tstage Mel, Is the 2-contact mini connector in the rear floor of the caboose used for recharging? That would make it convenient. Tom
Mel,
Is the 2-contact mini connector in the rear floor of the caboose used for recharging? That would make it convenient.
Tom
Yes. I use the micro connectors on all of my lighted cars, I really don’t like having to mess with wires when I pull a shell off the frame. The upper and lower connectors mate when the shells are slipped on the frame or floor.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
RR_MelI use the rechargeable 4 volt Lithium batteries in all my goodies and they work better than great. The TP4056 charger board (eBay 50¢) will charge any Lithium cell from a 5 volt source.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
PC101When track power is switched 100% off, the caboose lights will stay on for 7 seconds before all lights go out. Flickering, never seen it.
Alright, from your description above, it sounds like the flicker-free lighting is coming from some sort of capacitor module, which is what I had hope. I really like the ones that MTH used in the 20th Century Limited passenger cars they released back in 2013. No battery changing or charging needed. And the Tangent caboose gives you the option of "wanding" them on or off - Nice!
tstage What is the expected max number of recharges for the coin cells before they have to be replaced, Mel? Tom
What is the expected max number of recharges for the coin cells before they have to be replaced, Mel?
I would think that the rechargeable coin cells are rated the same as any other rechargeable Lithium battery, about 500 cycles. I’m 84 and I’m sure they will out last me.I use the rechargeable 4 volt Lithium batteries in all my goodies and they work better than great. The TP4056 charger board (eBay 50¢) will charge any Lithium cell from a 5 volt source.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Ed, That is a neat picture of the marker lights. I looked hard and long at my rearward marker light lens in the total darkness (which I will never run trains in the dark) as viewed from the ends and even took a picture and I can not see the rearward facing Red lens, just like you say they do look "greenish" in color. Oh Oh, I just failed my vision test, look out. I have to check up on that, maybe the B&O did not run Red lights on the rear of their Cabooses.
tstage, If the Caboose of your choice has any lighting on/in it and you run it on to the caboose track, if you use a ''kill'' switch on the caboose track, then the lights will go out in appoxamently 7 sec. and stay off till you activate them when the caboose goes back on the road. This way you need not to ''wand'' that caboose to outten the lights even though the caboose track has been made "hot" again.
PC101 I thought the on the side marker lights were a bit dim even in darkness but they are tiny.
BnO_I18b by Edmund, on Flickr
Since three of the "lenses" are green and only a tiny dot of red to the rear, the markers seem disproportionally green color. It really is a neat feature to have the reed switches activate the proper end markers but, generally, I don't bother with them unless I want to photograph the model or "show it off" to visitors.
No lighted markers are offered on the NYC cars since the lamps were attached to the upright corner braces making any kind of fiber optic or LED wiring nearly impossible.
Interior lighting is barely perceptible, although the B&O cars have etched screens over the windows. Tangent has the lighting realistically dim.
Regards, Ed
tstage Thanks, PC. Have you experienced any light flickering with your B&O caboose? Tom
Thanks, PC. Have you experienced any light flickering with your B&O caboose?
Ok this is what I have on my Tangent first issued International Car Co. B&O I-18 bay window caboose.
The lights are always off when the track is powered up and stay off till you "wand'' what you want.
When DCC track power is switched 100% off, the caboose lights will stay on for 7 seconds before all lights go out.
Flickering, never seen it. This B&O I-18 has screening over the doors and all the side windows except the main bay window. So inside lighting is hard to see but it is there.
I like my Tangent's International Car Co. B&O I-18 bay Window Caboose for it's looks. This was Tangent's first offering of a Caboose. I thought the on the side marker lights were a bit dim even in darkness but they are super tiny (read scale). The wand opens and closes the reed switch on the corrsponding marker light end and in the center of the car for interior. My track power is DCC, no batterys in the Caboose. The wand is about 6'' long and is orange in color making it somewhat hard to misplace. These ''second caboose offering'' from Tangent will be a nice addition to the rear end of my trains even if I do not run in the dark.
