridden on long distance trains. Guess what? THEY TURN THE LIGHTS OFF at night so people can sleep! They only turn them on in the stations, and sometimes not even then. You need a soft glow from the night lights rather than from the bringt Commuter Lighting found on the subways and on the LIRR.
Mounting lights on the overhead is prototypical, but a pain in the connections when working on the car. Better to have floor lights pointed upward, be sure to paint the inside of the ceiling with a reflective, opaque paint so that the roof of your car does not light up the night. Nothing worse than cars glowing like they survived Chernoble.
ANTONIOFP45,
I believe you answered,your,questions...I can't think of a reason,why it would not work...
Cheers,
Frank
Hello Crew,
Just curious. This appears to be a simple LED lighting kit. The color is "cool white", which I think would be appropriate for imitating fluorescent lighting. My only critique here is that it is too bright. I assume that the lighting can be "kicked down" with an appropriate resistor. Also, would it be practical to install a capacitor for "stay alive" performance?
Here is the website to RadLites: http://radlites.com/ Would appreciate opinions and comments. I am interested in lighting up some of my Alclad-metalized Walthers units.
Here is the website to RadLites:
http://radlites.com/
Would appreciate opinions and comments. I am interested in lighting up some of my Alclad-metalized Walthers units.