bachmann Spectrum Acela passenger car's " Help "

[trainmainbrian]

I have a Acela passenger train set... Although I like the Train set itself there are a few things I am disappointed on & would like some thoughts on how to make the car's better...

#1. Interior lighting is POOR I do not like the inside lighting that came stock with the car's... "every time I have the train running during a session with my friends I am asked if the Passenger Car's even have lighting in them"... Is there better LEDS I can get & where to get them...

#2. how can I obtain better Passenger Car dia-frames for in between the Car's The Factory dia-frames do not look realistic to me & have gap's where can I get better one's... I seen on Trainworld.com Dia-frames are offered but I don't know witch car's I have they have listed Bud cars / Pullman 85 CMF what type is the Acela Car's....
Thanks for any help in this matter..... TMB

[Len]

The coaches were primarily built by Bombardier, with some portions by Alstom. For practical purposes they are Bombardier coaches.

Miniatronics makes a car lighting kit, 100-ICL-01, I've had pretty good results with. I don't have an Acela, so I have no idea whether there's room for it or not.

Len

[jonathan]

The Acela Sets were set up to be "DCC Ready".  Hence, the car lighting is set up to accept 14-16 volts without burning out the lights. On DC the car lights will look a little dim when running on 8-12 volts. My layout room lighting is not particularly bright, intentionally.  So I can see the installed car lighting with no problem.

The stiff plastic diaphrams are integral to the assembly of the car.  If you remove them, there is the possibility the car shell may, or may not, come loose from the frame.  I cannot be certain of that, but one does have to pull out the diaphrams to disassemble the car.

Regards,

Jonathan

[trainmainbrian]

Thanks for the reply's... I run my Acela in DCC on my layout that might be the cause why my lighting is so Dim its running DC mode... How would I switch it to DCC... & could I add dia-frames to the ones that are already there....

[Trainman203]

Real passenger trains don't glow brightly at night.

[trainmainbrian]

Real passenger trains don't glow brightly at night.

Yes I know this but I just think the stock lighting is too Dim for my liking.... But I don't have a lot of options...

[Joe Satnik]

Brian,

Will your Acela consist fly off your curves with your DC power-pack?

If so, consider reducing your motor voltages with diode bridges and/or diodes as shown here:

http://www.dallee.com/PDFs/MotorDiodeDrop.pdf

This would cause you to run higher voltages on the track, therefore have brighter lights.

The 4 single black diodes in the diagram are wired in a bridge configuration, which can be replaced by a diode bridge.   

The stall current of the motor at 12V is 1.1 amps.

You could probably get away with 1 amp diodes or bridges,

as the motor voltage has been reduced, so will its stall current.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[trainmainbrian]

Brian,

Will your Acela consist fly off your curves with your DC power-pack?

If so, consider reducing your motor voltages with diode bridges and/or diodes as shown here:

http://www.dallee.com/PDFs/MotorDiodeDrop.pdf

This would cause you to run higher voltages on the track, therefore have brighter lights.

The 4 single black diodes in the diagram are wired in a bridge configuration, which can be replaced by a diode bridge.   

The stall current of the motor at 12V is 1.1 amps.

You could probably get away with 1 amp diodes or bridges,

as the motor voltage has been reduced, so will its stall current.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

I Run DCC not DC on my layout I have....I have a 5 AMP system powering my layout & should have more than enough power to run lights on my passenger cars.

[Joe Satnik]

Sorry,

I missed that. (DCC)

Running DCC and still too dark?

Is the interior lighting Grain-of-Wheat incandescent, or LEDs?

If GOW, perhaps some are burned out or becoming opaque because of filament boil off, and need to be replaced.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik