Spectrum Heavyweight Passenger Cars

[Pacific Northern]

I was  walking by the Thrift store today and I saw that a number of Spectrum HW cars were for sale. From a distance I could see that they are the Union Pacific yellow cars and have the Kadee type of couplers on them. As a couple of the cars were laying on their sides I could see that there was electrical connectors on the trucks indicating that the car were also lighted.

As I am now running a Digitrax DCC layout what would I have to do with the old lighting in the Spectrum cars. If they are the old DC type they will not last long with the DCC system. Do I replace the lighting with diodes or should I just take out the lighting all together.

[Tom M.]

One of the problems with the current lighting is that it is not even throughout the car. There are bright spots and then dim areas.  Another issue is the lights tend to flicker with momentary losses of power as the car rolls down the track.  If you are OK with these items, you could insert a current limiting resistor to drop the DCC track voltage to the bulbs and prolong their life.  I'd suggest something in the 220 range.

If you want to go with a more even and non-flickering light, you can replace the current lighting with LEDs.  A couple manufacturers sell self adhesive LED lighting tape with a capacitor built into the circuitry.  This provides even light and eliminates the flicker.  One brand I've used is sold by Berrett Hill Trains.

For ultimate control, you can also add in a function only decoder to turn the lights on/off.  Both TCS and Digitrax offer function only decoders.

Tom

[Doneldon]

PacNo-

Running trains with all incandescent lights will sap your track power, especially since they'll always be on (even when you're not running the
train). So ... convert to LEDs to remove the power drain or install switches so you can turn the lights off. Remember that there are magnetically
operated reed switches so you can turn the lights on and off without having to fumble around under the cars.
                                                                                                                                                                   -- D