Hi all, I'm really into (obsessed) with getting a nice set of HO scale passenger cars. I already have a new Kato Superliner set so looking for something older like santa fe super chief. And I'm all about modeled interiors and lighting.
Anyway my question is: does anyone try simple DIY interior lighting ideas? I'm a newbie but I know basic eletric and have done cool projects with LEDs. My first though its some simple LEDs connected to a small battery with a switch accessible from the outside. I guess I've gotta get the exterior cover off first to install the lights.
Dumb idea? I keep thinking about different ways to do this - taking an unlit passenger car and making it light up :-)
Hi, PC
Much of my passenger roster is the Walthers Proto cars. These are designed pretty well with the electrical pickup. early-on I was using their lighting inserts. At first they had one for the lightweight cars and another for the heavyweights.
They used three, 5 volt incandescent bulbs. Lately, though, I have been installing my own "keep alive" lighting and, for me anyway, it is cheap, easy and the "stay alive" gives me flicker-free lighting. Later Walthers lighting kits are LEDs but you can do a lot better for a lot cheaper once you get the hang of it.
There are several threads about passenger car lighting so I'll try to find those and update my reply.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/p/267418/3027730.aspx
Another one here:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/p/260288/2925835.aspx
and — another one here:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/p/267418/3026894.aspx
IMG_0068_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
In the photo below I used the Walthers "light bar" to support a string of LEDs that are threaded down one side of the car and up the other with one LED illuminating the vestibule.
IMG_9978 by Edmund, on Flickr
One thing the Walthers kits didn't do well was light the aisle-side of the sleeping cars since their lamps are centered. My setup cures this. A 470 µF cap gives me about fifteen seconds of stay-alive. You can go bigger if you have room.
You didn't mention if you are using DCC or DC. Capacitors don't work so well in variable DC circuits since they really never get much of a chance to charge.
Good Luck, Ed
I've never been a real fan of batteries for lighting passenger cars because you have to remember to turn them off - i.e. albeit a switch or button or physically disconnecting them. And, eventually, you have to change them out. I am, however, a HUGE fan of keep-alive modules ever since I purchased my MTH 20th Century Limited passenger cars back in '13.
It takes approx. 1 minute for the caps to power up to full capacity and 5 min. to discharge. No flicker, no switch, no having to change out batteries. Worth any added expense over the long haul for me.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I cover some DIY car lighting ideas in my Night Scene thread mostly on page 2 which the link takes you to. There are lots of layout lighting ideas in it, but some car lighting is scattered throughout..
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/213765.aspx?page=2
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I added some extra LED lights (warm white) bought from eBay for the MTH HO PRR Lightweight 5-car train set since the observation lounge was too dim. I just needed to connect the wire to the onboard lighting system. For model cars without lighting kit, there are quite a lot of parts and LED light stripe available online, it was very simple but beware of the heat.My PRR S1 6100 HO scale brass model came without headlight bulbs but with a Len equipped, so I added a LED light for it, it was fun.
Jones 3D Modeling Club https://www.youtube.com/Jones3DModelingClub
I have a set of Rivarossi cars and I added a Walthers light set to each of them. My problem has been power transfer from the trucks to the car body. It's designed as a metal pad on the car and a screw on top of the trucks. It worked fine at first, but gradually lost contact. I've replaced one set of these with a simple wire which works much better.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Rapido's Osgood-Bradley coaches (New Haven 8200s, 8500s) have LED lighting powered by batteries. The lights are turned on and off by way of a magnetic reed switch. The switch is located under one end of the roof and activated with a magnetic wand that is supplied with each car.
I have been using the Miniatronics car lighting sets. They have 2 kinds:
Their original uses blue-white LEDs which simulate fluroescent lights used on lightweight and modern carshttps://www.miniatronics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=100-ICL-01&Category_Code=&Product_Count=0
And the other uses yelloglo LEDs that simulate incandescent lights on heavyweight carshttps://www.miniatronics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=100-YCL-01&Category_Code=&Product_Count=2
They are on a PC board that can be trimed to fit the car which also includes a capacitor to keep lights on. The only part I did not use was the phosper bronze wire for power pickup; I found the hard wire was wearing a groove in the axle. I used copper strip instead.
This is comparison of how the 2 styles of light look
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
GPaine,
Thanks for the information.
Quick question regarding the LED flourescent lights. What can one use to turn down the brightness a bit?