Tangent states in their description that they "do not recommend removing the shell" as "it will void the warranty for the caboose due to the complexity of the marker lighting system". I could be wrong but I'm reading into that that they are using something other than batteries.
I use latching magnetic reed switches in my cabooses to turn on and off the lighting, works great. I also use track power to charge a rechargeable coin cell to power the LEDs.No flickering, the coin cell will power all the LEDs for about an hour. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Just received notification from Tangent this afternoon that my NYC bay window caboose is shipped and I should receive it by mid-week this coming week. As MB noted, I'll be curious how well the interior lighting is visible through the bay windows.
According the Tangent website, "a simple wand included in the box activates the lights on each end [if equipped] – and the interior – independently". Another description states the following:
"No complicated decoder. No complicated programming. No complicated electronics. DC/DCC compatible track-powered 'no fuss' interior and marker light lighting – simple and easy to operate with included wand"
If I'm interpreting the term "track-powered" correctly my hope is that it uses a capacitor module for the interior & exterior lighting rather than batteries and that the wand is just a way of turning off the lights when the caboose is sitting on the caboose track out of service.
Looks very nice, I'll start with one NYC and one PC please. Tangent does not recommend removing the shell from the floor, I guess I will have to put a rr employee on the platform. It would be nice to see a little man looking out of a window.
I have a number of Milwaukee cabeese from Walthers. They do not come with interiors. I had one opened up to put in Tomar marker lights. While I was in there, I put in an interior light and printed up some flooring and made some rudimentary furniture.
When I got it back together and on the rails, I realized that caboose windows in HO are so small that interiors are kind of pointless.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
They seem like some nice models. Not my railroad, however I am sure NYC, PC and early Conrail modelers will snap them up.
An "expensive model collector"
SeeYou190Is this really what the interior was like?
All the comforts of home
PLE_550 by Edmund, on Flickr
PLE_550b by Edmund, on Flickr
This is the P&LE rebuild but they were in the "fold" of the New York Central.
SeeYou190The matresses are all on the floor!
Most of our model floors scale out to over two-feet thick.
Gotta compromise somewhere. I often have to amputate the LPPs at the knees to make them sit in a coach seat.
tstage I snapped up one of the early NYC N7s because accurate NYC cabooses in plastic are as rare as hen's teeth.
Keep in mind, Tom, that the N7 was a designation the Penn Central made to the NYC Lot 782 cars after the merger. NYC liked to assign "Lot numbers" to equipment groups.
Funny thing, I was weeding out stray equipment from the layout just two days ago and I had two of the Walthers versions of these cabooses, kind of close but not quite as accurate, in my hand figuring I'd put them in storage for now.
Tangent is one of those outfits that just makes an announcement for a new product without any fanfare or buildup press. Here they are, and most times their offerings sell out within weeks, if not sooner.
I bought a B&A version, I had uncles that worked for the B&A and I'm going to imagine that one wandered as far west to Cleveland. Then I got a Century green one since I have several brass ones in the oxide paint.
That is a beautiful model.
Is this really what the interior was like? It sure does not seem very comfortable. The matresses are all on the floor!
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I just received an email this past evening from Tangent Scale Models that they are releasing N7 & N7A steel bay window cabooses in several road names.
Each comes with "accurately-painted interiors including the closets, sink, toilet closet, stove, bunks, desks, and chairs", as well as warm LED interior lighting that can operate on either DC or DCC. The 1970 and later N7A cabooses come with either working red marker lights or FRA lighting. Tangent is also offering each type of caboose as an undecorated kit.
While it's neither a NYC 19000-series wood caboose nor inexpensive, I snapped up one of the early NYC N7s because accurate NYC cabooses in plastic are as rare as hen's teeth.