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My layout is not yet complete so am not running anything at this point. However, I have Athearn Blue Box kits for an SP Daylight A-B-A and 10 car consist that I am going to put together. I plan to use 4 LEDs per car to space the light more evenly plus a resistor as I don't like really bright light. I will have to do some testing for resistor size. For mounting LEDs I use 28 ga. wire and 2-position Molex female connectors as lamp sockets. Glue the wire and connectors to the centerline of the roof and "plug-in" the LEDs. The Molex connector has .100 holes so you will have to "fold" the LED connector wires (legs). I cut the legs to about 1/2" so that after folding them over what I have left to plug in are about 1/4" long. LEDs burn out just like incadesent lights so using Molex connectors makes it easy to replace the LEDs if needed. The resistor I will hide underneath close to the contact plate. Use a 2-position Molex male/female connection between the body and frame so that when you remove the body the lights can be un-plugged. You can make a light diffusion panel to cover the lights and wire from .020 clear Lexan. Cut the Lexan to size and paint with a thin, even coat of white or off-white. On DC the polarity changes when you back up (reverse direction) your train. LEDs like other diodes only allow current to flow in one direction. If you use LEDs on DC you will also need to add a diode array or bridge rectifier so the lights stay lit during backing. In a caboose kit that I put together I have one LED/resistor. For structures I normally put one per floor.
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