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
AntonioFP45Quick question regarding the LED flourescent lights.
If you really want to get fancy with your fluorescents, Antonio, look toward ESU.
I tried to embed the video so it would start at about 3:05 so you can see the "starting sequence". Pretty cool effect!
http://www.esu.eu/en/products/interior-lighting-sets/ntt-h0-digital/
Matt should really re-do this demonstration, it could use a little "cleaning up". Seems ironic that we all want flicker-free lighting BUT here ESU is making it flicker on porpoise
Cheers, Ed
Wow, go away for a few days and didnt realize how many posts came back on this one. Im encouraged while at the same time overwhelmed!! I need to read through alot of the below more and see what might work for me. So great to know there are so many options!!!
gmpullman Hi, PC Much of my passenger roster is the Walthers Proto cars. These are designed pretty well with the electrical pickup. early-on I was using their lighting inserts. At first they had one for the lightweight cars and another for the heavyweights. They used three, 5 volt incandescent bulbs. Lately, though, I have been installing my own "keep alive" lighting and, for me anyway, it is cheap, easy and the "stay alive" gives me flicker-free lighting. Later Walthers lighting kits are LEDs but you can do a lot better for a lot cheaper once you get the hang of it. There are several threads about passenger car lighting so I'll try to find those and update my reply. http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/p/267418/3027730.aspx Another one here: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/p/260288/2925835.aspx and — another one here: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/p/267418/3026894.aspx IMG_0068_fix by Edmund, on Flickr In the photo below I used the Walthers "light bar" to support a string of LEDs that are threaded down one side of the car and up the other with one LED illuminating the vestibule. IMG_9978 by Edmund, on Flickr One thing the Walthers kits didn't do well was light the aisle-side of the sleeping cars since their lamps are centered. My setup cures this. A 470 µF cap gives me about fifteen seconds of stay-alive. You can go bigger if you have room. You didn't mention if you are using DCC or DC. Capacitors don't work so well in variable DC circuits since they really never get much of a chance to charge. Good Luck, Ed
Thank you Ed. I just went through all of those links. My head is about to explode :-). BTW love your picture. Thats a Walthers Proto PRR? Did you do the interior custom or does it come like that? My son and I are all about passenger interiors!
tstage I've never been a real fan of batteries for lighting passenger cars because you have to remember to turn them off - i.e. albeit a switch or button or physically disconnecting them. And, eventually, you have to change them out. I am, however, a HUGE fan of keep-alive modules ever since I purchased my MTH 20th Century Limited passenger cars back in '13. It takes approx. 1 minute for the caps to power up to full capacity and 5 min. to discharge. No flicker, no switch, no having to change out batteries. Worth any added expense over the long haul for me. Tom
Personally I dont think I'd mind if it keeps it simple. We have a very small stock (for now) and we're probably only going to have these up at Christmas.
I've been seeing this "keep alive" term. Is it for DCC only? I forgot to mention I'm running DC.
mlehman I cover some DIY car lighting ideas in my Night Scene thread mostly on page 2 which the link takes you to. There are lots of layout lighting ideas in it, but some car lighting is scattered throughout.. http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/213765.aspx?page=2
Wow. Count me as a fan now. Some day when I can do this hobby full time I can see me going this same route. I really love every picture in that thread!!! Wow.
RR_Mel I scratch built all of my passenger interiors and lighting systems. I’m quite happy with the onboard battery powered (single Lithium Ion cell) LED systems. I power all 10 cars from the lead baggage car using quick disconnect connectors. The between car wiring and connectors are hidden in the diaphragms. I went with Kadee scale Shelf Couplers to prevent accidental uncoupling. I installed a DCC function decoder in the baggage car that controls the on/off of the LEDs. One of the things I like the best about my battery systems is I can keep the lights on with out power to the tracks for long periods. To keep the battery charged I used a single Lithium cell charger in the baggage car powered from the rails. The decoder operates a small relay on the 4 volt line to the cars. As I also operate in DC mode so I paralleled the relay contacts with a latching magnetic read switch under the center of the baggage car roof to control the on/off of the lighting on DC or no track power. I have two passenger trains, 10 Heavy Weight and 10 Streamlined, working without a single problem for over a year. Not one single flicker. Here is a post on my blog about the overall lighting procedure. https://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2018/03/march-18-2018-sp-heavy-weights.html This is a post on the construction of my Heavy Weight SP Lark Lounge car. https://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2018/08/august-18-2018-heavy-weight-sp-club.html Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Love it. When I finish replying I will go and read your post. I have just DC, no DCC, so not sure if I can still use this approach? Would love to have an onboard rechargable battery.
