Is there anyway to install red marker lights on the rear end of these cars?
I notice there is an interior brown (?) plastic cover with its pins visible on the outside of the shell, but not sure if this was meant to be removed. Also, even if removed what kit would make red markers?
Are you planning to light these up, or just use dummy red markers? If the car is already illuminated, that simplifies things. You can get small round LEDs for the lamps, which are cheap enough even if you don't plan to power them.
If the car is not illuminated, you can go with either track power or battery. I've put red tail lights on the back of an already-illuminated observation car, and illuminated and added marker lanterns to a caboose. Both work fine. Getting track power into the caboose was a lot of work, but I prefer that to having to switch a battery on and off.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Hi chipset35,
Installing working red marker lights is quite doable. It would be easier to give you some hints if we knew exactly what model you are dealing with. All we need is the Walthers stock #. I don't know of any marker light kits but the parts required don't cost much. You will need some soldering skills. If you don't know how to solder, this would be a good project to learn on.
The method depends basically on whether or not the car is equipped with power pick-up trucks. If it already has interior lighting the answer is obvious. If it doesn't have interior lighting, it may still have power pick-up trucks and contacts leading to the interior of the car. If the trucks are not designed for power pick-up, you can still install lighting but it will be a bit more work.
The red lights themselves are probably the easiest part. LEDs and resistors are cheap on eBay. You might want to consider adding in an off/on switch and/or a keep alive circuit but those are not essential. (If you decide to use battery power you will need to install a switch). You can make a keep alive circuit for very little money. I can give you a wiring diagram that was developed by Mark R.
If you post the model # I would be quite happy to walk you through the steps.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Mr Beasely, the cars are already lit up.
Dave, Here are the KATO part numbers:
First, I had a look at Kato's website but I couldn't find the cars you listed. What I did notice is that their new Amtrak releases will have marker lights installed and they refer to an optional "Tail Light" kit that will simply drop in. They even have a DCC version so you can control the marker lights remotely. I don't know if your cars have the same feature but what I would suggest is that you contact Kato directly and ask for their advice.
Here is an exert from their parts section of their website:
Lighting Options: Both the Material Handling Cars and Passenger Cars have been designed for the easy installation of a marker light kit #958046. Simply remove a plate from the bottom of the car, insert the light board, and close it again to create a lighted marker light for the tail end of your Superliner consist. Click Here for a complete step-by-step instruction sheet (PDF) on the process.
Before I go any further, why don't you see what Kato has to say.
Thanks, I did not know about that. Unfortunately, that part is HO and not N.
They have the same part for N scale:
https://katousa.com/n-accessories/
I don't know if your cars are designed to accept the decoder, but even if there isn't a drop in port for it, you could still use the decoder and just wire it manually with separate LEDs if necessary. The price certainly seems reasonable.
Something to keep in mind when you install the LEDs is to make sure that there isn't any light bleeding out where you don't want it. For example, you don't want a red glow in the interior. The easiest way to eliminate that is to apply a couple of coats of black or silver paint over the back of the LEDs
By the way, the reason I couldn't find your cars on the Kato website initially was because I was looking in the HO section. In future threads, it might help if you specified that you are working in N scale.