MisterBeasley I have a set of Rivarossi cars and I added a Walthers light set to each of them. My problem has been power transfer from the trucks to the car body. It's designed as a metal pad on the car and a screw on top of the trucks. It worked fine at first, but gradually lost contact. I've replaced one set of these with a simple wire which works much better.
Id like to avoid track picksup and avoid flicker. another reason I'm thinking a dedicated onboard battery is my plan.
NHTX Rapido's Osgood-Bradley coaches (New Haven 8200s, 8500s) have LED lighting powered by batteries. The lights are turned on and off by way of a magnetic reed switch. The switch is located under one end of the roof and activated with a magnetic wand that is supplied with each car.
I keep reading about these magnetic reed switches. Ok will do some research.
G Paine I have been using the Miniatronics car lighting sets. They have 2 kinds: Their original uses blue-white LEDs which simulate fluroescent lights used on lightweight and modern carshttps://www.miniatronics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=100-ICL-01&Category_Code=&Product_Count=0 And the other uses yelloglo LEDs that simulate incandescent lights on heavyweight carshttps://www.miniatronics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=100-YCL-01&Category_Code=&Product_Count=2 They are on a PC board that can be trimed to fit the car which also includes a capacitor to keep lights on. The only part I did not use was the phosper bronze wire for power pickup; I found the hard wire was wearing a groove in the axle. I used copper strip instead. This is comparison of how the 2 styles of light look
Thanks. those pics look cool. Might be a little more than I wanted to spend right now.
Stretching the thread topic a bit, think about passengers for your cars. Buying pre-painted figures can be expensive. Consider the number you need, and pick up a couple of bull packs of figures. You'll need to paint them, so get started. You will probably need more than you think.
Penn CentralId like to avoid track picksup and avoid flicker. another reason I'm thinking a dedicated onboard battery is my plan. I keep reading about these magnetic reed switches. Ok will do some research.
For a basic "Ready to go" battery/reed switch lighting setup look for some Rapido Trains "Easy Peasey" lighting kits.
https://www.rapidotrains.com/ho-easy-peasy-lighting/
They used to have a sickly green LED in them. I do not know if Jason has improved that (you "could" replace them).
[edit] YES, this is a new design. The ones I bought earlier were a slightly different design with a lucite bar and two LEDs. These use multiple SMD LEDs and look like a good solution for your situation. They can be adapted to fit various manufacturer's cars but be sure you can get to the batteries when replacement time comes around. Many of the Walthers Proto cars are difficult to remove the roof. They use an LR41 battery that you can get locally or from Amazon.
https://www.modeltrainstuff.com/rapido-ho-102003-easy-peasy-passenger-car-lighting-set/
Be sure you get the right kit, one is made for track power, the other is the battery option.
Penn CentralThats a Walthers Proto PRR? Did you do the interior custom or does it come like that? My son and I are all about passenger interiors!
Yes, I did the detailing of the interiors. I enjoy seeing properly lighted passenger cars as you do.
Union_Sta_departure2 by Edmund, on Flickr
Enjoy your trains! Ed
You can buy imported bulk packs of seated figures (painted or unpainted) for chump change online. If simple colors are enough for you then you can do much of the touch up (the crappy painted ones) or painting-from scratch with paint pens and save alot of time.
Visit the Chicago Valley Railroad for Chicago Trainspotting and Budget Model Railroading.
MisterBeasley Stretching the thread topic a bit, think about passengers for your cars. Buying pre-painted figures can be expensive. Consider the number you need, and pick up a couple of bull packs of figures. You'll need to paint them, so get started. You will probably need more than you think.
Well, I wasnt even going to go there....until I saw Mel's work. Holy cow. This is definitely on my long term list.
gmpullman Penn Central Id like to avoid track picksup and avoid flicker. another reason I'm thinking a dedicated onboard battery is my plan. I keep reading about these magnetic reed switches. Ok will do some research. For a basic "Ready to go" battery/reed switch lighting setup look for some Rapido Trains "Easy Peasey" lighting kits. https://www.rapidotrains.com/ho-easy-peasy-lighting/ They used to have a sickly green LED in them. I do not know if Jason has improved that (you "could" replace them). [edit] YES, this is a new design. The ones I bought earlier were a slightly different design with a lucite bar and two LEDs. These use multiple SMD LEDs and look like a good solution for your situation. They can be adapted to fit various manufacturer's cars but be sure you can get to the batteries when replacement time comes around. Many of the Walthers Proto cars are difficult to remove the roof. They use an LR41 battery that you can get locally or from Amazon. https://www.modeltrainstuff.com/rapido-ho-102003-easy-peasy-passenger-car-lighting-set/ Be sure you get the right kit, one is made for track power, the other is the battery option. Penn Central Thats a Walthers Proto PRR? Did you do the interior custom or does it come like that? My son and I are all about passenger interiors! Yes, I did the detailing of the interiors. I enjoy seeing properly lighted passenger cars as you do. Union_Sta_departure2 by Edmund, on Flickr Enjoy your trains! Ed Good Luck, Ed
Penn Central Id like to avoid track picksup and avoid flicker. another reason I'm thinking a dedicated onboard battery is my plan. I keep reading about these magnetic reed switches. Ok will do some research.
Penn Central Thats a Walthers Proto PRR? Did you do the interior custom or does it come like that? My son and I are all about passenger interiors!
So that's exactly what I'm looking for, and was hoping I could make myself. I've done some simple projects with LEDs so wondering if I could make something similar. Really the only tricky part I've never done is this magnetic switch.
And of course like you said making sure the battery is accessible. Right now the plan is to have these out just at Christmas time (who knows what will happen when we start having some real fun) so I dont mind opening up the cars once a year and swapping out batteries.
PS - that picture you posted looks real!!
Eilif You can buy imported bulk packs of seated figures (painted or unpainted) for chump change online. If simple colors are enough for you then you can do much of the touch up (the crappy painted ones) or painting-from scratch with paint pens and save alot of time.
That sounds like it will work for me. thanks
RR_Mel I use unpainted HO male Preiser figures for my passenger cars. I pick out about a dozen that I really like then make molds of them. I don't chop up the masters. Then I make resin casting and chop them up and reconfigure them in several different poses. When I have several that I want more of I make molds of them. I haven’t had much luck finding unpainted female figures so I went with a half dozen 1:87 ShapeWays females and used the same process to come up with a couple of dozen molds. I hand paint all my castings using Crafters Acrylic paints. I average about 25 to 30 passengers per car or around 300 per 10 car train. I don’t really track the cost per figure but a good guess would be about 10¢ to 15¢ in quantity of 300 or about $30 to $45 per train for the molds, casting resins and paint . . . . plus 15 to 20 minutes average per figure painting, but that doesn’t count . . . . that’s the fun of our hobby. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Mel after reading your blog posts about this I wouldnt expect anything less :-) Amazing. I went home last night and told my 10 year old son over dinner, "you've gotta see these unreal passenger car interiors this guy Mel makes himself. you wont beleive it!"
Penn CentralWow. Count me as a fan now. Some day when I can do this hobby full time I can see me going this same route. I really love every picture in that thread!!! Wow.
Wow, you looked at every post in that thread! Glad it was inspirational. The layout was no more than half time when I was doing that thread. I was working on my dissertation, but have a serious set of back issues, so had to get up and do something else on my feet every hour or so.
I see where you're still DC. It's just not as friendly to carlighting with LEDs, so going the battery route may be your best bet.
Keeping it dim.
mlehman I see where you're still DC. It's just not as friendly to carlighting with LEDs, so going the battery route may be your best bet. Keeping it dim.
mlehman Wow, you looked at every post in that thread! Glad it was inspirational. The layout was no more than half time when I was doing that thread. I was working on my dissertation, but have a serious set of back issues, so had to get up and do something else on my feet every hour or so.
Yep. Ive gone back a few times now. Just so nice to look at.
Ok so b/c this is my first crack at this effort, and I'm short on time b/c want something for the holidays and still finishing my layout, I'm going to look into making something similar to the Rapido Easy Peasys (thanks Ed), basically a few LEDs powered by battery and on/off with a magnetic switch.
Hi PC,
I recently installed some walthers lighting into one of their heavyweights. I had to trim the bulkhead to accommodate it. Additionally, I like the idea of the the rapido battery powered lighting (and the wand for on/off) so I'll be testing that soon.
Andrew Roberts
Greenhorn Modeling the B&O
Maryland, USA